How to take full advantage of an art book.

[Goremageddon]

Hi everybody.

I have a general enquiry regarding art books. (Loomis, Bridgeman, Hogart)

How do I take full advantage from the book? Should I read through as if it was a normal book? Should I copy all the images and concepts in there?

[Arshes Nei]

Just place it under your pillow after you made a sacrifice to the God/Gods of your choice.

I dunno about anyone else but when I get books, I read them, not take advantage of them...book rape is not cool

[tobbA]

Do whatever it takes to get the information out of it and into your head. (Note: This does not mean it's a good idea to rip out the pages and stuff them in your ears.)

[creeptool]

i like to read the book first then do the copying of the studdys take what you can from it and discard the rest.

[Star Eater]

Whenever I want to take advantage of a book I buy it dinner and ply it with booze.

[dpaint]

Most art books will tell you to read the book first from cover to cover and then go back to the beginning and copy each picture to solidify the concepts. Copy each picture as many times as it takes until it looks exactly like the pictures in the book all the time rereading the accompanying text to make sure you understand what is going on.

[Whirly]

You are approaching it strangely like you are doing something for the sake of doing it. What is it exactly you want to gain from studying from the book? Is it wanting to construct humans from simple forms (for examples sake)?

If so, you start with:
- I want to learn how to construct humans
- Bridgman shows a way of using cubes and interlocking forms to construct humans
- He explains about interlocking cubes for the major masses
- The text says why and what to think about
- Look, he has drawn these cubes to represent things so I will do that, I could copy his or just do my own and see if I can do what he is doing. I will keep trying to describe the major masses using cubes like he is and then see what he does next and try to do that.

You want to learn HOW to do what he is doing.

Its NOT:
- Bridgman is a good artist
- This drawing looks good I will replicate the lines
- Maybe I should read it too. I'l ask.

Thats why the question seems silly.

Start with a problem to solve and use the book as a tool to solve it!

[JeffX99]

Damn Whirly...right on the money there!

[QueenGwenevere]

Normally if the book expects you to do anything but read it, it will TELL you so when you read it. Otherwise it's up to you. Read the book and if it gives you ideas for things to try, try them.

If the book gives suggestions for exercises, try them. If it describes principles and techniques, experiment with them. If you really want to copy all the pictures, I suppose you could, but usually it's the ideas in the text that are important, and what you want to be doing is learning to understand those ideas and applying them to your own work. How you go about understanding them is up to you. Reading the book is generally a recommended first step to understanding the book.

So... read the book and find out?

[Shorinji_Knight]

Skim them until you find something useful, read that part very carefully, then go back to skimming. Do whatever drawing/painting nessisary to help you understand. All that matters is that you understand and learn, nothing says you have to read all the boring parts.

[Arshes Nei]

Skim them until you find something useful, read that part very carefully, then go back to skimming. Do whatever drawing/painting nessisary to help you understand. All that matters is that you understand and learn, nothing says you have to read all the boring parts.

Well how do you know what is boring until you read it?

[dpaint]

I've changed my mind.
Forget about reading, its too hard. Just wait till someone makes an audio book or a video about it. Then you don't have to worry about mispronouncing the words as you read out loud.

[wannabeanimator]

Start with a problem to solve and use the book as a tool to solve it!

That's really good if you know what the problem is.

What if you don't know what the problem really is? But in general you know
you are not as good as you want your work to be or look like??

I am currently working through Loomis, fun with pencils...page by page, drawing
everything and doing as instructed....

Is it possible that I could be working more efficiently?

[themegagod]

I like to give the book roofies so it can't fight back.
sometimes you can wait until it's asleep, but make sure the book is a sound sleeper first.

I learned in first or fourth grade (so I may be a bit rough on reciting this) that there are four main ways people tend to learn.

Auditorially,
visually,
writing/ drafting,
and
doing it.

These all have cooler psychology names, but I forgot those. basically some people learn best by hearing the information, others by seeing the information, others by taking notes on the information, and lastly by actually doing the information.
All four ways will teach you, but some are more inclined to learned one way or another. A good teacher normally tries to make their assignments use all four. they give a lecture on the assignment as you take notes. you then read over the text and your notes, and then you do your homework putting into practice the principals you have learned.

How do you use this on a book?
Read it, take notes on it, put into practice what you learn about it, and watch videos/ have someone read the information to you.

that's how best to take "advantage" of a book.
learn the information stored within.
and wear protection. you never know where the book might have been.

[Shorinji_Knight]

Well how do you know what is boring until you read it?

