Having avoided my innate desire for the arts for close to 30 years due to perfectionism issues, I finally decided I had to kick it in the butt and began borrowing books from the library on drawing and painting. I loved Drawing Realistic Pets so much that I bought my own copy. Basically, I had lost all the training I'd gotten from the few art classes I took way back when.But I have found not all books on drawing and painting are good at being practical and useful on teaching you simple techniques to get the ball rolling. Drawing Realistic Pets gave me the fundamental information I needed, like basic tools, how to blend pencil strokes for the right effects, effective use of an eraser for highlighting effects, equipment, supplies (it may sound foolish to a beginner but there are lots of subtleties in the differences between pencils). What especially helped me was a technique I had been taught many years ago but forgot--using a light grid to help you better draw your picture to proportion. I did 2 drawings of a face--one without the grid and one with and there is a night and day improvement between the two. Well worth the money. I love this book.Even when not drawing, the many dog drawings in this book (among other animals) have a tranquil effect on me, like listening to Bob Ross as he paints. 8-)