I’m always up to a challenge and willing to try anything new, especially when it comes to the arts. Thankfully Thunder Bay Press allowed me to check out Samwise Didier’s book How to Draw Mythical Monsters and Magical Creatures: An Artist’s Guide to Drawing Mythical Creatures from One of the Masters, that’s quite a mouthful.
Let’s talk quickly about Didier himself first. For those of you not familiar with him but most likely know his works. Didier is a Senior Art Director over at Blizzard Entertainment where he directed the art style for the games; Warcraft, StarCraft, and Heroes of the Storm franchises. He also created the artwork for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Diablo games.
Now onto the book itself! The pages are thick which is perfect for those who may be flipping back and forth as they are trying a hand at drawing. The book is spiral-bound which helps with keeping pages open so no pressing down the middle of the book to keep the page open!
Now the big test, how are the instructions? They are step by step, and Didier noted at the beginning of the book that your first attempt of drawing his characters may not look completely the same as his but he does offer words of encouragement to just keep drawing and practicing.
I wanted to take this a step further, not only was I going to try drawing a character, I brought on my older Brother PJ who went to art school and is an art teacher. We both agreed on drawing the Cyclops character, I went first and after I was done he took the book and drew. After about an hour of so here are the results…
TOP: My Brother’s BOTTOM: Mine
In my defense, the last time I drew anything was in an art room setting in 2004. My brother has been drawing since he was a kid and now along with being an art teacher, he draws Manga as a hobby as well as drawing fashion sketches for costume design. Again, looking back at both drawings, I think I did pretty OK for someone who has not drawn in years.
With this, I have to say after talking it over with my brother getting his take on How to Draw Mythical Monsters and Magical Creatures: An Artist’s Guide to Drawing Mythical Creatures from One of the Masters, a book like this is probably not the first choice for someone who has never drawn before if anything if you want to put an age limit on it I would say maybe mid to late teens and up.
Then again, if you’re someone that loves to draw no matter your skill level, you just might enjoy the challenge and the building up your skills through practicing. Even if you’re not a big drawing person but a big fan of games by Blizzard, maybe this is something you would want to add to a collection.
I’ll admit, though I did not care much for my attempt at drawing, I had fun. How to Draw Mythical Monsters and Magical Creatures: An Artist’s Guide to Drawing Mythical Creatures from One of the Masters is the right book for fans of fantasy art and adventurous artists. I suggest checking out Samwise Didier’s other works, Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf, Strange Highways, and The Last Winter.
