Review and Giveaway: Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Win a Copy, You Can!

Cover image © Lucasfilm Ltd. and Klutz

The Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series is by most accounts much better than it has any right to be, considering the lousy live-action trilogy and animated movie on which it’s based. One of its better characteristics is the high quality of the art and animation, and if your kids are anything like mine, they’ve tried their hand at drawing the characters themselves.

So I was very excited to receive a review copy of the new Klutz book Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars. My wife, who’s a far better artist than I am, sat down with my kids to try out the techniques the book teaches. It instructs you to follow a step-by-step process, working from the inside of each character to the outside, which is good advice (according to my wife) for drawing any sort of figure, whether Star Wars-related or not.

The book includes a set of colored pencils, a “Star Wars”-branded automatic pencil and marker, and a good eraser. Tracing sheets are interspersed with instructions on how to draw the various characters, droids, and accessories, making the process even easier to follow. There is a very good variety in the figures chosen, from humans like Obi-Wan and Anakin to “big, sloppy” creatures like Jabba the Hutt to Battle Droids and Droidekas. The text is well-written, containing plenty of story-oriented detail along with the drawing directions — I particularly liked the page that allows you to customize and name your own clones.

I heartily recommend the book for anyone who enjoys or whose kids enjoy the TV series. I, even with my lack of drawing talent, was able to create a few drawings that were, if not great, at least identifiable as what they were intended to be. And my kids have been having a blast drawing the characters they like — Yoda is their current favorite.

Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars, by the Editors of Klutz and the inestimable Bonnie Burton (whom if you’re not following on Twitter, you should), retails for $16.95, though it can easily be found for less. You can also be entered to win a copy of the book by leaving a comment on this post before noon PST tomorrow (December 1), telling us who your favorite character on the Clone Wars TV series is. The giveaway is only open to U.S. residents (or those with a usable U.S. mailing address).

Wired: Very easy to follow instructions with great step-by-step guides. Enough detail about the story and characters to make the book unique, but not so much that it isn’t useful as a tool in learning good basic drawing skills.

Tired: They do include Ahsoka and Jar-Jar, which as a parent I understand are there for the kids. But I don’t have to like them.

(FCC Disclosure: I received a free review copy of the book.)