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

[Denart]

yo chingwa,
is your "bible" the same thing as Richard's, "Everything I know about Painting" book? Or is it better/worse?

Thanks!

:D

[Chingwa]

Well I haven't seen any of his other books before so I can't comment on how better this one is compared to those. But this is definately a different book. He concentrates completely on human figure painting in this one.

[Jeff Jaws]

another one that was not mentioned - afaik.
Horst Janssen

http://www2.extralot.com/janssen/57.jpg
http://www2.extralot.com/janssen/43.jpg

the book "drawings" has some very interesting pieces in it, esp. the "vriederich" series.
He was a graphical master in my eyes, and is a huge inspiration.

Jj.

[Crunch]

bojee thanks so much for starting this thread...i am also impressed on your variety of inspirational books...sweet man..

[Madman!]

a new one I got...

Vilppu drawing manual and I also got the mini quick sketch book. I got a print out of the circle lesson in class once and just kinda did it without thinking much about it...so now I thought hey I'll really see what's going on here and wow I really need to go back to the basics and this book is definitely helping. Planning on getting as many of the videos as I can too.
http://cartoonsupplies.com/images/VILPPU_MANUAL.jpg

[Ryu]

Just wanted to say that i have this book, it's awesome,
i should receive the dvds soon, so if you want to know if they're good let me know.
Otherwise there is a small discussion group he opened, where he post images and answer questions,
he is really good.
Vilppu discussion group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vilppu)

cya

[Main Loop]

I dont know if anyone's mentioned him and his work, i think a lot more people should know and respect him.. he's been a major influence since i started looking at his stuff earlier this year..

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1560970405.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0785110321.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
image from "precursor"
http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/SienkAngel.jpg
http://images.budplant.com/products/full/5118.jpg
http://images.budplant.com/products/full/10692.jpg
http://images.budplant.com/products/full/10692-3.jpg
http://www.imakinarium.net/comic/ABC%20autores/S/SIENKIEWICZ%20Bill/3X3/5.jpg
http://www.imakinarium.net/comic/ABC%20autores/S/SIENKIEWICZ%20Bill/3X3/6.jpg
http://www.comicorange.gr/imgs/comics/sienkiewicz/straytoaster01.jpg

[Madman!]

Ryu thanks for the link I actually got the drapery dvd for christmas I'm still waiting for it in the mail. If it's as good as the book I'm sure I'll be getting more.

I got lots of books for christmas...well some for christmas and some I bought after...

Targete's book..got it cause well it's Targete nuff said.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1843400715.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Drew Struzan...this books is huge and way better than the other book that game out.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0973278676.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Brom...always wanted to get this but for some reason didn't pick it up. well now I have it. Isn't there others from him I know darkwerks but isn't there another one too?
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/184340124X.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The Art of Lord of the Rings. It has more pictures that aren't in the other ones and some that are, also has some sculptures too.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0618510982.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Star Wars panel to panel..this book is really cool has art from tons of people. Some from Jon Foster there was one from him I've never seen before and also some great ones from Dave Dorman as well as others.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1593072619.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

hmm I think that's it..oh and all the Syd Mead dvds but those aren't books are they :perv: ...It was a good Christmas.

[Ryu]

Hi !
I have bought more dvds no now i have 9 :)
I recommend buying those from the book, in my opinion number one on Gesture is awesome, it has made me learn sooo much !
I didn't buy the drapery one, 'cause i didn't know if it was applied to the figure, could you tell me when you'll have it?
I think i'l buy the anatomy next time i have money, any thought on this, no one already has these?

cya soon,
and enjoy the dvd :)

[Mr. Barman]

hey all, i've been looking over the stuff at this forum for a while now and i gotta say im really impressed with the stuff here.

i was just wondering what makes you decide to draw something, not the inspiration, but what makes you decide on the subject. ive got a bit of a block going on right now, ive got the inspiration to draw but not the inspiration on a subject to draw, if you can understand that.

[Madman!]

Hey Ryu yeah I'll let you know how the dvd is and I only got this one so far I don't have any others. I'll probably let you know either tomorrow or monday depending on when I get it.


I too am the same way Mr. Barman I always want to draw but I never know what to draw. I think the books and dvds of artists help because I see their stuff and I might be looking at some environments and be saying wow those are beautiful..I should make my own environments and see what I can come up with. So you know don't copy but more of the lines just draw the same subject matter that they are drawing. If you see a picture that maybe like Justin Sweet did of lets say a guy fighting a dragon..draw a guy fighting a dragon, but ask yourself how you would handle the same scene/characters and then draw that. So using the pictures for their subject rather than for reference. Or like lets say your looking at the Star Wars art books and looking at Iain McCaig's concepts of Darth Maul, ask yourself how you would've drawn the character differently....the cool thing is you'll end up with your own character (eventhough you were drawing Maul) and you can then use it however you want. That's just one way I get inspiration looking at what subjects the artists did and then creating the same but my own. Hope all that makes sense.

[AdamBlack]

Wow. Lots of good books.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned "Rendering in Pen and Ink" by Arthur Guptill. Here's a quick Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0823045293/qid=1104510665/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-5283155-8537411?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Absolutely fantastic. It's one of my favorite books, and a big reason why I never really got into painting. I'm still learning techniques from this book. Maybe one day I'll be done with it, and can move on to oils or something. ;)

Adam

[Madman!]

Hey Ryu I got that dvd and finally was able to watch it. So here goes my review...

(this is for the drapery video)

I think that Vilppu really teaches things well. I really feel that he really breaks it down into basic understandable steps. Before drapery seemed a little confusing but now I think I actually do understand things a lot better. So as far as his teaching it's top notch...

Now for the video production that's a bit different. It's shot like in an actually class. I lose what's being said because someone is moving a desk in the background or continues shuffling papers or something. It lasted several mintues and you can actually see him get upset in areas. It also was really short in comparison to the guys on the Gnomon dvds...I don't know if that's just because I got the drapery one and maybe it isn't that much to go over incomparision to maybe his anatomy ones. I really wish it was like the Gnomon dvds more, where it's just them alone.

As far as him teaching though I think it's very helpful. I know I will be getting more in the future...

[Ryu]

Thx madman, just a question, does the lecture focus on drapery alone,
or drapery on a figure?
You also have the drawing manual, which is very good complement to the dvds in my opinion, i just watched the spherical form one, and i just understood lot of things.
He is recommended for anyone interested in animation (which is my situation)

Other book :
Koji morimoto, A sketchbook has been edited in japan, try to find the import,
it 's woth it !!!

peter de Seve, (maybe already said ) , top stuff.

[Madman!]

He talks about like I think 7 different types of folds(I need to watch it again and take notes) of the drapery and then he shows how they are applied on the figure.

Peter de Seve is great I need to get his book soon.

