Draw what you read!

Some weeks ago Katie wrote a post about a Flickr group called "Draw what you read". There you can upload photos of drawings that show books you are reading.

I've found it a cute idea!
Not only I'm a passionate reader (I love books!) but I'm trying to improve my abilities as a drawer, after years of not-drawing at all (and now that I've started to draw again I understand how I missed this kind of self-expression activity, my favourite when I was a child). I decided to draw all the covers of the books I read in my moleskine, it's an interesting exercise for me and a funny way to record my readings.

I started with the cover of "A room of one's own" by Virgina Woolf (italian edition, Oscar Mondadori, with a lovely photo of Virginia Woolf). Honestly, this drawing came out so ugly! Not a good start, I don't want to share it with the world, sorry.

Second try: "Sense and sensibility" by Jane Austen, italian edition (Newton Compton editori), with a beautiful illustration by Elena Prette.

My drawing is not a masterpiece, but I like it!
It's not an exact copy of the original cover, there are some differences, but it doesn't matter. The purpose of this exercise is not to do a photo of your book, but to re-edit it following your style.
Talking about this book, uhm, I find it boring. Sorry, I know that there are a lot of Jane Austen's fans out there, but I can't lie. I don't like Elinor and Marianne, I don't like the life of british rich people in old times. But I really like Jane Austen's style, in particular her irony.
I haven't finished this novel yet, probably it will take me forever, because I start to sleep after some pages.

Third drawing: "The writing diet" by Julia Cameron, english edition (Tarcher Penguin).

I love the original cover! It's so beautiful and original!
I did my best to draw it and I'm happy with the result.
While doing it, I noticed an important thing about drawing: it changes your way to watch things around you. Before drawing this cover I haven't noticed all those details on the plate (the golden decoration, the flowers...) and the marbled surface of the pen. It surprised me a bit!

And you? Are you reading a book you can draw? Have you a favourite book cover to show us? Join "Draw what you read" flickr group, draw and share it!