Quick Draw: Flowers And Plants »

Peter Bull has worked as a freelance illustrator for more than twenty-five years. He has created both traditional and digital illustrations for book publishers all over the world.

From roses to cacti and everything in between…the perfect companion for strolling and drawing.

Children's Literature

This drawing book uses a grid method to help children learn how to draw some basic plants and flowers. Grid paper is not included—rather, children are encouraged to trace the grid onto fresh paper themselves, a tedious task for all but the most serious art students. For those who wish to bring their own graph paper to the project, the author states that any graph paper will work as long as the grid proportions are the same as those used in the book Graph paper from another source is probably necessary, as readers may be frustrated to find that many of the projects require more squares than the sample page. The first page lists five basic steps for creating the pictures using the grid method, but the individual designs do not include any written instructions. Instead, each picture is broken down into four to eight steps illustrated with black and white drawings. Each step shows the newest lines in black, with previous lines shown in gray. Fourteen flowers and plants are shown, including cactus, daisy, seaweed, and poppy. The book includes neither a table of contents nor an index, and the plants are not in alphabetic order, so children looking for specific plants to draw have no choice but to flip through the pages to find it. Still, many children will find it helpful to have pictures broken down into simpler pieces, and the grid may help them understand basic principles of proportion. Reviewer: Heather Christensen