[Madman!]

okay got a new one today Syd Mead's book. I decided to get this after I watched the dvds.

http://www.sydmead.com/v/01/images/2001/promos/sentury-cover.jpg

and here is one I got a couple weeks ago. It's not really an artbook but it's a super refernce book. It's got 500 pages and each page has at least one picture and all are great quality and there is a huge range of animals. If you go to barnes and noble you can get it for like 7.99$. called Africa's Animal Kingdom: A Visual Celebration.

http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7870000/7872192.gif

[stani]

Hello everybody :teeth:

At first i want excuse me for my english, im not so good - but i´m still learning to get better :D

Since i found this great forum i love it, i love all here the people are so great and skilled thats so nice, all the great threads, for me it is so intressting to learn more and more and see how people do they art, GREAT pls keep on !!!!
:D

And this Thread is very nice, its like a big supermarket for artists !!


Now i have little question :

I saw here 2 books from Don Seegmiller

1. http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1584502320.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

AND

2. http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1584503408.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


So in the first book its about PAINTER and in the second its about PHOTOSHOP CS

I have photoshop 7 AND NOW THE QUESTION : Are there varieties between ps 7 and ps cs - i mean i think they are varieties but do you think i can use this book also with ps 7 - becouse i want to learn to be better in this programm.

I hope you understand my quastion and can answer me, that would realy help me out :bashful:

THANK YOU :angel:

[Madman!]

here is a new one I got...

the english version Street Fighter Eternal Challange book and if you look on the last page you can see my name...yeah I got mentioned in the book for sending them a scan they wanted...so I didn't do anything special but still cool it's not every day you get mentioned in a book.

http://www.animecastle.com/tbimages/20471.md.jpg

and yeah there is japanese writing on the front but it is the english version.


I also got a question for book owners. What are some books to help study architecture? I mean I know there are books that you can see asweome buildings but I mean ones more for studying it.

[Bojee]

Awesome, this thing has life of it's own these days.
Madman - Check out these

http://www.buildersbooksource.com/booksite/images/items/1568982925.jpg
http://archrecord.construction.com/people/images/0102mockbee-3.jpg

http://myarchitectfilm.com/dvd/DVD_cover.jpg

Maya Lin (http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/lin/)

[jetpack42]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0821225375/qid=1106109400/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/103-3289883-4231056

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679426264/qid=1106109444/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-3289883-4231056?v=glance&s=books

Got the first one last week, and read the 2nd one last week....loved them both. Anything Wyeth settles my hash....

[rswanson]

How did this book not make it on this thread yet? Undertanding Comics, Scott McCloud.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/rswanson/uc.jpg

Or did someone mention it already? If not, anyone interested in ANY creative endeavor should beg, borrow, or steal and read it immediately. If so, it deserves a second mention anyway.

Also, any of those Robert Beverly Hale books on master drawings & anatomy are fantastic. They come about as close to replacing life drawing as you can get. They were posted early on but I second those selections.

[Ryu]

Jeffrey Jones, both sketchbook and paintings, marvelous !!

and

Joe Sorren !
so good...

i would have liked to post pictures but i have no time sorry !
just wanted to share this, so if you know these, and/or have pic, you can link and reply of course !

cya

[StylesDavis]

damn! pin this thread or move it into the tutorials-section...! it almost got lost in the sink... :dur:

[hito]

I searched through this thread and I'm pretty sure this one hasn't been mentioned yet.

I found this by chance on my NYC trip today.

http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/PrattNoMansLand.jpg

collection of just sketches of WWI.

[Crithon]

WOW! What a list! Keep listing as many books as you can. I doubt there isn't a bad art book that can't hurt you. I'm happy someone listed Bone in there collection. Personal favorite.

Personally, I've got this by my side right now

http://www.tslendinga.com/Dark%20Horse/creaturefeatures.jpg

Now right now I got "Surfin' the Highway," but this is the only image I could find on Sam & Max on the net. Although, Hit the Road was an amazing Video game.

http://www.justplay.nl/media/9/20031205-Sam%20and%20max%20hit%20the%20road.jpg

I have to say I first discoved Katsuya Terada in old issues of Nintendo Power. But try to get a hold of his work, you might know of him as the concept artist of the anime Blood- the last vampire

http://store1.yimg.com/I/yhst-5683795519311_1807_13463030

http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/10/10108.jpg


don't forget Gustav Klimt

http://www.taschen.com/media/images/190/ka_klimt.jpg

Madman! - You know, I didn't notice that was Street Fighter Eternal Challange book, since I got the Japanese version with Akiman's Cover. Hey, you can't go wrong with a Shinkiro cover!

http://store1.yimg.com/I/animebooks-com_1820_167205365

[Ink_Monkey]

stani - haaha its my name exept without the i. Any ways I have the first Don Seegmiller and as to your Question basically the painter one is applicable to any paint photoshop program sure theres a few tricks but the basics are all there. But if your looking for tricks and what not on how to use photoshop go for the photo shop book.

Anyways hope this helps.

Later

[jett]

i don't know if it's ok for me to ask this here but i have $67.66 to use on art books and i'm looking on recommendations.

i think for the most part i'm looking for art instruction books and maybe a few books for inspiration - to flip through.

i do already have loomis on my computer, including drawing the head and hands, creative illustration, successful drawing, figure drawing for all it's worth, and fun with a pencil, though i haven't studied them intensely yet.

so far i'm planning on getting:
Perspective for Artists: The Practice and Theory of Perspective As Applied to Pictures With a Section Dealing With Its Application to Architecture (Dover Art Instruction and Reference Books) by Rex Vicat Cole
drawing dynamic hands - hogarth
--i borrowed this from the library and i found it to be quite good, it's also very overdue :bashful:

i would like a book about anatomy in general but i'm not quite sure what is good, here's my list of possibilities:
The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition by Anthony Rider
Bridgman's Life Drawing by George B. Bridgman
Artistic Anatomy by Dr. Paul Richer, Robert Beverly Hale
Anatomy For The Artist by Jenö Barcsay
Drawing the Female Nude by Giovanni Civardi
vilppu?

for inspirational books i think i can figure that out myself, but if you have a book you believe is a must-have please feel free

and to add to this thread, here are the books i borrowed from the library:
Heads, Features, and Faces by George b. Bridgman
http://www.texasart.com/grouppix/280x210/2000/g2971.jpg
i think this book has a fair amount of info but it is so short! i took photos of each pg if anyone is interested

Drawing dynamic hands by Burne Hogarth
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0823013685.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
this book has so much information it's quite amazing, though i don't much like hogarth's stylized hands i feel it is still very good

Introduction to Watercolor edited by Sarah Buckley
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0806937815.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
this book i feel is ok, for myself, knowing almost nothing about watercolor, it was quite interesting, but i feel it may not be of much interested to those who are more advanced

*if my post is innappropriate for this thread, please tell me and i will edit it

[Ryu]

Little hints :
anthony riders book is marvelous, but does not deal with anatomy, at all.
It teaches you how to draw the model, with really good technique which mean he get further than the how to book for beginners.

otherwise barcsay is reaaallly nice, but reaaaaally hard to work ! enormous book, nothing to help you, but most beautiful drawings, really a lot of things in it (like a bible you got in case of...)

