Structure of a Man Vs Vilppu's Videos

[Riiroi]

Hi guys,

Im planning to get all of Vilppu's manuals and DVDs but read that the Structure of a Man videos cover the same thing and are alot damn cheaper. I do not know if it is worth buying Vilppu's materials.

Can anybody enlighten me.

Thank You.

[Elwell]

Get Villppu's books first (they're excellent), then decide if you need the DVDs. Personally, I don't understand the fascination with video. There are exceptions (painting and some software demos), but for most things print is still the most convenient way to access this information.

[Micaiah Nelson]

Structure of a Man all the way to visually go through a step by step on anatomy also the sizes of each bone based on one measurement, understanding its fuction and literally building human figure from the start is just great. I got like 6 anatomy books I don't look at. Riven Pheonix is just great.

[Dan.v.D.]

well i don't want to step on anybodys toes but i'd never ever erver ever never would recommend riven pheonix's stuff to anyone above the age of 10 or so. i really feel that even i can draw better than him haha.

[RogerAdams]

Vilppu's videos are amazing. The lectures are filmed during one of his classes (there is some background noise and coughing but it's not too distracting) then most are followed by demonstrations from the live model or photo reference.

You will learn so much more from Vilppu over the structure of man videos. I pained myself and watched a segment of Structure of Man on YouTube and it was horrible. A lot of "this goes here, to here, to this". And he draws in this scratchy hen peck style that doesn't seem confident or clean. Vilppu draws lightly, big, from the shoulder, you will improve just by watching him. He knows all the names of the muscles, bones, tendons. And starts most lectures on drawing the bones then layering the muscles. But they are much more than that. He tells you common mistakes, when drawing the neck for example, that people make.

I would recommend getting the manual and just one video, any one, and you will want them all.

Forgot to mention you can rent them at Smartflix.com if you live in the US or Canada. I think they ship to some other places but I'm not sure.

Good luck!

[dose]

Both are just starting points, but between the two I think there's much more to be learned from Vilppu.

For what it's worth you can watch the Structure of Man videos on YouTube for free.

[Jonas Heirwegh]

This is a no brainer really. Vilppu has everything you need and more. He explains everything so well and he goes really in depth. You cant compare the two.

I watched structure of man on youtube. I dont understand why he is asking money for this. You'll learn more from an anatomy book then from structure of man..

[armando]

I looked over a few of the Riven Phoenix videos back when they were free, they were decent for being free but I wouldn't recommend purchasing them, they were too amaturish. Go with the Villpu Manual.

[Silvertone]

Go with Glenn, why don't you pick up a 10 dollar VHS and see how you like it, then maybe get the dvds?

http://www.vilppustore.com/VHS.htm

Some libraries have Vilppu videos...and videos from other artists, take a look at yours to see if they have any art instruction videos/dvds.


I think Mark Westermoe had a series of figure drawing videos out too. He uses Riley method. Don't know if they still make those though, sorry.

[Micaiah Nelson]

I only Vilppu thought had Books. So I've wasted so much time Riven Peonix. DAMMIT.>:{

[sunaj]

Why is everbody so negative about The structure of men?

[HunterKiller_]

Why is everbody so negative about The structure of men?

Structure of Man is amateur compared to Vilppu's teaching.

[nicehighs]

oh shiiiit vilppu is the man he put my art in motion. 270$ for his collection is worth it trust me. mine came today and my life is changed i am not kidding man.

[manfredkooistra]

I would say: look at Vilppu's art and look at Riven Phoenix's art. Which do you like better? How would you like to be able to draw?

To me, Phoenix's art is uninteresting and boring. I like how he draws these aliens, but I do not want to learn aliens, I want to learn human beings. On the other hand, I seriously like Glen Vilppu's drawings. He draws men and women all the time, and I would give my left arm to be able to draw like he does. Yes, a good art teacher does not have to be a great artist, but he does have to understand what I want to learn.

So, from style alone I would choose Vilppu. He does what I want to learn, so regardless of his teaching abilities, I learn from watching him - and you can do that in his videos.

I watched videos from both Vilppu and Phoenix. I was bored to death by The Structure of Man. You can find them for free on the web if you look, so go and look at them.

Vilppu's videos are a bit overrated also, because they are not teaching videos like e.g. videos produced by the BBC, where the information is well structured, understandably presented etc. Vilppu's videos are filmed with one fixed camera and during his lectures. They are sometimes a bit tedious and slow, sometimes you don't quite see well what he does etc. What they do is let you share the experience of sitting in class with him and learn what the other students there learn (with the same experience of sometimes someone's head blocking the way). You can also see some of his videos for free on the net, so look at them also.

And since the Vilppu Store offers a full refund if you return the material within 60 days, you can always order it, look at it, and decide then.