Transform simple pencil sketches into jaw-dropping, photorealistic masterpieces with The Art of 3D Drawing.

World-famous 3D artist Stefan Pabst shows you how to take your drawing and painting skills to the next level with techniques for creating lifelike three-dimensional art. Begin with an overview of tools and materials, color theory and color mixing, and drawing and painting techniques. Then follow along with 12 stunning, step-by-step demonstrations that teach fundamental principles of 3D art, such as perspective, shading, rendering textures, and building dimension.

Also find tips on adding color with oil paints to add even greater dimension and realism to your artwork and complete your three-dimensional masterpieces. An inspiration gallery at the back offers even more ideas for creating 3D art.

Whatever your skill level, you will learn something new as you draw and paint a range of subjects in realistic detail. The projects are:  

• A cube that appears to pop up from the paper
• A floating sphere
• A hole that seems to dip below the surface of the paper
• A group of LEGO® blocks
• An airplane “flying” over the paper
• Planet Earth
• A glass of water
• A ladybug that looks like it might crawl off the page
• A shiny classic car
• The Mayan ruin of Chichen Itza
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa
• A child “jumping” off the page

With The Art of 3D Drawing, friends and family won’t believe their eyes as they admire your amazing photorealistic artwork.

Stefan Pabst calls himself the portrait painter, and for good reason. A professional artist based in Germany who grew up in Russia, Stefan creates photorealistic 3D drawings and paintings. He has been featured on BuzzFeed, My Modern Met, and Laughing Squid, among others, and his online instructional videos garner tens of thousands of views each. Learn more at portrait-gemalt-nach-foto.de.

Jessica West is a literary translator working from German and Russian into English. She has a BA (Hons) in German and Russian from the University of Sheffield and was awarded a Distinction in her MA Translation Studies at the University of Portsmouth. Her main areas of professional interest are nature and the environment (especially birds), costume history, travel, folklore, art and speculative fiction (both adult and YA).