Jack Hamm--Best drawing guide for beginners?
Ken from Chicago
wish of growing up and drawing your own comics someday. Um, problem, unlike
writing comics, that drawing part seemed really hard. (Later one would find
out the writing part is just as if not more difficult than the drawing, but
I digress.) Sure, you could trace comics, and many have, but some want to be
original. So you search out a how-to book on drawing in various bookstores
or libraries, except they mostly seem to be almost completely drawn figures.
Sure, there might be stuff about perspective, atmospheric perspective, etc.,
but no one completely broke down the drawning part to its basic:
Except for Jack Hamm.
DRAWING THE HEAD & FIGURE (1983, by Jack Hamm) seems like it should be
required reading at the academ-er for all would-be comic book illustrators.
It breaks down the figures, head and face to basic shapes and stick figures,
proportions, hair, poses, perspective shots, shading, etc. I've never seen a
book before or since goes to that level detail in breaking down the
sketching process for the one thing that's center stage for
comics--especially superhero comics.
But maybe I'm wrong (it's happened on a few occassions in recorded history).
Is there another, "better" (now there's a loaded subjective phrase) how-to
book for would be illustrators?
-- Ken from Chicago (former would-be comic book penciller of the '80s)
Dash Riprock
number of the comic art instruction books out there, and most of them
tend to leave me underwhelmed - basically because many of them tend to
concentrate on style rather than substance. I dunno - maybe they know
who they're marketing to. Jack Hamm looks more like substance to me,
and you may be right.
Even though comics have changed radically since the book came out, Stan
Lee and John Buscema's "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" is still a
standard that, to me anyway, touches on many of the points you
mentioned pretty well.
The George Bridgman art instruction books are still in print, and while
he may have been one of the greatest of art instructors (he taught
Norman Rockwell, etc.), his books were always hard for me to figure
out. All of those charcoal forms never pulled together for me. And
maybe one of these days I'll grow up and will finally understand it
too. That could happen.
When I was a kid, I devoured the Andrew Loomis books I found at the
library. THEY made sense to me. Apparently a lot of today's top artists
are Loomis fans too. Long out of print, they are available online at
http://www.fineart.sk/index.php?cat=13
I also remember learning from some of the Walter Foster books when I
was a kid (especially the Preston Blair animation books - great stuff
for learning about depicting weight and motion in comics - Mitch Byrd's
recent book reminded me of Blair's stuff in some ways).
And suddenly this has all become memory lane. Sorry.
== M
Ken from Chicago
"Dash Riprock" <edm...@michaelfraley.com> wrote in message
news:1150826939....@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Wow, seems a might complicated.
As opposed to Jack Hamm's book. Like on the first page or two, you saw the
basic human head, the basic T, how the eyes are halfway from the top of the
head to the bottom of the chin (which blew my mind when I first read since I
was sure the eyes were higher up, mainly because I was judging from the
hairline to the bottom of the chin), eyes and ends of mouth are halfway
between the nose and side of head, etc. You got almost instant practical
practiceable instruction right away with minimal delay.
By page 15, I was able to do a credible job sketching a head from a variety
of angles--and knew the eye on the far side of a 3-quarters view would
INTERRUPT the outline of the head (which JR jr seemed to never learn and
thus his characters' eyes look sunken deep in their heads because he REFUSES
to frelling ERASE the outline of the head in three-quarters perspective, but
I digress).
-- Ken from Chicago
plausible prose man
Ken from Chicago wrote:
> But maybe I'm wrong (it's happened on a few occassions in recorded history).
> Is there another, "better" (now there's a loaded subjective phrase) how-to
> book for would be illustrators?
Many people point to Betty Edward's "Drawing on the Right Side of the
Brain" as where they first "got it" in terms of going from stick
figures and popcorn men to accurately drawing what they see or
envision, although note the implied neuroscience is shaky and her
logical v. creative dichotomy isn't really very helpful.
I'd second the Bridgemen books, and of course there's Hogarth, (the
20th century illustrator)
Pudde Fjord
> For many fans of comics, especially young fans, there seemed to be a secret
> wish of growing up and drawing your own comics someday. Um, problem, unlike
> writing comics, that drawing part seemed really hard. (Later one would find
> out the writing part is just as if not more difficult than the drawing, but
> I digress.) Sure, you could trace comics, and many have, but some want to be
> original. So you search out a how-to book on drawing in various bookstores
> or libraries, except they mostly seem to be almost completely drawn figures.
> Sure, there might be stuff about perspective, atmospheric perspective, etc.,
> but no one completely broke down the drawning part to its basic:
>
I've been through a number of different books with varying focus on
drawing. A *lot* of how-to-draw-manga books are available, some of those
are good in thinking in "page" format, not only single-drawing (as
general courses *always* do).
I also liked the "Comic Crash Course" by Vincent Garriano, this gives a
good overview of how action comics is made, as well as how to draw
figures etc. It is not very detailed on eache step, but gives a working
knowledge of how the comics is made. He uses an image-inspired style
himself, but the basics should be the same anyway.
If anyone reads Italian and is able to get hold of them, the magazine
"Scoula de Fumetti" from Italy is full of interesting things for
aspiring comics artists, as well as interviews and samples from (mostly)
italian professionals.
"Draw" magazine seems to be aimed at little more advanced artists, but
has some good examples of sketches.
I've also seen a few "Cartoon"-style books, but those are mostly
targeted at comical strip creators.
I have not seen the Hamm book, so I can't compare these to that one. But
in general - learn to draw in whatever way you can, what you do with it
afterwards may be something *quite* different.
And don't forget to study your favorite artists, and find out *what*
they're doing, how they create effects etc.
Pudde.
Joker
>Except for Jack Hamm.
Ben Caldwell has two great books out. He is definitely a more "cartoon"
style artist, but he has some great examples and instruction.
--
Joker
"...God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me."
Gen. 21:6
Mr Vo
news:Ktcmg.69938$4L1....@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com:
Burne Hogarth's "Drawing the..." books.
Includes separate books for the hand, the figure, the fih=gure in motion,
dynamic anatomy, and light and shading.
These are books I remember being the ones to use in helping to learn to
draw.
--
People who cannot recognize a palpable absurdity are very much in the way
of civilization.
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geared towards five year olds or experts. You need to learn anatomy
before you can draw fluid motion, so stay away from the Kubert books
until you master the figure.
Michael Alan Chary
I like LC Greenwood and Mel Blount's books better.
--
The All-New, All-Different Howling Curmudgeons!
http://www.whiterose.org/howlingcurmudgeons