[Drawing] Can somone recommend a 'how to draw' book?

[LoneWolf23]

I have to cast a vote against "How to draw the Marvel Way", as when I was studying art, my art teacher didn't recommend it. He did recommend books on anatomy and, most importantly, LOTS AND LOTS of references; Real artists don't
draw from books, they draw from life.

Having said that, I recommend the "How to draw manga" series from Graphics-SHA, and also the "How to draw Manga" series from Antarctic Press, which includes lessons from the best in the US Manga industry, and includes subjects as varied as poses, perspective, facial expressions and transformable mecha.

 

[hellbender]

Real artists don't
draw from books, they draw from life.

I am not sure about that. Drawing from life is the best practice and the best way to make your work look natural. 'Real' artists are able to utilize any resources they have handy to communicate their artistic intentions. I trade art reference material with a lot of illustrators and we use what we can.

hellbender

 

[s/LaSH]

If it's of any use... http://www.saveloomis.org should offer a few useful things.

I'll have to echo the twin sentiments of 'draw as much as possible' and 'draw from life/reference as much as possible'. Very important. Also, I found myself improving when I got my hands on a human anatomy atlas. See, when you draw people, you aren't drawing clothing with heads and hands sticking out of it, you're drawing a body which might happen to have some cloth on the outside. It pays to really know what you're looking at and how it all hooks together.

 

[Terry Edwards]

Do not try to learn how to draw from a book! It is a waste of your time and money. If you really want to expand your artistic capabilities then take a class from a community college or independent instructor. It may cost more than a How to...book but you will be challenged to draw in new ways and forced to practice everything you learn. The value of a good instructor cannot be compared to the rigid guidelines in a book. If you are serious about your art do yourself a favor and take a class.

 

[teitan]

The Marvel Way is a great place to start to get your basic fundamentals down. You have to get those fundamentals or your work is going to look flat, misproportioned and just ugly, no matter how good your polish is...

next, don't look at your comic books. You will get depressed. I look at a Kirby comic and want to be Kirby so bad, but if I keep looking at Kirby I will just be a bad rehash of Kirby. If you are interested in comic book style art, well, wait until you get those fundamentals before looking at your favorite artists, that way you can break down the work in your head, seperate style from mistakes and get a really good feeling for what it is that makes the art work, not what makes it look cool.

Perspective books are essential, as are anatomy books. Grey's anatomy is a must have for EVERY body who wants to draw the human form.

I will tell you, very stern faced... avoid, I mean AVOID Burne Hogarth's anatomy book. Hogarth is a great artist but if you use the techniques he presents in his books in toto then your figures will look like Hogarth figures or somewhat dumpy and fat. His books on Hands, Drapery and Figure Drawing (not the Anatomy book, they are different) are good... especially the drapery book if you are having problems in that department.

Andy Smith's book IS VERY MUCH a good book, on par with the Marvel book, as is Chris Hart's Drawing Superheroes and Villains, couple it with Drawinbg Cutting Edge Comics and you have some decent resource material. Cutting Edge really helps in jazzing up your female figures without looking like John Byrne drew them.

One thing I do now that I have been drawing and have a good understanding of drawing comic book style work is looking at sketchbooks, especially the ones that show pencils and the blue line pencils as well. You can really learn a lot by seeing the skeletons of other people's work.

Joe Kubert has a great book, Superheroes... buy it.

Two must haves for comic book art... Comics & Sequential Art by WIll Eisner and Scott McCloud's Guide to Understanding Comics.

Jason