sketch: a project guide to drawing with confidence

Author: Sam Marshall
Format: Paperback
Publication date: 22 January 2026
208 pages

An inspiring and practical guide to give you the confidence to draw like you.

Drawing helps you see. The more you draw, the more you look, and the more your world opens up.

Many of us feel we can't draw even though as children we drew unselfconsciously. Artist Sam Marshall believes we are all inherently creative and through her book she invites you into a welcoming workshop where you will develop techniques to help you maintain a regular drawing practice. This is not a 'how to draw' book but an encouraging project guide that will support you to sketch and be creative in your own way.

The book starts with a series of warm-up exercises and then leads into a set of challenges divided into chapters that increase in complexity from drawing at home and in green spaces to drawing from paintings. It concludes with a series of more advanced exercises including collage as a means of drawing and working on larger imaginative pieces.

Sam suggests the use of a variety of materials including coloured pencils, felt tips, inks and marker pens. For each exercise she presents her own drawings and observations as well as those from a select group of her students to show that everyone's mark making is unique.

This is an inspirational guide that will change the way you think and feel about drawing. It will help you to discover the joy of drawing in a sketchbook as a way of looking, reflecting and relaxing.