Bridgman is good, especially this title, but not very easy, the easier would be loomis (figure drawing for all it's worth) to begin, then bridgman maybe.
Vilppu hasnt book on the subject, just dvds.

I hope i helped :)
cya

[H+D]

This is a great thread. I am always looking for new art books to study from and this thread is giving me exactly what I need. Thanks guys.
I guess I'll contribute too. I love Wayne Barlowe's art, I own a number of his books. His painting style and his imagination is a huge influence on my art. And personally I think he's the only artist who knows how to make aliens seem truely..."alien"... But that's just my worthless opinion...

http://www.s93946197.onlinehome.us/ImageArchive/Brushfire.jpg

http://www.s93946197.onlinehome.us/ImageArchive/barlowe5.gif

http://www.s93946197.onlinehome.us/ImageArchive/AlienLife.jpg

[Madman!]

Crithon yeah I probably should've got the japapese version but they did add some images to the english one..and it has my name in it :teeth:, but yeah the cover is better.

I really haven't got any books lately I've just been getting Gnomon dvds..my Iain McCaig set should be here any day now :$ I can't wait for those. I will probably update on the 2nd of April cause that's when all the Star Wars artbooks come out...the Art of one, the making of one, and the Star Wars Visionaries comic that's being done by the concept artists of ep3 here is the thread I made about that book link (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38763) , definitely a busy month for getting books.

[jett]

does anyone have any ideas about watercolor books?
please check my thread (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39756) ..

thanks again.

[Madman!]

I got some new books and they were actually free. My grandma gave these to me she said she had them lying around..They're like first prints I believe not sure if they are worth anything doesn't really matter I'm gonna keep them anyway. Both are like the same but different the layout goes like text on one side a full picture on the other page. I put the pencil in the middle for size they're pretty big books.

http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell1.jpg

and some images...

Image 1 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell2.jpg)
Image 2 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell3.jpg)
Image 3 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell4.jpg)
Image 4 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell5.jpg)
Image 5 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell6.jpg)
Image 6 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell7.jpg)
Image 7 (http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs2/rockwell8.jpg)

[Gilead]

Oh great! I've seen a bunch of stuff that I never knew existed and now I suddenly can't live without.

If you are interested in classical painting techniques I'd say these books are the four best books available in most major bookstores. Richard Schmidt's books are great, but hardly available. Try your library. They're all about oil painting, but I find most of the information easily applicable to acrylics.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/books1.JPG

As for specific artists There has been no one more influential to me than Frank Frazetta.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/books2.JPG

After Frazetta my two favorites: Larry Elmore and Kieth Parkinson.
http://members.cox.net/gilead/books3.JPG

[hito]

another one found by chance...

Drawings of Heinrich Kley

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0486200248/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-1444129-4391107#reader-page

[Madman!]

Okay I got my books this week and I said I would post the pics when I got them, So...

Artbook
http://www.nathensprings.net/books/swartcover.jpg

Making of Book
http://www.nathensprings.net/books/swmakecover.jpg

and below are 2 pages(well actually 4) a piece for each book of the insides...


Contains SPOILERS and may cause eye damage from kicking so much ass!

Artbook insides:
Page1 (http://www.nathensprings.net/books/swartpage1.jpg)
Page2 (http://www.nathensprings.net/books/swartpage2.jpg)

Making of insides:
Page1 (http://www.nathensprings.net/books/swmakepage1.jpg)
Page2 (http://www.nathensprings.net/books/swmakepage2.jpg)

If you want to see more spoilers from the movie and scans from the artbooks there is a site called millenniumfalcon.com/ (http://www.millenniumfalcon.com) and check the Ep3 spoilers section, tons of stuff.

I also got the Visionaries book but I didn't take a pic..just check out dark Horse (http://www.darkhorse.com) for about 8 pages worth or previews and you can also find different preview pages on the official star wars site.

personally I think the Artbook and making of ones this time around are the best ones to have come out.. Sweet drawings(more color), better layout, better insight..in the back of the artbook the writer mentions like what the artists used from tools, it was simply written but that kinda stuff wasn't in the last 2 books..more informative let's say.

[Gezstar]

Madman! - You know, I didn't notice that was Street Fighter Eternal Challange book, since I got the Japanese version with Akiman's Cover. Hey, you can't go wrong with a Shinkiro cover!

http://store1.yimg.com/I/animebooks-com_1820_167205365

Crithon, this cover is actually by Ikeno. I only mention it because it's one of my favorite paintings :)

[Madman!]

We can't let this thread die!

I posted this over in the lounge to a new book I got..

"The Skillful Huntsman"

I just got this book yesterday in the mail and it's fantastic. It really goes over the process and has tons of art. It has art from Mike Yamada, Khang Le, and Felix Yoon. I can't believe they did this as a school assignment, they already look like seasoned pros.

Book info and gallery-

designstudiopress.com/books/skillfulhuntsman (http://www.designstudiopress.com/books/skillfulhuntsman/)

If you like looking at like prelim sketches and design process to the final piece then I would check this book out.

Here's another one I got..."the Cinema of George Lucas"
http://www.lucasfilm.com/press/news/img/20040709.jpg

The book was great, had a lot of very interesting info in there and some great pics from the movies.

I think those are the only books I've gotten in awhile. I definitely, definitely need to get more books..yeah definitely.

[the_allejo05]

THANKS GUYS I HAVE A FEW OF THOSE BOOKS..BUT I WILL BE GETTING MORE FROM YOU RECOMENDATIONS..I RECOMEND WWW.DRAW123.COM FOR UNDERSTANDING PERSPECTIVE..VANDRUFF IS A GREAT TEACHER ESPECIALLY FOR A BEGINNER LIKE ME..HEHE..GOT ALL THE LOOMIS BOOKS FROM [url]WWW.FINEART.SK] EVERY PAGE IS FREE... IM STUDYING HOGARTH AND BRIDGMAN..CLASSICS..BEVERLY HALE IS AWESOME BUT HARDER..AND WELL LOOKING FOR THE OLD MASTERS AS WELL AS TOP ILLUSTRATORS....ALLA PRIMA IS GREAT..FOR OIL PAINTING..I DID HIS COLOR CHART TOOK ME A MONTH BUT HELPED ME A LOT...
HMM NOBODY MENTIONED VELASQUEZ..WHO HAS INSPIRED MORE ARTISTS THAN ANYBODY HEHE

[johnfields]

I have books on the works of
Boris V
Rockwell
Frazetta
Ken Kelly
Lot's of how to books like
jack Hamm
Chris Hart - (so-so)
Burne Hogarth
Eisner
Lots of issues of Heavy Metal , comix (penthouse), Sketch,and 2 long boxes of comics. I gotta say my strongest learning tool and source of inspiration is Concept Art!

