A book with a ribbon bookmark

Draw a closed book as a shallow box, then soften the corners. A ribbon bookmark and a few page edges add a manageable amount of detail.

A way into the drawing

1. Make a shallow box

   Sketch the top cover as a slanted rectangle, then lower its front corners to give the book thickness. Keep matching edges aligned.

2. Separate cover and pages

   Add the spine curve and a small cover overhang. Place just a few parallel page lines inside the visible page block.

3. Finish with the ribbon

   Draw a narrow bookmark emerging from the pages. Shade below the overhanging cover and add a light ground shadow.

A small thing to tryCompare the angles of opposite cover edges. A consistent shallow box is more convincing than dozens of individual page lines.