How to draw a book for beginners

Book drawings for beginners

Want to learn how to draw a book?

What about different types of books? Perhaps you want to learn how to draw a stack of books for a bullet journal book tracker?

Whether you want to create a gorgeous book spread in a journal, or you simply want to get better at doodling, this post will teach you how to draw a book (even if you’re a beginner!).

Bullet journal book ideas

Before you learn how to draw books, you might be looking for ways to add books into your bullet journal.

If so, check out these bullet journal book ideas below:

A book tracker. You can track books you have read on a dedicated spread in your bullet journal. You can track them each month, or create a spread to track what books you have read throughout the year.
A book rating spread. You can both track and review your initial thoughts on books as you finish reading them.
To-read list. Instead of tracking what books you are reading, you could make a list of books you would like to read some day, then tick them off as you read them.
A reading challenge. Instead of tracking books as you read them, or making a goal reading spread, you can set yourself a reading challenge and aim to read certain books by certain dates.
Books to take on holiday. If you have vacations planned, you can draw books and make notes of what books you would like to take with you on each trip.

Now you have a few ideas for doodling books in your bullet journal, let’s learn how to draw them!

Art supplies to draw a book

Something to draw in or on. This can be plain paper, a sketchbook, or in a bullet journal.
A pencil and an eraser to plan your drawings out (if need be).
Pens. I recommend a fineliner. You can use any colour pen you want, but I tend to use black.
Colours if you want to add colour to your book doodles.

How to draw a book – book drawing step by step tutorial

How to draw a simple book

First we will learn how to draw a simple book.

Step 1. Draw two straight lines across. Draw them at a slight angle sloping down, and keep them parallel.

Step 2. Add a curved line from the edge of one straight line down to the other. Repeat on the other side, and make sure the second line curves in the same direction.

Step 3. Draw two straight lines in parallel from the corners of the top line. Draw the straight lines diagonally. Join the two straight lines across at the top with a straight horizontal line, at the same angle as the spine of the book.

Step 4. Draw another straight line at the same angle off the last corner.

Now fill in the space with small lines to create pages, and you’re done!

Draw a stack of books 3D

Drawing a stack of 3D books is similar, except you add more lines initially (and eventually end with more books!).

Step 1. Draw four straight lines across. The gap in between each line is a book, so this will create a stack of 3 books; if you want a taller stack, draw more horizontal lines.

Step 2. Draw curved lines at the end of each set of horizontal lines. This will create the edge of the spine for each book.

Step 3. Create diagonal lines back from the corner of the spine of each book. Make sure each line stays at the same angle.

Step 4. Draw straight lines across each line to draw the back of each book. Add in small lines from the top left corners of each book, at the same angle as each of the other lines. Create lines down at the end of each corner to create pages.

Now you have a 3D stack of books!

Exactly the same as the first book, but now multiple are stacked.

How to draw a book cover

Step 1. Start by drawing a rectangle. Draw it at a slight angle.

Step 2. Add in two curved lines from the two left corners, and a straight line down between these two curved lines to create the spine of the book.

Step 3. Create a straight line across the top, in parallel with the top of the book. This will create the back of the book.

Step 4. Draw a wobbly line down from the back of the book to the front of the book, to create the space where the pages go in.

Lastly, add in some decoration to finish!

I added a few lines in to show the pages, and some lines and curves to the spine to make it more decorated.

I also added some scribbles on the front of the book to represent a book title.

Open book drawing step by step

Now we will learn how to draw an open book.

Step 1. Draw a straight vertical line. This will be the center of the book. Then draw two vertical lines; these will form the two pages of the open book. The two outer lines should tilt inwards slightly at the top and then gradually come out at the bottom.

Step 2. Create some wavy lines coming from the center of the book outwards to the edge of the pages. Make sure the shape of the wave is the same on the top of the paper as it is on the bottom. I also recommend making the line wave up when it was closed to the center, and then dipping downwards when it reaches the edge of the page.

Also, add a little triangle at the bottom in the center of the two pages, to be the spine.

Step 3. At the bottom and on the right hand side, draw some of the same shaped lines around the open pages. These will be the more pages in the book.

Step 4. To finish, add some straight lines around the pages. This will create the hard cover of the book.

Add some text in on the open pages, and you’re done!

How to draw a stack of upright books

This is how to draw a book stack:

Step 1. Draw a set of parallel, vertical lines.

Step 2. Draw downward curves between each set of lines. Draw the curved lines at different heights to make the books different sizes.

Step 3. Add in small curved lines at the bottom of each set of lines. Keep these at the same height; if the books were sitting on a shelf, the bottom of the books would be level.

Step 4. Add in some decoration onto the spine of each book, and you’re done!

How to draw a simple stack of books

Now, here is how to draw a stack of books on its side.

Step 1. Create a set of parallel lines across.

Step 2. Draw some more horizontal lines on top.

Step 3. Continue to draw horizontal lines on top to create a higher stack. Make them different heights to create books of different thicknesses.

Then add small downward lines between each set of horizontal lines, to create edges of each book.

Step 4. Add in some decoration on the spine, including titles for the books, and you’ve got a stack of books!

How to draw a notebook

Lastly, here is how do draw a cute notebook.

Step 1. Draw a rectangle. Make sure it’s at a slight angle.

Step 2. Draw two curves downwards from the right and left side of the notebook. Also draw a straight line across and upwards around the bottom right corner.

Step 3. To add in spiral bounding, draw three small circles along the top of the rectangle. Then draw curves coming from inside the circles, over the back of the notebook.

Step 4. Join the curved lines and the corners to create the edges of the paper.

To finish, add in the details. I made the spiral bounding thicker, added the title “notes”, and put some lines in as sheets of paper.

How to draw a book easy: final thoughts

I hope this has shown you how to create a book doodle and other book drawings easily.

And how easy it is to draw different types of books (that look really good!).

Here are all the book drawing tutorials together:

If you enjoyed this post on book drawings, check out these other drawing tutorials:

How to draw a book for beginners

Book drawings for beginners

Bullet journal book ideas

Art supplies to draw a book