[jetpack42]

"The Skillful Huntsman"

I just got this book yesterday in the mail and it's fantastic. It really goes over the process and has tons of art. It has art from Mike Yamada, Khang Le, and Felix Yoon. I can't believe they did this as a school assignment, they already look like seasoned pros.

Book info and gallery-

designstudiopress.com/books/skillfulhuntsman (http://www.designstudiopress.com/books/skillfulhuntsman/)

If you like looking at like prelim sketches and design process to the final piece then I would check this book out.



I was just going to post this book in here. I've been staring at it for the last 2 days....it's incredible. Definitely a must see for any aspiring entertainment artist.

[Profil]

If you´re intrested in watercolor I suggest you should check out some Anders Zorn and Carl larsson paintings.

[Dizon]

If you´re intrested in watercolor I suggest you should check out some Anders Zorn and Carl larsson paintings.

Don't forget Sargent.

[Aether]

Jéno Barcsay The Anatomy Guide for the artist (i presume thats how its spelled in english). I love the way he rendered his drawings tho the version I have lacks when it comes to theory, basically just the drawings. The latest most inspiring booklet i bought was Michael Bockemühl`s : Rembrandt.
A great inspiration has also been the works displayed here, the likes of Mentlers anatomy studies and Androids portraits etc...

[hito]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0975978306.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

just picked up this one from school library. great reproductions of alot of paintings; great number of artists covered and discussed.

really beautiful stuff.

[masterpug]

I collect damn near EVERY concept art book I can get my hands on. I have the one that was released with Warcraft III, and the Final Fantassy 9 one. These others here are also nice (thanks Amazon.com for the pictures). Also, I would like to say that anything by Yoshitaka Amano is gold in my opinion, despite that we have VERY different styles.

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~wein9901/artofhellboy.jpg

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~wein9901/figureinmotion.jpg

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~wein9901/Amano.jpg

[Madman!]

I still need to get that art of Hellboy one.

Some I've got recently..

A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. This book is fantastic, it explains basicly everything like arches, types of wood and textures, building styles(gothic, roman, etc) and makes it real easy to see what's what too. Anything you can think of is probably in this book and how it's constructed.
http://www.stoutbooks.com/stout/images/items/39198.jpg

the Art of Batman Begins. It's a pretty nice book, mainly just for the Dermot Power drawings.
http://i.walmart.com/i/p/09/78/08/11/84/0978081184948_500X500.jpg

J Scott Campbell's sketchbook. It's not a book but it's super nice. I got mine for 20$ and it's well worth it, I've already seen them on ebay for like 70$. You can still find some for around 20-30$, it's 32 pages and every page is awesome.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/JScottCampbell/JSC2005SB.jpg

Michael Turner Millennium book. If you got the Jim Lee one it's basicly the same but with Turner instead. It's 150 pages which is smaller than the Jim Lee one but it's still a great book..I just wish they had some of the pics bigger on some pages.
http://store1.yimg.com/I/wizarduniverse_1856_3842858

[Shinryu]

not sure if i should be posting this here but here goes

alan lee's lord of the rings sketchbook will be released on september the 5th, 192 pages

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/Shinryu-k-/alanleesketchbook.jpg

will be great for inspiration i think


-shin

[adamlogan]

Wow, awesome thread guys! Alot of books on my wishlist now :-).
I noticed no color theory books have been recomended, Color is a
vital component of design, I'm sure alot of you already know about
this but nonetheless for those who dont.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0130933171.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I was wondering if there were any books specifically about creating
concept art? Shrugs. Also, what are some good books as far as pencil,
pen, grayscale marker usage? I really liked doug chiangs studio tips on
marker sketch and painting but I didnt feel like it was enough, I'm
looking for more comprehensive tutorials along those lines? I'm
thinkin analog gnomon dvds? so expensive : /. I'm interested in
being a concept artist and am new to this, was wondering what
some good beginner books or dvds are etc that would help in this field.
Especially since I want to do more enviroments than Characters or props.
BTW, I just bought every paperback "art of" starwars book there is, for
the cheapest prices I could find for each. Man I cant wait to get em :D

[Bojee]

Have you guys checked out this one? http://us.dk.com/static/covers/all/3/6/0756608163H.jpg

[the_allejo05]

I like to read so I have fiddle with this books..im yet to really study them..i get most of my books from amazon used :)

Drawing, Painting,Anatomy and Perspective :) books

Charles Bargue - Drawing Course

Eye of the Painter
Figure Drawing for all its worth
Fundamentals of Drawing
Drawing Head and Hands
Creative Illustration
by Andrew Loomis

Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters
Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters
Master Class in Figure Drawing
by Robert Beverly Hale, Terence Coyle

Dynamic Anatomy
Dynamic Figure Drawing
Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery
by Burne Hogarth

The Practice and Science of Drawing
Oil Painting Techniques
by Harold Speed

Drawing the Head and Figure
Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes
How to Draw Animals
Cartooning the Head and Figure
by Jack Hamm

The Artistic Anatomy of Trees, Their Structure and Treatment in Painting
Perspective for Artists: The Practice and Theory of Perspective As Applied to Pictures With a Section Dealing With Its Application to Architecture
by Rex Vicat Cole

Scientific Illustration : A Guide to Biological, Zoological, and Medical Rendering Techniques, Design, Printing, and Display
by Phyllis Wood
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
by Betty Edw rds (Paperback)
Design Drawing
by Francis D. K. Ching (Paperback
Artistic Anatomy
by Dr. Paul Richer
Anatomy For The Artist
by Jeno Barcsay
Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life: Over 1,000 Illustrations
by George B. Bridgman
The Natural Way to Draw : A Working Plan for Art Study
by Kimon Nicolaides
The Art of Animal Drawing : Construction, Action Analysis, Caricature
by Ken Hultgren
An Atlas of Animal Anatomy for Artists
by Wilhelm Ellenberger
Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators
by Ernest W. Watson
Perspective Drawing Handbook (Dover Art Instruction)
by Joseph D'Amelio
Basic Perspective Drawing : A Visual Approach
by John Montague

