Step-by-step artwork by Ryan Axxel
I enjoyed the True Beauty webtoon, so I thought it would be fun to go through the Learn to Draw True Beauty book. I feel like this is a great idea for a tie-in to inspire young fanartists, with perhaps information they can also carry on to other art.
I found it a little disappointing how much of this title is fluff. This book has 96 pages. Getting Started is on page 22, with a full-page title page and full-page image of Jugyeong (the main character), with the actual information starting on page 24. Before that is intros to what webtoons are, what the story of True Beauty is, and who the main characters are. The most useful bit in these pages is the palettes for the main characters, listed on each of their pages. In general, I don't find these pages very useful since this book is aimed at people who are already fans of True Beauty.
The step-by-step section begins on page 34, again with a two-page splash before the information starts. As far as step-by-step goes, this book is definitely written for artists who already know the basics and just want to focus on the details of these characters. This is not a book for beginners, which might disappoint some young fans.
This is a well-produced book. Good paper, beautifully printed colors, good imagery to follow. But I feel like about a fifth of the book is wasted and could've been used to give more detail on the actual drawing part. Some fans will enjoy this tie-in, but I think many fanartists can develop their own takes on the characters without its help. A little more focus on the basics and details to make this more friendly to beginners would give the book a wider appeal.
