Drawing Animals Using Grids

The idea behind this series is simple and easy to comprehend – it does what it says on the tin. Each subject is overlaid by a co-ordinated grid, so that all the main points of shape and composition can easily be transferred the finished image. It’s a long-established and well-tested technique that simply works.

What makes these volumes particularly useful, as well as the quality of the illustrations, is the amount of background material – structure, anatomy and features – that prefaces each set of drawings. In the animals volume, these are not just general but applied to each type – so, dogs, horses, cats. When it comes to people, these are structure, movement and posture. The main sections here divide into character, babies and children, and figures in action.

-- Henry Malt * Artbookreview.net *

Top quality drawing book with plenty of projects to try.

240 pages of well presented drawings of animals using grids. A good quality book with plenty of hints and tips to try, this will keep me occupied for many months trying all the ideas out. The pictures are broken down into shape and size, structure and proportions, volume and shadows, including tonal study to help.

-- Jenny Nixon * Amazon *

Giovanni Civardi is nothing if not prolific, but the continuing popularity of his books testifies to their quality and the Drawing with Grids series offers an interesting take on a variety of subjects. Animals and People have just appeared and deal with tricky subjects in a particularly straightforward way. The main instructional pages cover a single subject in a single spread, with the basic grid and simple progressive stages from outline to tonal studies. Each book contains an excellent variety of material. 

-- Henry Malt * The Arti