The Learning to See series by Peter Jenny is a tidy trilogy of pocket-sized books that will lead you to your sketchbook. Each one opens with an introductory essay designed to get you thinking. This is followed by a series of short exercises that are very easy to launch into. The Artist's Eye puts the focus on training your eye to see more than what you think is there. Look around and there is art in the most mundane of objects. Drawing Techniques offers a variety of simple approaches to drawing and Figure Drawing makes the human figure a lot more accessible. The books present good warm-up exercises to free you up and get you going. Great for doodlers.

Paperback. Princeton Architectural Press, 2012. $9.50 each at Amazon.

+ The Artist's Eye at Amazon
+ Drawing Techniques at Amazon
+ Figure Drawing at Amazon