Book List Thread

[jester]

Since the same questions are being asked again and again and since one of the main questions is on instructive literature I thought it might be a good idea to set up a commented book list. Perhaps we can make this sticky?

It would be great if posters could follow the same format, to make it easier to follow up. I suggest:

Surname, Prename; Title: Subtitle, Publisher (Year of Publishing), ISBN (if available), app. Price.

I also grade my book tips with one up to three stars, one star * meaning: good, two stars ** very good and three stars *** excellent. I think it's also a good idea to use the subject for each posting and group the books you recomment, for example Anatomy or Perspective, Color Theory, Non-English and so on. Any other suggestions on how to make this a valuable tool for all of us? Come on, spread the wealth! :D

Jester

[jester]

* Nicolaides, Kimon; The Natural Way to Draw, Houghton Mifflin (1941, 1969), ISBN 0-395-53007-5, US$ 15.00; A complete course on learning to draw.

** Bridgeman, George B.; Complete Guide to Drawing from Life, Wings Books (1999), ISBN 0-517-25546-4; How to draw the Human Figure, including a chapter on Draping.

*** Simblet, Sarah; Anatomy for the Artist, Dorling Kindersley (2001), ISBN 0-7894-8045-X,; Fantastic photos of the human body, transparent muscle overlays on bone-structures; 10 masterclasses; practical drawing lessons (warning, a high degree of detailed nudity!).

** Faigin, Gary, The Artists Complete Guide to Facial Expression, Watson Guptill (1990), ISBN 0-8230-1628-5, US$ 35.00, Whatever you want to learn about human expressions seems to be in this book. Only flaw I find is that he never shows to photos he’s working from so that one can’t compare drawing with reference.

* Burne Hogarth; Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery, ISBN 0-8230-1587-4, Watson-Guptill, 22.50$

* Burne Hogarth; Drawing Dynamic Hands, ISBN 0-8230-1368-5, Watson-Guptill, 16.96$

* Burne Hogarth; Dynamic Figure Drawing, ISBN 0-8230-1577-7, Watson-Guptill, 19.95$

* Christopher Hart, Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy, ISBN 0-8230-2497-0, Watson Guptill, 19.95$ (nothing new but presented in an understandable way, good starting point for the absolute beginner)

***Ron Tiner, Figure Drawing Without a Model, ISBN 0-7153-0646-4, David & Charles, 17.00$ (absolutely inspiring and helpful, offers tasks and tips)

[Smeagol71]

Great idea Jester! Thanks!

Here's a few that I've been looking over lately and have come to appreciate. There are so much more to post...books books books! You can't ever have enough of them!!!

Business Aids

***Fleishman, Michael; Starting Your Career as a Freelance Illustrator or Graphic Designer, Allworth Press (2001), ISBN 1-58115-199-3, US $19.95

***Crawford, Tad; Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists, Allworth Press (1990, 1995, 1999), ISBN 1-58115-031-8, US $19.95

**Crawford, Tad; Legal Guide for the Visual Artist, Allworth Press (1999), ISBN 1-58115-003-2, US $19.95

Color Theory

**Parramon, Jose M.; Color Theory, Watson-Guptill Pub. (1988), ISBN 0-8230-0755-3, US $14.95

Artists

***Forrer, Matthi; Hokusai, Barnes & Noble Books (1996), ISBN 0-7607-3535-2, US $??? (A nice look at the work of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai

[jester]

Since there are quite a lot of Germans or German speaking people are around I think it's also time to guide you to some interesting books. They might also be available in English, however I have no info at hand as to title and ISBN and price.

** Edwards, Betty; Das neue garantiert Zeichnen lernen, Rowohlt (2000), ISBN 3-498-01669-5, ca. 20 EUR; für Einsteiger sehr hilfreich, auch als "Mutmachbuch" weiterzumachen.

** Barcsay, Jenö; Anatomie für Künstler, Otus Verlag (2001), ISBN 3-907194-02-0, ? EUR Mit großformatigen anatomischen Zeichnungen, sehr klar, sehr übersichtlich. Ein Nachschlagewerk.

* Küppers, Harald; Harmonielehre der Farben: Theoretische Grundlagen der Farbgestaltung, Dumont Verlag (1999), ISBN 3-7701-2192-9, ca 20 EUR, sehr grundlegend, sehr nüchtern...

** Bammes, Gottfried; Die Gestalt des Menschen: Lehr- und Handbuch der Künstleranatomie, Zweitausendeins o.J., ISBN 3-86150-463-4, Sonderausgabe broschiert NUR bei 2001 für 25 EUR!, sonst 75 EUR (hardcover). Wenn man sich mit dem etwas verquasten akademischen Stil anfreunden kann und darüber hinwegsieht, dass er Loomis und Bridgeman aus ideologischen Gründen zerreisst (Original Leipzig 1963...!!!) ist das Buch klasse.

