The Artist's Reading List

[Alex Chow]

I would like to recommend this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Pict...2184773&sr=1-1

Though composition is entirely up to how the artist interprets it, this book is incredible as a starting point for beginners with composition "rules" and general tips on what makes pictures you see in animation, fine arts, and illustration work or not. The book is 400+ pages long with a ton of information. My only problem is that it can get chaotic (it tends to refer to information many chapters before which makes me always rewind back since I tend to forget what was stated) but overall, this book is great.

I believe http://parkablogs.com/ has a review up and he was pretty fond of it too. I recommend this book to everyone.

[Flake]

If you liked Gurney's Imaginative Realism:

This is up for pre-order:



Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney

I finally got my copy of this and it's really good.

I think what I like best about it (other than "oooh! shiny!") is how well Gurney explains stuff.
He has a knack for explaining fairly complex ideas in a few paragraphs where most people would have taken a page or ten..

I like that it's divided into tiny little chapters, short attention span types can go bit by bit, or you can just plow through the whole thing then refer to it as needed.

I think most art graduates could learn a lot from it but I think a smart high schooler could follow it too.
It's very plainly written, conversational really. It keeps the science / physics / optics stuff to the minimum needed to make the point, if you can watch an episode of "MythBusters" without going "eh, what?" you can understand this.

Yeah, good book, probably the best I've seen on the subject.
Don't be fooled by the cover btw, it's not about painting dinosaurs.

If you have some art instruction behind you and a shelf full of books, you will already know some of this, for me the value was the "fill in the missing bits that I never quite understood until now", if you're just starting out, you probably need to get this.

[Baron Impossible]

Just ordered 'Color and Light' today. It seems to be getting some good feedback. I found 'Imaginative Realism' very good although some of the reference techniques were not suited to work with quick turnarounds.

[dpaint]

Color and Light should be on everyones shelf, whether you are a novice or pro.
I think it is the best book on the subject. He explains everything from a working artists point of view and uses his work and the work of famous artists to illustrate it. Buy it from amazon for around sixteen bucks, less than most people spend at a coffee shop in a week.

[Parka81]

Digital Painting Techniques Vol 2 is just out. I haven't gone through it yet, but looks as good as volume one.

My book preview
Amazon book link

[s12a]

Other than Vilppu's drawing manual, does anybody have any suggestion for books which discuss or treat in detail Gesture Drawing?

[Asatira]

Check out the earlier post about Drawn to Life by Walt Stanchfield. Originally written for animators, but collected for animators and general artists to learn from, you pretty much have two volumes dedicated to gesture drawing. There's more discussed than gestures, but that's the bulk of the books.

[Parka81]

Animals Real and Imagined by Terryl Whitlatch

Amazon link | My review with pics

Good source of inspiration for those into creature design.



Planet to Planet by Mike Corriero



Also on creature design. It's self published sketchbook which you can get at lulu.com. I've some pics as well

[donm]

The Art of Perspective: The Ultimate Guide for Artists in Every Medium by Phil Metzger

pretty decent intro to perspective fundamentals.

[Ian Barker]

I recently bought The Natural Way to Draw by Nicolaides. I've only just started but it seems promising. It's text heavy, intended to guide both new artists and advanced artists looking to rediscover their foundations. It's very well thought out, includes exercises, drawing schedules and so forth. Really looking forward to working through it.

[cheafy]

Who can recommend me a good anatomy book(figure drawing) for beginners?
Thx

[Despereaux]

Who can recommend me a good anatomy book(figure drawing) for beginners?
Thx

Andrew Loomis
http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing...7014015&sr=1-4

[cheafy]

thx Despereaux

[Parka81]

The classic is finally reprinted.



The publisher Titan Books did a great job with the book. Production value is excellent.

[Kasei]

I second Animals Real and Imagined by Terryl Whitlatch and third (fourth? fifth?)Color and Light by James Gurney. I just received the former a few days ago and it is an incredibly inspirational resource. Gurney's book is on the way but I had the pleasure of hearing a talk he gave on a lot of the principals he covers in the book and it was invaluable.

[Parka81]

Batman: Hush Unwrapped Deluxe if you're into comic art.