By skimming, speed reading, you know... picking out key words and phrases. Most art books are almost worthless once you reach a certain skill level; some aren't worth much at any skill level. I have found though that even the most seemingly worthless ones usually have at least one idea worth considering, but you have to learn how to look for the gems buried in the mundane. On the other hand some art books are so full of wisdom that you're compelled to read every word. Andrew Loomis's books are solid genius, so are James Gurney's, and a handful of other less notables. The thing is each person has different needs, so they'll be looking for different things.

[Alice Herring]

Most art books are almost worthless once you reach a certain skill level; some aren't worth much at any skill level.

...what books are you reading?

[Shorinji_Knight]

Everything my local libraries have. Most of them, few people have probably ever heard of. I have read literally hundreds art books over the years.

Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not anti-reading.

[creeptool]

I like to give the book roofies so it can't fight back.
sometimes you can wait until it's asleep, but make sure the book is a sound sleeper first.

I learned in first or fourth grade (so I may be a bit rough on reciting this) that there are four main ways people tend to learn.

Auditorially,
visually,
writing/ drafting,
and
doing it.

These all have cooler psychology names, but I forgot those. basically some people learn best by hearing the information, others by seeing the information, others by taking notes on the information, and lastly by actually doing the information.
All four ways will teach you, but some are more inclined to learned one way or another. A good teacher normally tries to make their assignments use all four. they give a lecture on the assignment as you take notes. you then read over the text and your notes, and then you do your homework putting into practice the principals you have learned.

How do you use this on a book?
Read it, take notes on it, put into practice what you learn about it, and watch videos/ have someone read the information to you.

that's how best to take "advantage" of a book.
learn the information stored within.
and wear protection. you never know where the book might have been.

joking aside one time i was looking at some art related books at a local barnes and nobles and then out of nowhere i had flu symptoms... i caught a virus i was out of it for 2 weeks....so yah have some hand sanitizer by you at all times.

[Goremageddon]

Thanks a lot people. A lot of useful information. And pardon my english..don´t "take advantage" of that fact to mock (kidding)

I know that there´s a lot of important stuff in those books for sure and I´ve learned that there´s really no perfect method for anything in art.

I struggle a lot with the fact of wanting to see like a real artist does.. I wish that could be explained in books. Looking at things not as our brain thinks about them but as we really see them.. I even tried the book "Drawing on the Right Side of The Brain", and eventhough it opened my horizons a bit I feel like I didn´t completely get what was meant...I don´t know maybe I should learn english first

[Star Eater]

It always makes me happy when I find people here with a sense of humor who can laugh at themselves/their threads.

[Whirly]

That's really good if you know what the problem is.

What if you don't know what the problem really is? But in general you know
you are not as good as you want your work to be or look like??

I am currently working through Loomis, fun with pencils...page by page, drawing
everything and doing as instructed....

Is it possible that I could be working more efficiently?

You do know what the problem you have just said what it is "But in general you know you are not as good as you want your work to be or look like" Its not very specific, make it more specific. Is it your figures? heads? what is it that you are drawing that you want to improve on. Its no good replying "everything." You cant do everything at once so pick something. If its heads for example then why just jump to Loomis for example? Is it because Loomis shows a cool way of starting from spheres so that the features wrap around form and you think this 3D effect would improve your heads? (again purely for example.)

So then you have "I want to create heads using a spherical abstraction like Loomis does" then you use what Loomis teaches to learn to do it yourself.

You CAN just sit and copy the images without a goal and you CAN learn that way but having the goal there seems to make a whole lot more sense.

Then you can do his exercises, try some on your own try and apply it (if its applicable) to life/ref. See if you are doing it right. If you are still having problems re-read and re-study. Still having problems ask on your sketchbook or a thread or whatever.

You are no longer "Doing a book" you are actually using the book.

[sone_one]

I struggle a lot with the fact of wanting to see like a real artist does.

youll get there by gathering theoretical knowledge and practical experience. i tend to learn a lot by reading books, trying to get the concepts behind them into my head. others are different.

dont stress it, just read and watch and observe and ask and practise and basically challenge yourself... go at your own pace. theres no secret knowledge.. just a few guidelines.

also i smell a slight misconception when it comes to "seeing like an artist". alot of the pictures you see are the result of alot of time and effort (for the actual picture, and even ALOT more before even attempting it). it appears easier than it is. i think creating pictures is always challenging, no matter what level you are at, because theres so many factors and options, you always could have done better (from the pov of having gone through it).