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Think you can't draw? You might be proven wrong

Artist, illustrator and "paper engineer" Lydia Crook is on a mission: to show even the most self-doubting aspiring artist that yes, they can draw.

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Cover of Lydia Crook's "I Can't Draw! This Book Will Prove You Can" featuring orange lettering, architectural drawings and a 60 activities badge on a grey background

That explains the directness of the title of her new book – I Can't Draw: This Book Will Prove You Can.

Released next month from the publisher Quarto priced £12.99, the book takes the form of a lighthearted, interactive workbook, featuring 60 art activities explained using simple instructions and prompts.

Each activity works towards instilling in people the essential elements of drawing—exploring, as the author puts it, new ways of "looking, noticing, doodling, and squiggling" with the aim being that readers will see that actually, they can draw after all.

The various activities and gentle lessons in the book include continuous line drawing, drawing with dots, hatching, making patterns, creating 3D objects, contouring and shading, drawing perspective and movement and mark-making, including how to draw using easily accessible tools like cotton wool.

UK-based Crook is known for her playful illustrations, ornate paper cuts and limited edition prints. In her role as a "paper engineer" – for which she works as part of Corina Fletcher's creative team – she has designed and created books for Ivy Kids, Macmillan, Kingfisher and Thunder Bay Press among others. Her titles include Paper Play, Christmas Paper Play, Make a Mobile and Two-Player Big Fun Book.

A page from "I Can't Draw: This Book Will Prove You Can" featuring instructional drawings and exercises for creating 3D shapes including cubes, cylinders and stars with simple step-by-step guidance
Black ink illustration of a landscape with trees, water and reflections, titled Drawing Reflections, with instructional text on techniques for drawing reflected objects and surfaces
A page from I Can't Draw by Lydia Crook showing geometric drawing instructions with three progressive examples of drawing a bow shape using intersecting lines, surrounded by a yellow and tan patterned border
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