DvD Perspective Series
VHS Drawing Monsters
DVD Drawing Animals
by Marshall Vandruff
DK Art School: An Introduction to Art Techniques (DK Art School) (Paperback)
Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting
by Richard Schmid
The Art Spirit: Notes, Articles, Fragments of Letters and Talks to Students, Bearing on the Concept and Technique of Picture Making, the Study of Art Generally, and on Appreciation (Icon Editions)
by Robert Henri,
Portraits from Life in 29 Steps
by John Howard Sanden
How to Paint Like the Old Masters
by Joseph Sheppard
Drawing Realistic Textures in Pencil
by J. D. Hillberry
Basic Colored Pencil Techniques
by Bet Borgeson
How to Draw Cars Like a Pro
by Thom Taylor
Light and Shade (Barron's Art Handbooks: Green Series)
by Parramon's Editorial Team
Light and Shade : A Classic Approach to Three-Dimensional Drawing
by Mrs. Mary P. Merrifield
Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference For Artists
by Mark Simon
The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression
by Gary Faigin
Drawing and Cartooning 1,001 Caricatures
by Dick Gautier
How to Draw Cartoon Animals (Christopher Hart Titles)
by Christopher Hart ( I really like his books I might get more titles by him)
How to Draw Those Bodacious Bad Babes of Comics
by Frank McLaughlin
The Complete Sketching Book
by John Hamilton
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way
by Stan Lee
These dover publication drawing books they are cheap so i can look at master drawings :
Degas' Drawings by H. G. E. Degas
Sargent Portrait Drawings : 42 Works (Dover Art Library) by John Singer Sargent
+Ingres Portrait Drawings : 44 Plates (Dover Art Library) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Rubens Drawings : 44 Plates by Peter Paul Rubens
A Cezanne Sketchbook : Figures, Portraits, Landscapes and Still Lifes by Paul Cezanne
Michelangelo Life Drawings (Dover Art Library) by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Leonardo Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci
Van Gogh Drawings
by Vincent Van Gogh
Old Master Portrait Drawings
by James Spero
150 Masterpieces of Drawing
by Anthony Toney
Holbein Portrait Drawings
by Hans Holbein
Old Master Life Drawings
by James Spero
Drawings of Heinrich Kley --
by H. Kley; Paperback
Rembrandt Landscape Drawings
by Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn

still collecting the Masters of ARt series books :
Matisse Michaelangelo
Rembrandt Vermeer Raphael

I have a Leonardo ,Monet and Diego Rivera book in Spanish
Book on Toulouse Lautrec, small book on Manet
Two books on Peruvian Art
Legacy by Frank Frazetta
Twin Visions: The Magical Art of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell

that is all for now..i still want to get more master artists books..I had a nice book by velasquez and i lost it :( i have enough for learning the basics hehe..

[Madman!]

Two recent books I got..

Josef Albers Interaction of Color
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0300018460.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The books is okay, but I don't get how a book about color can be printed with black and white photos.

Stephen Quiller Color Choices
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0823006972.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

This one is definitely way better and easier to follow.

[Kittywolf13]

Wow! this thread is soooo insperational!! :heart: I love it. i cant thank you guys enough for posting some of these suggestions. I'm sitting here thinking i'm going to Barnes N Nobles tommorow...or better yet to the library, cause i really dont have any money right now to buy anything...but i really love some of the stuff you guys put up here.

Some of the things i'm going to check out because i saw they here and thought they were cool:

Alphonse Mucha
John William Waterhouse
James Gurney
Steven Heller's "The Education of an Illustrator"
Faeries-Brian Froad and Alan Lee (i've seen this books multiple times, i really need to make this part of my collection)

As for some suggestions i have a few.

First off i will start with my idol, because i think anyone interested in animation/comics should at least see his stuff once. Hayao Miyazaki is awesome! all of his work is good. dont pass it off as simply another anime artist. Here's some images:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/333cinepapier1_hayao_miyazaki.jpg
Screen cap from "Howel's Moveing Castle"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/FF_144_anime1_f.jpg
A design from "Howel's Moveing Castle"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/town.jpg
Background art from "Spirited Away"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/genesis5.jpg
"Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" concept art

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/nausica.jpg
One of my favorite portraits of "Nausicaa"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/npencil.jpg
Sketch of "Nausicaa"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/2001.gif
Small excerpt from the manga of "Nausicaa" (trying to show some of the lineart quality)

I recommend any of his "Makeing of" art books there lovely. i dont personally own them as they are hard to come by (except for the Spirited Away one which was published here in America) but searching for Hayao Miyazaki on Ebay is an excellent way of getting ahold of them.

Another book i definatly recommend, and own (and has already been mentioned) is Jeff Smiths "Bone." Lovely book. i loved it.

I was also surprised to find that i enjoyed the concept art in the "The art of Star Wars" books that out. theres some really nifty stuff in there.

If i could get my hands on these artbooks i'b happy too...i love the design's of Range Murata artwork. its just wonderful! a couple of examples:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/000A.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/kittywolf13/misc/006.jpg

I also found a book at Borders for 5 bucks called Liveing Tribes by Colin Prior i picked up as a reference book for tribal clothing and stuff. it has some lovely photography in it. and for five dollars i wasnt complaining.

I really have a small collection and dont have a lot of pictures to show, other then the stuff on my harddrive...which i'm embaressed to admit is mostely anime...but i mean to correct this. :) if you absolutly want an image for something i mentioned and dont have up...then i'll be glad to get you an image, just pm me or something. :) enjoy!

[Madman!]

I got these two books recently..

Art of Darkwatch:
This isn't the book cover, but if you want to see art from it check out Francis thread in the finished section or you can view pics here http://designstudiopress.com/books/darkwatch/

http://www.game24.ru/covers/ps2_11633608457117E38.jpeg

It's an amazing book if you love artbooks this is a good one.

I also got this one of Mucha it's also really sweet, amazing drawings.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0486236722.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[Rascar Capac]

http://rev-art.com/lemenimages/book1.jpg
http://rev-art.com/lemenimages/book2.jpg

Heres a few to mill over....many more to come...


Ron

that socialist realist painting book alone is $900 by itself !- you know where I can get one for a reasonable price?

[Steinmetz]

my guess would be by scanning each page or something..

[Miau]

woa, thats a lot!

The Lotr Sketchbook of Alan Lee, that was anounced before is very cool! absolutely worth buying.
Phil Hale: Goad, is a nice book too.

[Madman!]

900$! damn and I thought 150$ for richard Schmids book was exspensive.

Got this off of ebay for a couple bucks and it's really good..

Aladdin: the Making of an animated movie it's got Glen Keane art in it..is there any other reason.
http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/Aladdin.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/al_it_2000/Al_art8.jpg

two others..both are pretty good specially the second one.
John Knoll: Creating the worlds of Star Wars 365 days
http://starwarrior.theforce.ru/covers/documentary/cwsw.jpg

Star Wars: Ultimate Visual Dictionary
http://slimak.gwiezdne-wojny.pl/grafika/2005/cze/guide.jpg

[Mengel]

it's fair to say that this has cost me about an hour and a half of my life and will soon cost me around $300 to nab all the books that interested me.

damn! (but I wouldn't have it any other way)

[Madman!]

I posted this in the lounge too, the book is so nice I'll say it twice..

I just got this book today from barnes and noble...man it's fantastic every page has sweet art on it, every page is as good as the cover..

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1416505199.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg


I'll go out on a limb and say this is better than the LotR artbooks and I love those. If you can get it I would.

[adiere]

Leonardo Notebooks on painting and sculpture. (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5000)

I can't tell that this book realy inspired but I just downloaded and printed it and I'm very excited to read it.

[fishw]

wow i want to steal ron's library. great collection.

I have a load of art history books that cover periods, movements and individuals. These are just a few books that i particularly like out of my slowly growing library.

