Start Here: Draw: 50 Ways To Be an Artist Without Trying

Watercolor artist/sketcher Clinch’s (The Watercolor Painter’s Pocket Palette) book gives budding artists easy, nonintimidating prompts and exercises that help them build their skills. Incorporating a variety of strokes and shapes, the book covers the basics and offers tips on using various types of media. Many of the exercises are experimental and fun. For example, there are instructions for creating fingerprint characters, pixel pets, print collages, mugs, and mouse pad designs. Clinch explains how to use different mediums—including digital formats—for different effects. She stresses that imperfections add to the character of a piece. When layering colored paper in a collage, for instance, she advises to let some of the original background show. The last part of the book is about drawing figures and portraits. Clinch even offers advice on how to get family and friends to sit for portraits.