Drawing Cute with Katie Cook: 200+ Lessons for Drawing Super Adorable Stuff

Drawing Cute with Katie Cook: 200+ Lessons for Drawing Super Adorable Stuff is almost exactly what it says. (One could quibble with “lessons”, since most of the pages are just four process steps, from the first blob to the finished sketch.) This is a book that educates through encouraging mimicry, a time-tested approach. I can’t think of anything else out there like it, and I’d easily give it to an aspiring artist.

The chapters cover animals, food, sports and games, holidays, and various objects. Most everything has a face, no matter whether it’s an edible or a sports ball or a flower or an alarm clock. Cook’s distinctive style is deceptively simple and very approachable.

Her technique is often to start with a potato shape, creating blobby, friendly creatures. “If you know how to draw a potato,” she says, “the art world is an open door.” (Later she says, “I cannot think of a lot of reasons one would need to draw a walrus, but here you go,” demonstrating a certain amount of practicality.)

Some will find this book a little too precious, as she labels wings “flap flaps” and describes a lot of “floof” and “nubbins” (paws). In the right mood, though, it’s adorable. I was put in the right mood from the title page, where a small note says “It’s fun and weird… and fun and weird is what you need more of in your life.” True! Her comments throughout keep the the incremental development of the little creatures entertaining, even if you’re not trying to draw along, as shown on this sample page.

(The publisher provided a digital review copy.)