** Martin, Judy; Skizzierschule: Einführung in die Grundlagen, Könemann (1998), ISBN 3-8290-0330-7, meines Wissens vergriffen, aber vielleicht hat es ja die eine oder andere Stadtbibliothek. Gute Einführung für Einsteiger, was man alles mit Skizzenbüchern machen kann und welche Themen man sich suchen kann.

:)

Jester

[franz]

I spend *way* too much time on reading art books. :( And now that I bought pretty much every single one that I was interested in I'm beginning to discover the local library, they have a vast amount of instructional books.. Which means I'll be spending even more time reading instead of drawing. It's just so much easier. :(

For now just the first two drawing books that come to my mind:

**Vilppu, Glenn; The Drawing Manual: Primarily aimed at animators (author teaches at major animation studios). He goes from the very basics to the advanced stuff very quickly, might be frustrating for the beginner.. He has a great grasp of shape and form though, inspiring.

Parts of the book are online here:

http://mag.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=Columns&column=vilppu

***Dodson, Bert; Keys to drawing: Probably my all-time favourite. Covers *everything*. Shamefully underrepresented and underestimated.

Jester, why only one star for Kimon Nicolaides? As far as I remember (haven't opened the book for some time) it has some great advice..

More later.

[jester]

franz - because IMO he's too rigid. I.e. he states in his first chapter that you are NOT to read on before you have fulfilled all the tasks of a certain chapter. He sets up an enormous amount of tasks a "normal" can't do next to having a working and social life. One star doesn't mean it's bad. It's just one of the weaker best books ;) I have not included books I don't like (those would go from - over -- to ---).

Jester

[franz]

Originally posted by jester
franz - because IMO he's too rigid. I.e. he states in his first chapter that you are NOT to read on before you have fulfilled all the tasks of a certain chapter. He sets up an enormous amount of tasks a "normal" can't do next to having a working and social life.

That's true, he goes "Now draw for 6 hours as directed" after every chapter, but at least he's being honest - since that's really the way to go if you want to learn. He gives the reader the very schedule that he worked with when he teached classes.. And I think he even says somewhere that you won't get any better from just *reading* his book unless you are willing to invest the time.

Now for the reader this isn't exactly practical or convenient, but IMO he has a point there.

[Sketch]

What books does Jason, Andrew, Foster, Sparth and the other great artists on here, recommend?

Also if I want to learn how to paint digitally what is the best book to assist me in that. Most of the books I've found just deal with watercolour or oils. I want to find a good one that deals with painting theory.

Thanks:)

[BadMange]

I don't post much, but this thread lured me out of the lurking mode. I, too, spend too much time reading books when I should be drawing. Here's a snapshot of my library...

Surname, Prename; Title: Subtitle, Publisher (Year of Publishing), ISBN (if available), app. Price.

**Hamm, Jack; Drawing the Head and Figure, Perigee (1983), 0399507914, $9.95 - A good book on learning all the basics of drawing people. Features, structure, hair, drapery, it's all in there. Not an in-depth book, but if you don't want to buy a book for each subject go ahead and pick this up.

**Lee, Stan and Buscema, John; How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, Fireside (1984), 0671530771, $14.00 - No one ever seems to talk about this book, and that is surprising for a concept art board. Yes, it's title says comics, but it gives you a good foundation for learning to draw everyday objects. Everything translates into basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, etc.). Check it out.

***Ryder, Anthony; The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing, Watson-Gutpill (2000), 0823003035, $24.95 - The author is amazing. I bought this book after one of my life drawing instructors brought some books in to show the class. Simply amazing drawings, and he teaches his technique well.

***Kaupelis, Robert; Experimental Drawing, Watson-Guptill (1992), 0823016226, $18.95 - Stuck on what to draw next? This book will start your imagination working overtime. Each section has assignments like the author gives his classes, so work through them and see what you come up with. Starts off with the basics of drawing and then gets into some cool exercises.

***Smith, Mark Edward; The Nude Figure: A Visual Reference for the Artist, Watson-guptill (1998), 0823032329, $29.95 - Don't have a model to draw from, and prOn sites too risque? Go get this book and start drawing from it! Great reference material.

**Civardi, Giovanni; Drawing Human Anatomy, Sterling (1995), 0289800897, $14.95 - The life drawing instructor had us buy this book and the authors "Drawing the Female Nude" and :Drawing the Male Nude" for homework assignments. goes over the bones and muscles and how the body looks when lit. The author's hatching technique is cool, so check this book out for that alone.

