The Absolute Beginner's Big Book Of Drawing And... -

Soft enough for dark shadows, hard enough for light lines.

Walk around your kitchen. Don’t see a "coffee mug"; see a cylinder with a curved handle. Don’t see an "orange"; see a sphere with texture. Once you see the shapes, the intimidation factor vanishes. The Golden Rule of Shading The Absolute Beginner's Big Book of Drawing and...

Your first 500 drawings will be terrible. Use cheap paper so you aren't afraid to make mistakes. The First Secret: The Four Pillars Soft enough for dark shadows, hard enough for light lines

Before you touch a pencil, let’s kill the myth that drawing is a genetic gift. Drawing is 10% talent and 90% . Most people don’t draw what they see; they draw what they think they see. This book is here to recalibrate your eyes. The Essential Toolkit Don’t see an "orange"; see a sphere with texture

Don't get distracted by fancy art store aisles. You only need the "Holy Trinity":

It looks like gray putty. You don’t rub with it; you "lift" the light back out of the paper.