What are some of the art books that have inspired you or helped your work?

[Bojee]

Great books on comics, especially Will Eisner's books.

[krispee]

hi
i`m a huge fan of Loomis
i have Head and Hands, Fun with a Pencil, Ceative Illustration, Figures in Action


also mangled together a couple of other books like figure drawing for all its worth and another i can`t remember
so want Eye of the Painter by loomis but it costs an arm and a leg.....

also have Jeno Barcsay for anatomy
Ron Tiner`s figure drawing
Burne Hogarth`s dynamic figure drawing

krispee

[Bojee]

krispee- Awesome, can you talk about why you like them so much, what makes them good books etc.?

Thanks for posting.- B

[krispee]

hi bojee
well, i like loomis because he - imho - is the best sketcher of human heads i`ve seen.....and his way of illustrating that, and communicating that, on page, so that we, the artists, can understand it is second to none......
hogarth has some brilliant dynamic poses, although his figures are aimed at the comic book artist its still good for ideas and the story about him teaching his pupils by drawing full size figures using charcaol on stick from memory is inspirational to me......
barcsay is old fashioned but has very technical illustrations which i like.....
tiner`s good for ideas.....nice tuts on drawing dynamic poses by drawing stick-like figures

my fav book is probably head and hands....awesome book i use all the time.....

krispee

[Bojee]

krispee- Great, thanks.

[Gurb]

hi everybody!
Started lurking again some weeks ago and finally decided to post.

I first wanted to say I find this a great learning and inspiration resource. All those life painting and portrait threads are making me want to improve my rendering skills. Hope to be posting some of my artwork soon.

To the point now. Lucian Freud hasn´t been named yet, if I´m right.

make a google search and take a look at the artwork of one of the best contemporary (sp?) figurative painters.

His work really blows me away.
Dont know why he isnt named more often here, really impressive artist.

[krispee]

gurb: i agree that freud is impressive but not to everyone`s taste.....a recent british tv programme devoted to him went into great detail about his life and work and was interesting.......painted a lot of his family.....and is not that prolific, not now anyway.......
i`m not a huge fan of his work i must say, though very good.......art is so subjective though isn`t it.....

krispee

[Bojee]

Gurb- I love Freud's work, just haven't got around to him yet, Did you want to bring in a particular image of a book that you like or have about him?? What do you like about his work? If you talk about Freud you might want to talk about Bacon too. Thanks for posting.

[Gurb]

krispee- You´r right, I remember my grandmother found the paintings "disgusting". Some people might find Lucian Freud´s art offensive or crude.

He is one of my favorite painters anyway, I really find his work incredible.



Bojee- I got to see his work "live" last year in Barcelona. I simply cant´t find words to explain how incredible it was.

I like the ability he has to render all those little color and hue variations in the skin. His brush work is also realy inspiring. Although his pictures seem to be painted a la prima, they are painted in many long sesions.

Bacon and Freud where friends, and their art share some things. They both treat paint as if it where flesh, literally thrown into the canvas.

I have dumped a couple of scans here, check them out. Wont be there very long, since all this stuff is copyrighted.


If you find any of the images is too big, simply tell and i´ll scale them down. I wanted everybody to see the strokes

[Bojee]

Gurb- Thanks, that's awesome, I've only seen a few originals, the texture is amazing, he's one of my favorites. If your into him you might like Ann Gale's work


Thanks for posting.

[krispee]

gurb: yeah i do like his flesh tones, great sense of the deeper, hidden, colours in the skin...and of course his texture, very impasto....

bojee: never heard of her....might look her up....reminds me of C W Mundy.....found him in International Artist....
link and a pic:

http://www.gallerydirectart.com/ms-157.html



krispee

[krispee]

i`d have to also encourage everyone to look this guy up; james bama......
the first time i saw his work(in the book in the link below) i could hardly believe it.....amazing detail.....and so much history......
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...445984-5607828

i know you know this guy, and someone has already mentioned him i`m sure, but singer sargeant is an artist i enjoy...not his watercolours, not a fan of those, but his oils i love....no pic but a website with loads of his works in chronological order....

http://www.jssgallery.org/

btw, does anyone know of any good sargeant art books that feature his oil paintings....?

krispee

[krispee]

my last book....a brilliant one cover to cover full of just portraits......must be hundreds in there from all over the world......can look at it for hours.....



krispee

[Bojee]

Krispee- Thanks for keeping this going , I'll post again soon.

