How to Draw a Book

Étape par étape

1. Étape 1

   Dessinez la colonne vertébrale comme une ligne courte vers le milieu.

   Everything hangs off this. The spine is the hinge, and both page halves are measured from it - which is why drawing it first stops the book coming out bent.

   Attention. Starting with a page and adding the spine afterwards.

   Vérification It should be vertical and near the middle of your page.

2. Étape 2

   Dessinez le bord supérieur de chaque page, en s'appuyant légèrement l'un sur l'autre.

   These are the edges going away from you, so they converge. Not dramatically - a few degrees is enough. This single detail is what separates a box from a folded rectangle.

   Attention. Drawing them parallel, or worse, diverging.

   Vérification Extended, the two lines should eventually meet.

3. Étape 3

   Fermez chaque page avec un bord extérieur qui revient vers vous.

   These are the short edges of the covers. Keep them roughly the same length as each other - the two halves of an open book are the same size, and any difference reads as a mistake rather than as perspective.

   Attention. Making one cover visibly longer than the other.

   Vérification Both outer edges should be about the same length.

4. Étape 4

   Rejoindre les bords extérieurs vers le bas de la colonne vertébrale.

   This closes the two page shapes. Corners must actually meet - overshoot slightly and let the lines cross rather than aiming to stop exactly on the point, because a crossed corner reads as closed and a gap does not.

   Attention. Stopping just short, leaving four small gaps.

   Vérification Every corner should be closed or slightly crossed.

5. Étape 5

   Dessiner l'épaisseur : lignes courtes vers le bas de chaque coin extérieur.

   A book is a solid, not a sheet. These three short verticals turn the flat shape into a box, and they must all be the same length - unequal ones make the book look warped.

   Attention. Making the three drop lines different lengths.

   Vérification All three verticals should measure the same.

6. Étape 6

   Rejoignez les bas de ces lignes pour fermer le dessous.

   Now the box is complete. These lines run parallel to the edges directly above them - if they do not, the thickness of the book changes along its length, which is the classic wobbly-box look.

   Attention. Drawing these at a different angle from the edges above.

   Vérification Each bottom edge should run parallel to the one above it.

7. Étape 7

   Ajouter la pile de page en deux ou trois lignes courtes sur chaque bord.

   Pages read as a stack, not a slab. Two or three lines following the cover edge is enough for the eye to fill in hundreds - drawing more just makes it look hatched.

   Attention. Drawing one hard line, which reads as solid wood.

   Vérification You should see distinct layers, not a filled band.

8. Étape 8

   Dessinez une légère courbe dans chaque page près de la colonne vertébrale.

   Open pages are not flat - they dip toward the spine. Adding that curve is the difference between an open book and two flat cards taped together, and it takes one stroke each side.

   Attention. Leaving the pages perfectly flat.

   Vérification Each page should dip slightly as it approaches the spine.

9. Étape 9

   Ajouter des lignes de texte, suivant l'angle de page.

   Text lines run parallel to the top edge of the page they sit on, which means they are NOT horizontal - they lean with the perspective. Drawing them level is the fastest way to flatten a book you have just built.

   Attention. Drawing the text lines horizontally.

   Vérification The text lines should lean the same way as the page's top edge.

10. Étape 10

    Éclacher le côté du livre loin de la lumière.

    Work in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth. Scrubbing gives an even grey, which is exactly the thing that makes a drawing look flat, so lay the strokes the same way and build the darkness in passes.

    Attention. Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

    Vérification The dark side should be clearly darker than the mid tone, not slightly.

11. Étape 11

    Ajoutez l'ombre en dessous.

    The cast shadow is darkest where it touches the book and softens as it moves away. It also anchors the object to a surface - without it the book floats, however well you have shaded it.

    Attention. Drawing it as an even grey blob detached from the object.

    Vérification It should touch the object and be darkest at that contact point.

12. Étape 12

    Passez par-dessus les lignes que vous voulez garder, et perdez les guides.

    This is the step that turns a construction drawing into a finished one, and it is the one most people skip. Press harder on the outline and the features; leave the small stuff light. That difference in weight is what makes a drawing look deliberate rather than traced, and it costs thirty seconds.

    Attention. Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    Vérification The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.