[Parka81]

Mastering Composition: Techniques and Principles to Dramatically Improve Your Painting

[Beeston]

Quick question - I've been studying off Color and Light (James Gurney) over the last few weeks and I'm wondering how much pre-requisite knowledge or other foundations that this particular book builds on that were explored in Imaginative realism? Will it be worth it to get that volume to help enhance studies through the second book?

[Star Eater]

Quick question - I've been studying off Color and Light (James Gurney) over the last few weeks and I'm wondering how much pre-requisite knowledge or other foundations that this particular book builds on that were explored in Imaginative realism? Will it be worth it to get that volume to help enhance studies through the second book?

I'm awaiting my copy of colour and light, so I'm not sure what's in it. I can tell you some of the contents of Imaginative Realism though.

It covers, among other things

Working Spaces
Gurneys choice of materials
Sources of inspiration
Tips on sourcing models, clothing, props
Gurneys creative process
Detailing the methods and benefits of tone sketches, research, thumbnails, angles, dynamics
Quite a bit of info on composition and leading the eye to points of interest
Brief sections on vehicle design, city designs,
The use of maquettes
Tips throughout on making your world/creations believable and where to find existing references for the fantastic.

Also filled with anecdotes and recollections from Gurney as to how he tackled various problems and experiences he's had that came with the paintings. All of it fascinating and inspiring.

I finished the book just wanting to read more from the man.

[Noah Bradley]

Quick question - I've been studying off Color and Light (James Gurney) over the last few weeks and I'm wondering how much pre-requisite knowledge or other foundations that this particular book builds on that were explored in Imaginative realism? Will it be worth it to get that volume to help enhance studies through the second book?

Both books contain very basic things as well as very advanced things. No matter where you're at with your art, you'll get a lot out of them.

[Birkeley]

Hi guys,

I have enjoyed reading this thread, so thank you to all who contributed. I wonder if anyone could give me some suggestions for books about environment/landscape illustration (digital, traditional or both). I know there are some fantastic environment artists here and I would love to know what is on their bookshelves! I already own a lot of the great drawing and life drawing books discussed here but I haven't seen much along the lines of the above.

So far I am planning to buy the two Gurney books along with Dream Worlds by Hans Bacher. I am also considering this book (Fantasy Landscapes & Cityscapes by Rob Alexander). If anyone has an opinion on it, or alternative suggestions, I'm all ears.

Thank you!

[keith eager]

I have studied the books on Noah's original list quite extensively, and IMHO they are the best books currently available on traditional drawing and painting. Some additions might be Classical Drawing Atelier and Classical Painting Atelier by Juliette Aristides, as well as the reprinted Bargue Drawing Course by Charles Bargue and Jean Leon Gerome.

Here are some books which may or may not have been mentioned yet. These books have been fundamental in my development as a draughtsman and a designer.









[IMG][/IMG]

[Charlie D]

http://www.archive.org/stream/practi...ge/n9/mode/2up

[Parka81]

Alive Character Design: For Game, Animation and Film is a wonderful character design book.

[Alla Primal]

Some of my christmas presents, thanks to this thread! the richard schmid book didn't arrive yet, ah well. merry christmas everyone

[awsnif]

I'm having trouble trying to find this book, I remembered it's about movement and it has all these pictures of men/women/horses/etc running/walking in sequences. Does anyone know what book I'm talking about?

[Noah Bradley]

I'm having trouble trying to find this book, I remembered it's about movement and it has all these pictures of men/women/horses/etc running/walking in sequences. Does anyone know what book I'm talking about?

Muybridge

[Elwell]

Muybridge, The Human Figure In Motion and Animals In Motion. (Muybridge's photos are out of copyright, so you can find a lot through google, but those two books are the most comprehensive collections)
EDIT: GAH, CROSSPOST!

[paintingqueen]

I'm looking for a book that might be a good read for someone who paints house portraits? Any era, any author. I'm just looking for a little inspiration! Clearly you guys know what you're talking about.. I've never seen so many responses.

Thanks for the help!

PS I read The Human Figure In Motion which you mentioned in this thread. I strongly recommend it!

[Charlie D]

More good education .