[Bojee]

A couple of really good books on the california impressionists, beautiful work, by some artists that maybe you've never heard of before. I only own the one on the north, but I've seen both and they're very good.

[krispee]

bojee: hey, those books look really good, i did look them up on alibris.com and they are quite expensive.....plein air painting is something i`ve never done but am definitely planning to have a go this summer(if we get some sun lol)......



remembered i had this.....don`t know if you`ve heard of this guy but he`s quite famous here in the UK for his paint programmes on tv....very much in the vein of impressionism......not a 'how to' book more a 'this is how i do it' book....a process book....

Krispee- Thanks for keeping this going

hey, well, no probs, not having much luck with my last thread so might as well keep this one going lol

krispee

[Bojee]

Krispee- Sorry I haven't got back sooner , been out of town, don't know this guy, he may be exclusive to the UK. You should definitely try plein aire painting if you haven't, it kicks my ass but I love it. Great way to learn about color. Since your from the UK do you know about Jenny Saville's work??


She's great.

[krispee]

bojee: no, haven`t heard of her, pretty hard hitting paintings(wonder if she`s trying to say something there) but the colour and texture of her work is lovely....especially her skin colours...i`ll have to see if i can something about her online....
rolf harris is actually an australian....he has dual nation. i think, does a lot of tv work, presenter etc.....but his work is great as well....
http://www.rolfharris.com/

bit cheesy but has some links to his work....

krispee

[TheYellowDart]

No book list is complete without mentioning Harley Brown's 2 books.

Confessions of a Starving Artist --and-- Eternal Truths for Every Artist.

[Bojee]

No book list is complete without mentioning Harley Brown's 2 books.

Confessions of a Starving Artist --and-- Eternal Truths for Every Artist.

Thought these were mentioned when we were talking about international artist magazine but even if they were good things are worth repeating. Can you bring in pictures of them?? Thanks for the contribution.
:thumbsup:

[Bojee]

Here's one I just picked up, super cheap, very simple but good info on composition and light. Excuse the bad photo, snagged it from somewhere else.

[Nadim]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...D2Y5TUCCVJ7DGE

[Bojee]

Nadim- Thank you, i think most people know Dali's work, but why do you like him and why do you like this particular book. What inspires you about him?? Thanks for the post and thanks for sharing.

[krispee]

dali, now theres an unusual painter.....definitely had his own view on things didn`t he......



a friend(a portrait painter) mentioned this guy to me and i managed to fiind an image for ya......
john f carlson - wondered if you guys know anything about him.....was maybe thinking of getting the book myself as i`m dabbling in the odd oil landscape.....pretty cheap

krispee

[GCastro]

thought I'd throw one in to the mix:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0395...62#reader-link

George

[Bojee]

thought I'd throw one in to the mix:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0395...62#reader-link

George

George- thanks for posting, I've been slacking on my posts lately and haven't said this recently but if you guys post can you bring in a visual of the book your talking about and can you tell us why you like it and why you think it'd be worth picking up or looking at. It just makes the forum a lot more helpful. Thanks

Krispee- I don't know that one, how do you like it so far?? I love the old books, there's some great information in there if you willing to dig for it.

A new one, Robert McGinnis. Old school illustrator who could draw the femme fatale like nobodies business.
















Gotta love the old school illustrators! :clapping2

[krispee]

Gotta love the old school illustrators!

haha, whoa Bojee, now thats a link lol.....lurvely ladies there, i checked out his website @

http://www.mcginnispaintings.com/

and there are even more works there.....amazing detail and composition....not just the girls but landscapes and all sorts.....
good call dude

i haven`t actually purchased that book so far, trying to get it in the UK....


krispee

[Bojee]

Krispee- Yeah he does it all, and does it all well , but for me it's the way that he does women that makes him stand out, glad you like him.-B

[acuna_read]

I used to get hold of porn-mags and draw from them. Best to go for something fairly sedate like Playboy etc...

And people will also suggest body building mags for the anatomy to.

And if you want to draw someone riding a mountain-bike, then buy a bike mag. That is the best way to see the tension caused by them, its overemphasised (obviously) but that normally helps.

I got rid of my mags in a clear out not long ago, and it was glue............... :beam:

[Bojee]

I got rid of my mags in a clear out not long ago, and it was glue............... :beam:

??? What does that mean ?

Why not just draw from life? I think it's a lot more useful.