The big one is a catalogue raisonne of Giovanni Boldini...awesome book, two volumes, over 700 full page plates and it weighs loads. i found it at a bargain price too. Well worth seeking out if you can.
The grey one is a chunky book of Michelangelo's paintings and sculptures.
The blue on on the bottom right is an original 1911 (that means second print. the first was 1909) copy of Undine illustrated by Arthur Rackham, which is brilliant. Found it rumaging around my grandma's old books after she died.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/Fishw/Other/books.jpg

get the boldini book. it's called Giovanni Boldini Catalogo Generale, and it's by Bianca Doria.

[PolinaH]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1929834314/qid=1136317363/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-3756090-4261618?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Harley Brown's Eternal Truths for Every Artist <- a really good book that I still want to read... If i only didn't misplace my copy =(....

http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/1354169
Der Nackte Mensch by Gottfried Bammes <- great anatomy book, hard to find and usually really expensive. Try to find it in a library. Don't get the translated one, they have more images in the german one (no I cant read german)

I have some other favorite ones but I think they've been already mentioned (I haven't went through all the pages of this form yet...)

[janni]

Madman!: thx for posting the kong book, didn't knew it yet. and what's in "Star Wars: Ultimate Visual Dictionary"? any new artwork?

does anybody own this massive 150 bucks star wars book? i'd like to know if it has a lot of new artwork in it, that's not in the regular artbooks.

[Madman!]

Janni The Ultimates Visual Dictionary is completely different than other Visual Dictionary ones. The old ones tell you about the characters and like the items they have. The ultimate one is like the whole story of Star Wars with the expanded universe stuff too, it has lots of pictures to from the movies, books, comics and games.

For the 150$ one I'm guessing your talking about the Star Wars Chronicles: the Prequals one right? I was gonna buy it for christmas but I got other books instead which I'll post soon(I got tons of new books). From looking at the insides of the pics I found online it looks like it's kinda like the old visual dictionary but I'm not 100% sure. You can find pages(I think) here..click here (http://www.chroniclebooks.com/Chronicle/excerpt/0811847357-e0.html) You got to click on the rotating pics and it will show you some sample pages and there is more than just one page on some.

[janni]

intersting link. from what i saw it's a lot of props, miniatures and wardrobe shots, which is cool, but too less art for my taste. at least for 150$...
looking forward to your new books Madman!

[Madman!]

Okay i'll post the first half that I got...I bought some awhile and I got some for christmas...I'm not that rich :D

I got some books on animals cause I didn't have enough reference books. All 3 of these books are fantastic just tons of pics and info about animals and they were all pretty good prices one was like 9$

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0789477645.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs/animals1.jpg

http://www.nathensprings.net/photographs/animals2.jpg

and then I got some artbooks

I just got this today and haven't got to read it yet..
http://www.kodansha-intl.com/books/image/en/book_pic_1/0870118005L.jpg

Mucha..what can I say everything in here is awesome tons of great drawings.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0486240444.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Alma Tadema this is actually 1 of 2 I got haven't recieved the second one yet. It's kinda like this Waterhouse book I got..lots of paintings and lots of info.
http://www.moesbooks.net/pics/32429.jpg

I got this cause I was looking for a N.C. Wyeth book..there is alot of great art in here just not enough of Wyeth even though he dominates the book. I need something just of him.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0823056082.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

There might be more I missed I'll have to look to see what I last posted. I know I got a couple others that haven't arrived yet..one is the Charles Bargue Drawing Course book..which I know a lot of people want to know about so I will give a good review when I get that.

[Druchii]

The most recent books that have inspired me, are some of Frank Cho's ( of Liberty Meadows fame ), and Alan Lee's and John Howe's collective sketches and art for the LOTR trilogy.

[unknown_epiphany]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0810981505.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif

this is an amazing book and its very reasonably priced for the size of this sucker. i have an original version of the book thats like 20 by 30 inches and has all the pages in special paper and its now worth like 500 dollars. thank you grandpa for appreciating good artists and handing the book down to me:teeth:

[janni]

nice ones madman! if you're interested in more animal books. "eye to eye" has some wonderful animal "faces" in it. great for character. i tried to look for it on amazon, but it went out of print recently. you should still get it used quite cheap, though.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/morphgfx/eyetoeye1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/morphgfx/eyetoeye2.jpg


this one got released by BradyGames recently and i wondered if anybody has it yet. is it the same that comes with the collector's edition of wow?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/morphgfx/artofwow.jpg

more info:
http://www.bradygames.com/title/0744007259

[dougster]

I just stumbled onto this site when I was looking for some
visual references of Horst Janssen's drawings.

I'd seen a showing of his work years ago in Chicago,
and I've always loved his line.

I've just started looking around, but I tend to agree
with most of the book and artist references I see here.

I had the good luck to have had some James Gurney original paintings
in my hands when I started my first job, just out of art school. This was 20+ years ago,
and I was workng at National Geographic. They had just comissioned
Gurney to illustrate a foldout map. He and I were both 30 at the time,
and it was a humbling experience to meet him, considering that even at 30
he was unbelievably talented. He painted like John Singer Sargent. Every brush stroke was there for a reason, but none of them were labored.

[Madman!]

This thread is too good to go away.

I've been trying to still get more refernce books lately..

the Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1904687261.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
This book has so many pictures of planes it's crazy and it was only 9$ at Barnes.

the Book of Clouds
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1402728131.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Lots of cool pictures of clouds and good info. If you need pictures of clouds this is the only book I've found so far.

ImagineFX
http://www.futureplc.com/future/uploads/image/news/ImagineFXCover_197.jpg
Not a book but has a lot of art by members from here..Jason Chan, Daryl Mandryk, etc...kinda exspensive but it's a good magazine.

Edit*

Also got this artbook..

Alphonse Mucha the Spirit of Art Nouveau
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0300074190.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
It's Mucha so yeah it's good. I ordered it from Amazon took forever to get here cause they just recently got them back in stock...still worth the wait.

[Chingwa]

http://www.popgirl.net/share/ln.jpg
Best book of comic art I've ever seen.... If you can find a book from the first printing, definately get your hands on it. Should be a great collector's item. It's HUGE absolutely HUUUUGE! Which is great, but I also don't know where to store it. It's lying flat on my coffee table for now, but I'll have to find another place for it, really don't want to get it dirty.

you can read more about it here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976888505/sr=8-2/qid=1148778542/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-1382897-8936621?%5Fencoding=UTF8).

[Egets]

My most crucial artbook eva, The Art book of Goldenage of Art in Finland, I just basically decided to scan the cover and some interior pages for the art to speak for itself, I love these all !!!!!!



