Draw With Rob Biddulph golden rules for budding artists

If you didn't join in with #DrawWithRob - the twice-weekly draw-along videos by author and illustrator Rob Biddulph, were you even in lockdown? The now viral initiative was set up in March 2020 by picture-book superstar (and Junior Design Award winner) Rob to help entertain children stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic with a series of videos that encouraged them to simply, get drawing.

Budding artists across the globe joined Rob as he shared easy step-by-step instructions on how to draw his picture book characters including those from Blown Away!, Dinosaur Juniors, Odd Dog Out and more. You can view all the Rob Biddulph videos here

With more than 28 million impressions on YouTube alone, these drawing videos brought art lessons to life and caught the imaginations of families, children and artists young and old as we all stayed at home. And on May 21st, Rob even broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest art lesson when over 45,000 families took part in his 30-minute class to draw a whale!

So, you can imagine our excitement when we were sent the new Draw With Rob by Rob Biddulph activity book just in time for the summer holidays! This 64-page, full colour book has perforated pages, which means children (hey, and us adults) can use the interactive guides to draw their favourite characters, tear them out and even create their own gallery.

As an extra special treat for all Rob's fans and to celebrate the launch of his new book, we spoke to the artist himself and asked him to give us his top drawing tips because who wants #DrawWithRob to end just because (home)-schools out?

Draw With Rob: Rob Biddulph's 6 Golden Rules for Budding Artists

1. Be confident. I firmly believe that anyone can draw. Sometimes you might need a bit of help with the order that the drawing is done in, but you can definitely do it. Once a drawing is broken down into bite-sized pieces, it immediately becomes much more achievable.
2. Keep going. If you make a mistake, don't screw your piece of paper up and throw it away. Often, it's those little mishaps that give the drawing its charm. There is no such thing as a perfect drawing anyway. All art is subjective. So if you have a happy accident, just keep going...
3. Look. Sketching from life is a great way to improve. Put an apple on the table and draw it. Try to forget that it's an apple and think of it as a shape made up of dark areas and light areas. Don't draw what you think is there, draw what is actually there. You'll learn a lot about shading and form that way.
4. Express yourself. I try to leave some space for interpretation in all of my videos. I like the fact that despite us all starting off with the same piece of white paper and us all drawing the same character, at the end no two pictures look the same. We can't help but put a bit of ourselves into our drawings. And that's the beauty of art.
5. Less is more. Don't exaggerate the expression on your characters face. Quite often, a neutral visage conveys emotion in a much more effective way. I think it's because the viewer finds it easier to project what they are feeling onto a blank canvas.
6. Draw. Draw. Draw. As often as you can. It's like a muscle - you have to exercise it if you want it to get stronger. The more you draw, the better you'll get. It's that simple.

BUY THE BOOK >> Draw with Rob by Rob Biddulph, £6.99 HarperCollins Children’s Books