The Creature Garden: An Illustrator’s Guide to Beautiful Beasts & Fictional Fauna

The Goldhawks, a married couple who own and operate Papio Press, which specializes in nature- and animal-themed stationery, parlay their love of wildlife into this alluring drawing manual that is both instructive and inspiring. The book provides step-by-step instructions for how to paint or sketch 50 animals and mythical creatures. They use simple shapes to draw the armature of the animals, such as large circles for the head, chest, and haunches; next come details such as ears, fins, or tails; finally, they fill in fur, feathers, or scales. There are helpful sections on tools and texture that explain the effects of brush size and materials such as gouache, crayons, pastels, and watercolors. The individual projects include tips such as using uneven brush strokes to make the fur of a cat look realistic. The authors’ aesthetic fills the pages with colorful layouts that manage not to distract from the instructions. The result is a useful primer on fundamental drawing techniques disguised as a coffee-table art book. (June)