***___; Design and Composition Secrets of Professional Artists: 16 Successful Painters Show How They Create Prize-Winning Work, Int'l Artist (2001), 1929834098, $24.99 - This is a good book for those wanting to learn about composing a painting. Can be applied to drawing, too, I think, but I'm no expert!

And Sketch, check this book out:
Appellof; Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Oil Painting, Watson-Guptill (1993), 0823016064, $29.95.

About an inch thick, I'm still going through it so I can't really give it a rating based on the book as a whole. But I'm interested in learning painting and this seemed like a good book to start with.

You may also want to check out a series of books titled "The (insert medium here) Book". I have The Acrylic Book, The Pastel Book, The Pen & Ink Book (my favorite) and The Watercolor Book. Tells you all you need to know about buying the correct paper, correct medium, and getting started with the mediums basics. I plan on picking up The Drawing Book and The Oil Painting Book just to complete my collection. They are all published by Watson-Guptill, so seach Amazon.com for them (they're all by different authors).

Ugh, typers cramp setting in now. Hope this helps someone!
Later,
-Bad Mange

[bonedog]

Hmm.. I've got a *ton* of drwawings books but I'm not at home now.

I disagree with the 2 star of the Jack Hamm book. A bit dated and stylized, but it's better than a lot of books that cost 4 times as much. I'd give it *** stars based on the it's quality/price ratio.

Harold Speed, the Art and Science of Drawing ***
A lot of words... but they're good ones. Breaks down the difference between line drawing and mass drawing. A worth supplement for any serious student of drawing.

If you can find "the drawings of La Lyre" Master Draughtsmen series edited by Stephen Longstreet, pounce on it. This guy could render flesh like no other. In the same Master Draughtsmen series I also recommend the drawings of Harry Carmean. Both of these are ***. These guys aren't famous, but there's a lot to be learned from these inexpensive books.

More later...

-Bone

[maldrin]

hullo ~

i'm new to conceptart.org (this is my first post ever!)
so please forgive if i bugger this in some way.

is anyone a fan of the Giovanni Civardi books such as:

Drawing Human Anatomy
Drawing the Male Nude
Drawing the Female Nude
Drawing Portraits
Drawing Scenery

i have the first three, and the work inside is spectacular.
the first two are fairly informative, although don't stand
alone well, imho. in all of them the artwork is an amazing
mix of free and precise lines, and they're often rendered
in what appears to be ballpoint pen or mechanical pencil.
(two of my favorite mediums)

however, since i'm more of a noob than most, i was interested
in any other opinions on these books, as well as wanting to
share them as suggestions to anyone looking for good reference
works.

love this place, glad to be here.

maldrin

[BadMange]

...look two posts above yours...:cool:

He's an amazing anatomy artist, but I think his book is only good for two things. The first is learning the bones and muscles and how they look when drawn, and second is his cross-hatching technique. You're better off drawing people from photos or life, instead of drawing a, well, drawing...

-Bad Mange

[maldrin]

dangit.

i read all the posts, then
i even searched for his name and everything.

or at least i thought i did.

blind am i, as well as my search tool.

well, first post, buggered already.

s i g h

i think i can agree with what's been said about
the books thus far, so...

i'll just shut up and lurk my way back to
scanning sketchbook images cuz so many
awesome artists post here.

later.

mal

[dustystylus]

Very expensive, but very good.

*** Schmid, Richard; "Alla Prima", STOVE PRAIRIE PRESS, 2003, ISBN: 0966211715, $95

[Avetice]

Hey whats a really good book that talks about lighting in depth. I'm searching for one like a desert wanderer for water. All I see in perspective books is about how to direct the light from the light source and how to find the shadows and shades from that. None of them talk about the different qualities of light. Theres no discussion of warm light, cool light, diffuse, and other stuff I think is important, that I need to learn.

[BadMange]

I don't know of a lighting book for drawing, but I can recommend one for 3d which might help you a bit.

Digital Lighting and Rendering by Jeremy Birn. Goes through different types of lights and how they affect the object/scene you're lighting.

-Bad Mange

[TheGreatSlayer]

Actually I own just one book, but used it to learn to really use the pencil to draw and to draw potraits (since I bought it in february, I'm still not through it).

The german title ist:
"Porträtzeichnen mit Bleistift, Kreide und Kohle" von Wendon Blake - ISBN 3332010662

I think the english Version is:
"Portrait Drawing" by Wendon Blake - ISBN 0823040941