No tassa on varmaan kaikista tarkein kirja mita mulla on koska tama edustaa kaikkea mita olen ihmisena ja suomalaisena ja mita haluan olla, kun menee ulkomaille niin se tunne vahvistuu ja tietaa kuka on

NO kuitenkin niin tassa on parasta suomalaisen taiteen antia, onneksi se ei ole kuollut viela, teen taidetta - olen siis olemassa

Skannasin kirjan kannen ja sisasivuja parhaimmista taiteista, kaikki oikeudet WERNER SODERSTORM OSAKEYHTION


Ja sitten ne skannaukset, olkaa hyva ja nauttikaa :


http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4827/kultakausikansi8ym.jpg

lahikuva:
closeup:

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6383/kultakausikansicloseup3mh.jpg


Sisasivu 107 Karl Emmanuel Janssonin taulu: Sakariston ovella
interior page 107


http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1633/kultakausi1074vc.jpg


Lahikuva:
Closeup:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4906/kultakausi107closeup8xh.jpg


Sisasivu 119 Adolf von Becker: Aidiniloa
Interior page 119

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/244/kultakausi1198jm.jpg


Lahikuva:
Closeup:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3848/kultakausi119closeup7zc.jpg



Sivu 158 Albert Edelfelt: Ruokolahden eukkoja kirkonmaella:
Interior page 158:

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7636/kultakausi1587jd.jpg




Lahikuva:
Closeup:




http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/1156/kultakausi158closeup6if.jpg



Sisasivu 164 Akseli Gallen Kallela: Madannyt kala
Interiorpage 164


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/2640/kultakausi1645bt.jpg



Lahikuva:
Closeup:


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3361/kultakausi164closeup3ex.jpg



Sisasivu 165 Akseli Gallen Kallela: poika ja varis:
Interior page 165



http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7913/kultakausi1657so.jpg





Lahikuva:
Closeup:


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7651/kultakausi165closeup0gb.jpg



Sisasivu 177 Akseli Gallen Kallela: Sammon taonta:
Interiorpage 177
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3318/kultakausi1777zq.jpg



Lahikuva:
Closeup:


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3557/kultakausi177closeup5nw.jpg



Sisasivu 188, Helene Schjerfbeck:Tanssiaiskengat
Interior page 188

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5243/kultakausi1889xx.jpg




Lahikuva:
Closeup:


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/707/kultakausi188closeup1ie.jpg




Sisasivu 224 Eero Jarnefelt: Savolaisvene
Interior page 224

http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/897/kultakausi2247ku.jpg



Lahikuva:
Closeup:


http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/3479/kultakausi224closeup4dd.jpg

[fishw]

very nice stuff there egets. i love edelfelt, he's a wonderful painter

[nofingers]

I'm sure that these have been mentioned. Spectrum and The Society of Illustrators are some must own books for anyone wanting to do illustration. My personal favs are Mythologhy: the DC comic art of alex ross, anything by rockwell or gil elvgren or phil hale. Another one I love is a book with Bernini's entire catalog of sculpture. I have a book by katsuya terada, which is the largest art book dedicated to a single artist i have ever seen, @ 1000 pages...its mostly sketches.....but really amazing to see such a volume of work.....its a shame that its an import, and pretty expensive most of the time.

[Bojee]

Do you guys know this one?
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0953386201.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

or this one?
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0847827577.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

They're both great figurative painters.

[Madman!]

I've seen some art from the second one..Jason posted a couple pictures a long time ago, but I didn't know there was a book..now I do thanks!

[fishw]

bojee, both of those are favourites in my personal library. jenny saville sends shivers down my spine she's so good

[Madman!]

I just got two new books..

the Treasures of Leonardo Da Vinci
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0061136840.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V53800234_.jpg
Not very many pages, but has very interesting layouts and cool pull outs of pages from the notebooks. I have a few other Leonardo books and this is probably my favorite..but I haven't got that really huge book yet.

the Art of Cars
http://www.digitaldreammachine.com/blogimages/luxo/TheArtOfCarsCover.jpg
I only have the Art of Incredibles and this one is about as good as that one, so if you like the other Pixar artbooks then you should get this one too.

[kndy]

Hi everyone,

There are a lot of great books mentioned here..as a matter of fact, just from your recommendations and bought many [also, makes great deduction in taxes] but here are books that I enjoy that have not been mentioned.

Anyway, here are a few of others that I recommend.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0966638328.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Pantone Guide: Communicating with Color - For those who go into print design or your life or career revolves around the using of Pantone colors, Eisenman specializes in color and how it affects moods. I own several swatch books but this book has been very good in using color combinations to achieve certain moods. Examples and swatch combinations included.

http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/8495951177.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Japan Graphics is a book about digital designers. Not a how-two but showcasing around two dozen and more artists and graphic design groups from Japan. If you enjoy the modern artwork of groovisions, Locker Room Design, Delaware, rocketdesign, CosmicGraphics and many more. Especially how these individuals have used their modern work and brought them to mass media. I enjoy the artwork and designs. This is one book you can find on Amazon for cheap! But it's a wonderful and very THICK book full of photos and profiles of the artists.

http://www.akadotretail.com/shop/assets/thumbnails/1569705445.jpg

For the 3D artists who enjoy Japanese characters...3D books on characters are quite expensive but the reason why I enjoy this older book is because of the short interviews with the creators and to show their distinctive styles of characters that I have seen many times on Japanese media. Of course, there are a plethora of books out there but for the price and the variety of different characters showcased aside from one being focused, you may appreciate this one.

http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/0596008597.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

This book highlights the work of a group of French artists and how they utilized Photoshop for their work. Although it is a short book, it does show the timeline of the artists working on their project from start to finish. Each artists style is varied.


http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0201775735.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,32,-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65784305_.jpg

If you are looking for an Illustrator book in the WOW! sense of things...this one is NOT for you. This is not a how-to book. It's more of profiles of people who utilized Adobe Illustrator for their work. The people profiled talk about a few projects they worked on, how they did certain parts of that work but really, the book is focused more on how the selected designers use Illustrator as a way to communicate their art ideas and so forth.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1933492023.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I saw that a few mentioned Concept Design, also check out Concept Design 2.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1595329803.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The works of Min-Woo-Hyung. If you are familiar with his artwork, then this is book you want to get.

===========================
Now I know a few of you have mentioned Ashley Wood's work. I haven't bought a book yet and I am so curious about the PopBot and Sparrow. I notice that there are collections out, do you recommend the Collections. If I was to try one, which one do you recommend.

Thanks,

kndy

[dreamflow]

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b192/dreamflow/art/Der-nackte-mensch.jpg

Bammes, Loomis, Hamm, and many art books:
Download Here (http://basangpanaginip.blogspot.com/2006/01/downloads.html)

[darkwolfb87]

I dunno if these have been posted yet, but I use them all constantly for my figure drawing class:

"Drawing With an Open Mind: Reflections from a Drawing Teacher" by Ted Seth Jacobs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823014657/sr=8-1/qid=1154364556/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3681324-5177640?ie=UTF8

"Light For the Artist" by Ted Seth Jacobs
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823027686/sr=8-2/qid=1154364556/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-3681324-5177640?ie=UTF8

"The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing" by Anthony Ryder
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823003035/ref=sr_11_1/002-3681324-5177640?ie=UTF8

[Madman!]

got some books over the last couple of weeks..

