I have almost finished Andrew Loomis books. What's next?

[Presentliving]

Hello, guys.
I have been practicing drawings with 3 instruction books of Andrew Loomis such as Figure drawing for all it's worth, Drawing heads and hands and Fun with pencil.
It's been almost 2 years moving back to beginning steps repeat over and over again, and finally If I push myself, I think I can finish them within a month.
At this moment now, I don't know what or which instruction books I should follow although I do want to practice dynamic figures wearing clothes and some backgrounds.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[vineris]

Have you made any original drawings or done any drawing from life?

[Star Eater]

Yeah, pretty much what I was going to say. It sounds like you've studied real hard.
How about taking a break and putting some of that theory to practical use?

Put as much effort into life drawing as you did for Loomis' books and I guarantee you
will find yourself improving faster than any book can teach you.

[[email protected]]

It would help if you could show us what it means that you 'have almost finished' these books.
Maybe you could post some of your work?

[JFierce]

Hell, I've gone through these books several times and I still haven't 'finished' them.

[DormierDesign]

It sounds like your goal is to just finish the books. What are you hoping to accomplish by finishing the books? I am right there with JFierce I reference back to those books continually but never finished one cover to cover.

[OfficialLamp]

The next step is to stop thinking about things as steps. You don't leave the beginning stuff behind. Throughout your artistic career you will have to keep coming back to them so don't treat it like something you can finish.

I agree with Vineris. Start drawing from life.
Want to learn about cloth? Tack a sheet to your wall and draw it.
Want to learn about dynamic figures? Go to a tennis court and draw the people playing tennis.
Want to learn about backgrounds? Go to interesting places and draw the scene.

Learning how to learn is an important skill on it's own, and one that needs to be developed on it's own. Books are like a supplement to your own studies, if you rely on them completely you're progress is going to be super slow.

You've had the vitamin, now try the full meal.

[OldJake666]

Did you actually read the books or did you just copy the drawings in them?

[Kweckduck]

After going through those books thoroughly you should have an idea of what you want to study next. If you have a certain goal you want to achieve, the subject you want to study will naturally be in the same direction. It doesn't really matter what you study next, the only thing that matters is that you keep on drawing and that you keep on learning.

Have a look at Noah Bradley's book list thread (in the stickies in Art Discussion) and pick any of the books that seem interesting.

[Arshes Nei]

Looks like the old "Art Discussion" is coming back to life...

[Presentliving]

Some people are quite weird... They just literally fixate on the word 'finish' and throw a punch at it....

[Birkeley]

If you want to study dynamic figures and clothing, you might want to take a look at Burne Hogarth's books. He wouldn't be my first choice for studying figure construction - Loomis would be - but if you feel you want to move on from the Loomis material for the moment then Hogarth's "Dynamic Figure Drawing" and "Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery" might be a good fit for what you said you are interested in doing.

[kliest]

went to buy the loomis figure drawing book last week..i saw a copy when i was at school 30 yrs ago ..thought it was great..
in the bookshop i realised how useless it is .and so old fashioned..wooly drawing.. vague and blunt drawings pencils everywhere..figures are so demure ..a coffee table curiosity
there are better books on the market ..than this overpriced book...

his illustration book by the way is one of the best..

you'll learn a lot more by sitting drawing your family and friends or out in the park or street than any book on figure drawing..

[pegasi]

You could always read them again. I'm pretty sure you will learn new things.
But if you are spending more time reading them drawing, then don't even bother to finish them.

[QueenGwenevere]

and so old fashioned..wooly drawing.. vague and blunt drawings pencils everywhere..

What. Pencils are "old fashioned"...?

Pencils are still the simplest and best tool for learning to draw. And, you know, they work just as well now as they ever did. Besides, the point of the books, (and any decent instructional drawing book,) is not to imitate the drawings in the book, the point is to read the text and apply the principles described in it to your own drawing. The drawings in an instructional book are there to illustrate points in the text. They are not models to be copied or imitated.

[kliest]

What. Pencils are "old fashioned"...?

Pencils are still the simplest and best tool for learning to draw. And, you know, they work just as well now as they ever did. Besides, the point of the books, (and any decent instructional drawing book,) is not to imitate the drawings in the book, the point is to read the text and apply the principles described in it to your own drawing. The drawings in an instructional book are there to illustrate points in the text. They are not models to be copied or imitated.

not the "Pencil"as drawing instrument ..but "pencil style" of the images are old fashioned ..loomis used heavy pencils for the reproduction of in the forties..in fact all of the books of that period
use dark pencils.. subtle pencil books appeared in the fifties..i have some that are wonderfully delicate..
loomis is fine but old fashioned .however looking in the threads it seem as if no-one has a book other than loomis on these threads...
i would hope we see other recommended books ..

