The best drawing books

Three of the best drawing books on a red background
(Image credit: Souvenir Press / North Light Books / 3dtotal Publishing / Future)

The best drawing books can be a fantastic tool for artists of all kinds, both as an introduction to the art of drawing and as a source of constant inspiration. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced pro, drawing books can provide new ideas, new techniques and provide hours of practice. Drawing books can also be a thoughtful gift for anyone interested in illustration and drawing, be it on paper or digital.

Below you'll find our ultimate pick of the best drawing books for different skill levels and niches as based on our own reviews. If you're looking for books on other topics to add to your collection, see our pick of the best illustration books. And for more tips and advice, see our selections of how to draw tutorials and sketching tips

Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

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Tammy Coron

Tammy is an independent creative professional, author of Apple Game Frameworks and Technologies, and the maker behind the AdventureGameKit – a custom SpriteKit framework for building point and click adventure games. As an innovative problem solver and industry leader, Tammy enjoys working on projects from content creation – including books, tutorials, videos, and podcasts – to the design and development of cross-platform applications and games. For Creative Bloq, she has written about an array of subjects, including animation, web design and character design.

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