Loomis books magical?? :)

[JParrilla]

I wanted to start a discussion about peoples experience with Andrew Loomis books. The reason is that as of about a week ago, I couldnt draw a human to save my life. Proportion, muscles, structure, height, everything would be off. Let alone could I put a figure in a pose or even think about rotating a figure and keeping the proportions correct. Well after one week of working on the first two chapters of "Figure Drawing For All Its Worth", Ive seen an immesurable amount of improvement, its seriously insane. For instance today I was playing with my new brush pens so I decided to put my favorite character from the metal gear solid series, Gray Fox, into various dynamic poses. It was possibly the weirdest thing ever, but its like my mind just took control and I just started drawing these figures from all angles, with really good forshortening and I was keeping the proportions and anatomy perfect. After I was done sketching I took a step back from my book and was like holy shit how the hell do I know how to do this?? Then I realized that I pretty much have a mental image of the figure in my head in all different positions, which I guess came from simply copying Loomis examples and then trying to do my own. Theres not much of a point to this except to share a story with you guys, and to praise these books. After seeing this happen, my motivation to practice has gone through the roof, and I am really starting to believe that I can achieve a higher level of art then I ever imagined I could.. If I could do this in a week.. what could I do in years to come :) oo i cant wait to find out. Anyone else study from Loomis or similar?

[speedysam267]

yeah, they're magical.

[JParrilla]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions

[a la bapsi]

Loomis and Hogarth here.
I'm hearing about some guy called...bridgeman... :o

[speedysam267]

No problem, I agree that you should check Bridgeman out also, allot of his anatomy studies stress the forms of the body, he usually built up the form (or narrows it down) from a cube so he might work better for some people as far as understanding the perspective of things goes, check him out though.

[xllr8]

Add Vilppu to that. Really it seems they are all just variants of the classic Preston Blair style techniques often seen in most "how to draw" books for kids. I think they're succintly captured in the "Fun with a pencil" text, with Bridgman and Hogarth giving different perspectives in approaching the development of form. Vilppu really focuses on helping one learn just enough anatomy to be technically correct.
my two cents.

[Flake]

Nothing magical going on, just good solid advice from a very competent professional artist with a knack for explaining most things clearly.

It's rarer than you might think.

[jt4470]

It's a good book, but I personally don't like it as much as Bridgman.
Bridgman is what finally made everything "click" for me.

[fantasyartist]

Loomis is really great. He always reminds me what makes a good drawing. Like xllr8 said, add vilppu to that. I would really like to see those drawings. Are you planning to post them?

[JParrilla]

Yes definetely.. A lot of people are asking me that.. Understandably.. But I'm waiting to get a scanner :)

[krispee]

well i`ve always been a bit of a Loomis fan so you won`t hear anything but good things about him from me, brilliant stuff, i`m not surprised you found him useful......of course for the really technical stuff you have Bridgeman and Barcsay, but for all you need to know about how to draw illustratively in every situation then Loomis is hard to beat......

kris

[pamukluprenses]

I was also wondering how do these books help... Consciously or unconsciously, form or line, is it the hand getting used to the correct line and form or the mind, or both... I study bridgman anatomy but i dont try to draw on my own the figure, yet.

[krispee]

the whole point about studying from books, or from life for that matter, is about building up the knowledge that your hand can then use, books that help you to learn are good because the author has already trodden this road and can point out certain pitfalls and introduce shortcut ways to help, nothing beats from life of course but books are a good second.
just keep building up the knowledge anyway you can.....

kris

[Dizon]

I learned to draw figures from imagination thanks to his books. Very good info that stays in your head whether you want it or not.

[krispee]

I learned to draw figures from imagination thanks to his books. Very good info that stays in your head whether you want it or not.

absolutely, great when your studies do that lol

kris

[chris bass]

all the books you mention are great.The books Jack Hamm wrote are also good.
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Figure-Jack-Hamm/dp/0399507914

[Stoat]

I didn't find Loomis until I came here. It was Bridgman that did it for me. His drawings are often heavy and graceless, but he's the best I've ever found for helping you think about the shapes that make up a body and how they relate to each other.

My bible, though, was Schider's An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists (http://store.doverpublications.com/0486202410.html) from Dover. It's a collection of drawings from dozens of different sources from different times. So you not only get the anatomical info, you see how different people have drawn the same things.

Sadly, it looks like they don't offer it in hardback any more. Mine is a good, rugged linen-covered book with big black stoatprints all over it.

Damn. Great. Now I've opened Dover's page. Here's where money starts spendin' itself (honest, honey, that's what happened...)

[krispee]

haven`t heard of Jack Hamm or Schider but i do have a little book by Ron Tiner, but that`s more for imagining your figure without reference not detailed study, very good though......hardbacks do last a little longer it`s true, even if they cost a bit more to begin with.....

kris

[chris bass]

i think books are a great help,one reason for this is that teachers dont tell you much or they just dont believe in academies,in stereotypes.
That is a danger,i mean Loomis is super ,but inking has advanced,you have to have your eyes open and always look further.
Hogarth also is great but has a unique style,so unique that you can end up with a style pretty much like his own...too much like his own(great style though,just like his system ).
i will not comment on others because these two are my favorites and i havent much taken a deep look on what the others say except for Jack Hamm(very good too).
But i think eventually sure you have to base on something,but not chain yourself to books.
To some things i find in books i disagree,but maybe they know better.
We are lucky we have internet and can see many things,these along with books ,practise(from life also) and hard work is a good base i think for progress,books alone are not enough and sometimes may not suit your style.

[OmenSpirits]

Right now, Charles Bargue has me going on the right path. :D

(Wait for my offical first sketch thread!) :D

[Flake]

i do have a little book by Ron Tiner

Assuming we're talking "Figure Drawing without a Model", that's a good little book. He writes and draws well.

[krispee]

Assuming we're talking "Figure Drawing without a Model", that's a good little book. He writes and draws well.

yes that`s it, excellent book, i`d never heard of him before i saw that book but he is very good at figures and story telling, that book was one of the cheapest i`ve bought.....

kris