301 Things to Draw by Editors of Chartwell Books

I should have had a clue, by the unimaginative, plain cover of this book, that it is not a book that would in any way, shape, or form appeal to me. Literally, there are the words of 301 things to draw in this book. You open the book to any page and you will find a word like SWING and space for you to draw that item. Platitudinous of the very worst sort.

Some folks are not artists and rely on artists' sketches to help them develop their fledgling skills. Possibly, a sketch of a SWING and space to draw your own version of it would be helpful. This is a book of creative prompts, and room to draw it. You could do better by saving your money, buying a sketchbook or notebook and look around you and draw what you see, like DOOR, LIGHT, BIRD.

Lamentably, I received a complimentary copy from #netgalley @netgalley of #301thingstodraw and was under no obligation to post a review.

Thanks for a chance to review this book. I think that if you want to charge for this book or have someone be interested in buying it, the cover needs to be better than this. I've seen some amazing covers nowadays even for the independently published books. Since the entire book is just mostly blank pages with prompts, it would make sense to spice up the cover or some of the inside pages just a bit. There are some prompts that go together and some separated. I think that this book would've been something I would've bought for my younger sister, for example, when she first started showing interest in drawing and art. It's something that would make a budding artist practice, providing space and examples which is great for when you are facing a block or just want someone else to tell you what to do instead of coming up with it yourself. I recall when my sister (who turned into a decent artist!) was learning to draw, she utilized mostly prompts, traced sketches, etc. That's why I think that this book would be best targeted toward beginners or someone who just likes to draw/color. But make the cover more exciting so people will actually think it's worthwhile.

I've not given this book a full 5 stars as although it does provide lots of prompts, they're all quite standard things like draw a watering can or draw a windmill etc. I was hoping there'd be some off the wall suggestions like draw a chicken rollerblading etc, some random things that really get the juices going so I marked down due the fact I didn't find the prompts more interesting