what\how are you supposed to learn from art books?

[royaltea]

im once again frustrated with my progress so im trying to find some kind of perspective on what i can be doing to get better and how i can change my approach. my near only source of learning comes from art books. i have the loomis books and bridgman's life drawing book. i found 'fun with a pencil' to be incredibly informative and very helpful and i think i gained a lot from that. but other books have not been so clear in their purpose. i don't know what im supposed to be getting and learning for them.

for instance figure drawing for all its worth, i have been "studying" the muscles in the arm for a few weeks now but doing so aimlessly. ive drawn them a lot, is all. i can look at arm muscles and know which ones are which (but not what they do) but this has not made me any better at drawing arms. i don't know what im supposed to "get" from this. my approach must definitely be wrong. what is the right approach to studying anatomy? i can copy these arms and their muscles from loomis's book but i can't build arms from my own imagination. what should i be doing differently? i don't want to waste my time just copying these arms over and over again if all im learning by this is how to copy them, you know?

and as far as bridgman's book, it's fully of of very pretty pictures, but text and instruction that is very vague. i have no idea how to approach whatever he's trying to teach me in this book besides to try and copy his pictures but im learning nothing from that.

my daily routine has been to build figures via posemaniacs poses and while i can definitely see improvement in skill, i am not learning how to do anything but copy. i want to start studying and learning again like i did in 'fun with a pencil' but im not sure how to study and learn from these other books. i hope this isn't confusing and im not trying to rant or anything for the sake of it, i really want to get back to learning, i just don't know what to do with all of these resources.

[Elwell]

Both FDFAIW and Bridgman's books are built around life drawing-- the pictures in them were done primarily from life, and they're written for an audience that would have had at least some access to life drawing. If you don't, try to apply what you can from reading the books to interpreting good photo reference. It's a big jump to go from reading the books to inventing things straight out of your head. You have to see how the "theory" applies to reality.

[kev ferrara]

Try this: For every figure you draw from reference, redraw the same exact figure in the same exact pose with the same exact lighting, but from a different angle out of your imagination. This will help you to feel the figures you are drawing "in the round" and will expand the spatial abilities of your mind. Don't be afraid to construct the imagined figure in the most simplistic ways, using boxes, cyllinders and spheres in order to have a foundation of structure on which to build.

kev

[Chris Bennett]

The biggest hurdle to overcome is to get away from drawing the symbol of things and learn to habitually draw pure form - to 'write your drawings with form' rather than graphic symbols, if you will. This will further help you with Kev's excellent advice.

[Noah Bradley]

There's always going to be a back-and-forth between studies and application. Say you try to draw an arm from imagination, but get stuck. Then you go back and figure out how it's supposed to look--either by anatomy books, reference, or even a mirror. Then you draw another imagined arm. Seeing the relevance of studies can be really hard without the application part of drawing.

Another thing that has helped me with anatomy is understanding the functions of the muscles. Things start to get a lot clearer when you know why a muscle insert in one place and attaches in another so that when it contracts, it makes this certain movement. You'll start to gain an appreciation for the way the muscles move the body.

[J Wilson]

What you are supposed to be getting out of it is an understanding of the anatomy. You can take a swimsuit or sports magazine (preferably something where people are semi undressed, like wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, volleyball, swimming, etc) and draw over the photos with a pen, identifying the muscles and bones from memory where you can, and looking them up where needed. Think of that as a test of what you've learned.

Being able to call upon that knowledge to draw convincing anatomy completely from memory will be a more advanced skill that will come later, after you've drawn many many people from observation.

[Slothboy3000]

As Noah has said, a good way is to draw from reference, then from imagination. Keep switching and it'll help you gain a better understanding of how to depict anatomy.
Have a mirror at hand to see the underlying structure of yourself aswell.

[RandallPowell]

It's been my experience that about the only use I have for my art books is for inspiration. I can read them all day, but almost nothing I read ever translates into any appreciable increase in my skill. The best way I learn is simply to do. It's been my experience that no amount of time spent reading will substitute for time spent drawing. Also, if you are having problems with arms, or with any other subject, good reference is definitely a must. Just be aware that you will never be able to find reference in the exact pose that you need. Seems to be one of the laws of the universe. Also, an intuitive approach seems to help, sometimes. If I can "feel" myself in the pose of my character, often it helps to understand how to draw it. Also, don't think too much or try too hard. Picture it in your mind, and then draw it quickly, without thinking. At least for me, "Too much mind", can sometimes be a very real problem. And then sometimes, I just can't frikkin' do it, and realize that I still have much to learn...