I have a couple dozen of art instruction books, but few are as fun as Robots!: Draw Your Own Androids, Cyborgs & Fighting Bots, by Jay Stephens. Unlike a lot of other art books geared towards kids, Robots! has less emphasis on step-by-step tutorials (though there are a few of these, which is a good thing), focusing instead on ideas to incorporate into your own bot drawings: heads, sensors, communications subsystems, arms, legs, materials, armor, dials & levers, defense systems, controls, etc.
A word of warning — the robots in this book err on the side of cute and funny, and aren’t very practical or realistic. But if whimsical and joyful bots appeal to you (they appeal to me), this book is a must-have.
For a look at a robot I drew after reading Stephens’ book, click here.
The 64-page, full-color, hardback book is $9.32 on Amazon.
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