Doodle Dogs: Best in Show by Tim Hopgood
| Doodle Dogs: Best in Show by Tim Hopgood | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: A lovely introduction to a variety of different artistic styles, all discovered by drawing different kinds of dogs! | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 80 | Date: May 2017 |
| Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781509820818 | |
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Doodle Dogs introduces a wide variety of artistic styles through the idea of a dog show! Tim Hopgood shows us different kinds of dogs, all of which can be created very easily, and you soon find that doodling a dog can be a lot more detailed, and interesting, than you perhaps previously appreciated!
The beginning of the book looks at an artist's tools, and then painting tools. It does state that you don't need to have everything that's listed there, but it gives helpful information about a wide range of materials, from charcoal and glue sticks to Acrylic paint and kitchen roll (important for mopping up mess!) After look at a variety of different tools, the book begins with a little colouring, then goes onto simple lines, repeating the pattern that has been started for you, but quickly moves on to creating patterns on the dogs, or drawing the dogs yourself. Sometimes you are given the outline of the dog, to work around, and sometimes there is a pattern or bit of colouring on the page, and then you draw the dog over it.
You can follow the book through, learning as you work through each page, but you could also just dip in and out as you choose. It is simple enough for older toddlers to give it a try (with a grown up to read the instructions) as they could have a go at repeating different sorts of lines, adding faces to dogs etc. but there is also enough there for older children too, to fully immerse themselves in creating unusual textures and patterns through their drawing, and using different drawing tools.
The artistic styles covered range from Mondrian to Pollock to Matisse, but through the book itself there's no heavy handed art history lessons - merely the use of a particular style. For those interested in where the styles come from there's a section at the back that shows the relevant doggy picture against a brief bio of each artist. Perfect for an interested kid, helpful for one who may nothing about art, and easily ignored for those who just want to draw and draw and draw!
All of the dogs portrayed are cheerful and endearing...they make you want to pick up a pencil and have a go yourself. The paper is good, thick paper, and I liked the way many of the dogs are labelled (with a dog show entry card!) allowing you to name your creations. You would need to crack the spine, to try to flatten the book out for any painting, or you could tear the page out I suppose. But it's bright and colourful, as you'd imagine, and perfect for a rainy afternoon. A lovely, lighthearted way to practise drawing, and to learn a little about art along the way.
Further reading suggestion: You might also enjoy 3, 2, 1... Draw! by Serge Bloch and Draw It! Colour It! Creatures by Axel Scheffler, Emily Gravett et al.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Doodle Dogs: Best in Show by Tim Hopgood at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Doodle Dogs: Best in Show by Tim Hopgood at Amazon.com.
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