[TinyBird]

not the "Pencil"as drawing instrument ..but "pencil style" of the images are old fashioned ..loomis used heavy pencils for the reproduction of in the forties..in fact all of the books of that period
use dark pencils.. subtle pencil books appeared in the fifties..i have some that are wonderfully delicate..
loomis is fine but old fashioned

I honestly don't see why that'd matter as much because the theory is the same anyway. Underlying proportions, anatomy and perspective don't really change depending on your pencil and lineart type (even though your way of showing them through the different styles and mediums might).

.however looking in the threads it seem as if no-one has a book other than loomis on these threads...
i would hope we see other recommended books ..

Well there's this whole artist's reading list here that's pasted on the top of this forum: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...s-Reading-List

[OmenSpirits]

But that's too far for some people to look TB.

[kliest]

But that's too far for some people to look TB.

p.s. i have most of the books on the list... my concern is for newer members to give variety.. my point was that the thread is loomis orientated..

a wider mention of the books on the advice thread would be helpful ...we dont need smart remarks

[Arshes Nei]

Who is "we"?

[kliest]

Who is "we"?

apologies i meant me ..i like a semantics driven thread...

[TinyBird]

...we dont need smart remarks

So from your part you decided to provide us with a remark that the Loomis book is useless because you don't like the lineart? (I mean generally Loomis is so recommended because the books tackle so many things that a beginner must know and learn to consider [like the examples of common perspective mistakes] as a simple clean package that the artist can use as a springboard to find more info, something that many other books don't do like that.)
Not to mention you yourself don't provide the OP any other books to study from that you find more useful... sometimes you have to work to change things by yourself.
So, what would be your book to suggest for the OP?

Not to mention I don't see this thread to be that much Loomis oriented, considering the first things people said were to go and draw from life, the same thing you (kinda) said.

[kliest]

golly gosh ..upset a number of members on loomis..perhaps i should point out that this was a personal opinion..
and a i was buying the loomis drawing book ...the price did not justify buying it..as i have all the loomis drawng books but they are in a poor condition (sellotape and masking tape repair)
after being lent out to students and young illustrators for the past 35 years...seeing the pristine, white page. coffee stain and ink free condition of the loomis figure drawing book may have come as a shock..!

[TinyBird]

perhaps i should point out that this was a personal opinion..

I dunno, "book is useless because the lineart is old fashioned" doesn't seem like a very reasoned opinion to me, even if it is just your opinion. I can totally understand if in your opinion the style is old fashioned (and 40$ is too much for a hardcover book), but the whole book being useless just because of that comes off as hyperbole.
Unless you actually have other reasons to consider the book to be useless that you didn't mention.

[kliest]

for my style of drawing it is useless..woolly drawing is no help to anyone ..definition is needed in figure drawing ..i see too many young people using blunt pencils and vague image making in digital art in classes
i have drawn professionally and earned a living for 45 years and i know what i need in a figure drawing book ..but loomis is not what i need ..i am amazed that you know more about the way i draw than i do...

best wishes..

[TinyBird]

for my style of drawing it is useless..
i have drawn professionally and earned a living for 45 years and i know what i need in a figure drawing book ..but loomis is not what i need ..i am amazed that you know more about the way i draw than i do...

Wait, but we were talking about suggesting Loomis books for beginners, not for you...? Young people have lots of time to get over using blunt pencils, and vague image making with digital isn't something I'd personally really blame the Loomis books for..

[kliest]

Wait, but we were talking about suggesting Loomis books for beginners, not for you...? Young people have lots of time to get over using blunt pencils, and vague image making with digital isn't something I'd personally really blame the Loomis books for..

then we were having different conversations...

[Arshes Nei]

for my style of drawing it is useless..woolly drawing is no help to anyone ..definition is needed in figure drawing ..i see too many young people using blunt pencils and vague image making in digital art in classes
i have drawn professionally and earned a living for 45 years and i know what i need in a figure drawing book ..but loomis is not what i need ..i am amazed that you know more about the way i draw than i do...

best wishes..

Could you post your work then? It's great to give advice but there's no backup on what you're talking about.

[TinyBird]

Could you post your work then? It's great to give advice but there's no backup on what you're talking about.

He does have a Sketchbook: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...emans-Geometry

[Elwell]

Great, now the OP is going to have to start all over