The Addictive Sketcher

Praise

Paint Magazine – Jan 2020

I said you’ll like Adebanji and I’ll go further, you’ll love him. His addiction isn’t demanding (at least not of the reader) and his enthusiasm doesn’t make him a preacher. He just wants you to get as much pleasure from sketching – anything and everything – as he does. He achieves this by showing countless examples and by offering a torrent of practical advice. 

But perhaps the best thing about Adebanji is that he understands his own working methods and this makes him one of the best teachers around. Books on sketching can easily be – erm – sketchy (boom, boom!) when it comes to instruction, but this is one of the best drawing manuals there is. Adebanji understands form, structure and perspective and his explanations of everything from faces to buildings, interiors, landscapes and figures, both individual and in groups, are second to none.
This is a joyous book that will teach you much more than you’ll ever believe in the company of a warm and generous teacher.
 
The Artist – Feb 2020

This is a book born of love. Adebanji Alade loves books and he loves drawing. If you’re going to write one, it’s a good place to start. In other hands, this could easily be a street-corner evangelistic rant, but Adebanji is too smart for that. He’s also an excellent teacher, having learnt his craft from a copy of Alwyn Crawshaw’s Learn to Sketch and understanding not just the processes of drawing, but how to acquire them.

It’s impossible not to be carried along by his enthusiasm and the sheer dynamism of his work. Although this is carried out for the most part in the field, it’s remarkably polished and a lot more than just quick notes. There’s an element of improvisation – a jazz-like tone – and Adebanji certainly has a natural ability. If you share his love of drawing, this is a book to embrace as well as learn from.

Booklist – April 2020

Author and artist Alade, known for his painting, teaching, and YouTube channel, believes that making sketching a habit is the best way to develop one’s skills. This method of daily practice will sound familiar to readers pursuing virtually any artistic endeavor, and Alade endorses a focus on sketching subjects one finds interesting as the key to sustaining the practice over time. With lists of advice for creating a sketching habit, sections focused on techniques, tools, subjects, and settings offer instruction and examples. The variety in Alade’s own work—using a range of media, both color and monotone, and in a number of styles—keeps the reader’s interest. Aspiring artists with a wide range of styles will see themselves reflected here. Alade encourages readers to immerse themselves in the works of artists they admire through books and documentaries, so library staff may find that this book also spurs interest in other art books. — Anne Heidemann