D'artiste Concept Art
http://www.nathensprings.net/uploads/cover.jpg
It's got Andrew Jones and Sparth and tones of other cool art..it's a must buy for me.

Entropia
http://designstudiopress.com/books/images/Entropia_cover_half1.jpg
It's got some great art just not very much in the book.

Daphne
http://designstudiopress.com/books/images/covers/Daphne01cover.jpg
Really like this one has some great pencils.


the Smaller Majority
http://media.bestprices.com/content/isbn/56/0674019156.jpg
Not an artbook but has tons of pictures(really nice ones) of cool animals..some crazy looking crabs.

almost forgot one..

Art of Guild Wars..
http://www.guildwars.com/images/spotimages/serpent.jpg
Have you seen the thread? another must buy.

[darkwolfb87]

Okay, I discovered this book this year and still believe it is one of the most helpful things any artist could possibly read, study, and work from. If you come upon this recommendation, find this book! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/darkwolfb87/dec8729fd7a04596968ac010.jpg

[Madman!]

got a couple new books..

Art of Open Season. It's pretty nice lots of art specially the environments.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1933784040.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V61237048_.jpg

Absolute Batman..man this book is awesome and has some sketches in the back. I wish they made more collected editions oversized.
http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/10360000/10362996.jpg

Rainforest..just a book full of pictures animals and environments.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0756619408.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V65536898_.jpg

the art of Disneyland..bunch of concepts of the park pretty nice stuff.
http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/11820000/11828046.jpg

[foggle]

Anatomy for the artist was always great in that it started me off in trying to learn the anaotmy properly, which in turn has massively increasexd my ability. And for inspiration...
http://www.joysjapanimation.com/manga/images/akira01b.jpg
got bored of trying to draw manga long ago, but the Akira series will always be a great source of inspiration to me. The sheer volume of artwork in the books alone is incredible.

[Flake]

Just picked this up and found it really interesting.

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5859/kreutznf5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://www.amazon.com/Problem-Solving-Oil-Painters-Recognizing/dp/0823040976/sr=8-1/qid=1160045803/ref=sr_1_1/104-3168526-8411140?ie=UTF8&s=books

It's not really a "how to paint" book, it's more about the author trying different things to improve paintings and walking you through what he's doing and why. It probably won't appeal to everyone but I found it a good read. It's about oil painting but I would think most of the advice could be applied to other mediums as well.

[IndieFly]

Great thread everyone, will go through as many books as i can!
Right now i'm on the hunt for a good book on color, some theory and combining them for mood, etc.
Mainly covering most of the topics and maybe not going in depth in all of the topics.

Anybody with a good suggestion would be highly appriciated!

Cheers

\Nick

[Dusk22a]

Does anyone have any reference material for clothing, as in periods/cultures/styles, as well as how they interact with the human body. I have the Hogarth book on Dynamic Wrinkles but that one is like all of Hogarth's books, interesting and informative but rather impractical.

[Flake]

I'm about halfway through this and finding it very interesting so far. The illustrations are fairly poor quality black & white and it's heavy going in places but it's well worth a look. Cheap too.

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/503/speedxw5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[pavelpangrac]

To Dreamflow - I would like to thank you - the books you have on your page are really great - the figure drawing from Loomis - wow (I had before "Die Gestallt des Menschen" from Bammes completely german and there is a lot of theory, that it is quite difficult to go through), but Loomis is, lets say very easy and good for progress, once again thanks

[palette]

Anything one can find with reproductions of work by the Czech master Mucha should prove very helpful in developing one's sensibilities to anatomical contour . . . his knowledge of human anatomy is quite profound and Like Rodin
and Degas he had that wonderful ability to draw well from memory; sadly, a contemporarily neglected discipline IMHO . . .

[Vaejoun]

Oh my, I just overflew 2 or 3 sides and I have seen so many books I wanna run out to buy T_T Maybe on Ebay.

Ok, When it comes to watercolours this one is great:
I just love his stuff.

Bodo Meier - Tiere in Aquarell

http://www.bodo-meier.de/assets/images/Buch.jpg
http://www.bodo-meier.de/assets/images/crocodiles_Rufiji.jpg
http://www.bodo-meier.de/assets/images/Hyena.jpg


And also the works from Yoshiuki Sadamoto. Espacially "Der Mond/the moon"

http://gallery.point-blank.cc/albums/dermond/Der_Mond_Yoshiyuki_Sadamoto_00_Front_Cover.highlig ht.jpg
http://patlabor.interfree.it/eva_cop/evangelion_cop18.jpg
http://www.sophoto.cn/photopost/data/519/1Der_Mond_-_Yoshiyuki_Sadamoto_-_014-med.jpg

[Madman!]

Some books I got over the last couple of months…

Burning Crusades Artbook
http://www.goblinworkshop.com/gallery/albums/burning-crusades/normal_illidan-1600x.jpg
Had to buy the collector's edition to get it. It was worth it though, way better than the other first one.

Revolution the Art of Jon Foster
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/igallo/Revolution.jpg
Of course it's good, just wish there wasn't so many of the old images used from the last one and that the sketches on the insides cover were bigger.

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide
http://www.simonsays.com/assets/isbn/0689859414/BC_0689859414.jpg
Not really an artbook, but it has tons of cool art by Tony DiTerlizzi. I know the books are for kids but they're pretty good and they have art in them too.

Design Studio Press-In the Future
http://www.designstudiopress.com/books/images/covers/InTheFuture_IndPg.jpg
Not sure if I posted this one yet. It's just like the Skillfull Huntsman book, but has more artists in it this time and different subjects. It's really cool and along with the Skillfull Huntsman book, these are probably ranked somewhere at the top of artbooks I own.

[Bojee]

This is a good one for technique.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0890098794.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V57071096_.jpg

and one more
http://www.gpweisberg.com/images/books-ImagesLg/14.jpg

[Darasen]

W Joe Innis "How to Become a Famous Artist ans Still Paint Pictures"

At Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Become-Famous-Artist-Still-Pictures/dp/0595144551/sr=8-3/qid=1171605608/ref=sr_1_3/105-5930114-4183661?ie=UTF8&s=books)

[gascogne]

ah... i have books but im not at the house ATM so i cant remember their titles ^^; but anyway, i have that book of the collection of hispanic artists from pre-raphaelite to renaissance era. its very beautiful

then these (books) are the rest of my inspirations
braque
monet

for method books, i have
that drawing landscapes in watercolor book
creativity (a graphics book)
color proofing

and the rest i just borrow from the library on in my alma mater. its hard finding those books i like at the bookstores.

[zoephoenix]

I enjoy the How to Draw Manga series (yeah, probably not the best books I could've bought, but I got them when I was in highschool and didn't know any better :p)

I particularly enjoy the How to Draw Manga Costume Encyclopedia: Intimate Apparel. I bought these a few years ago and since then I haven't had the money to buy more traditional books. :(

I have.. How to Draw Manga:

Bodies & Anatomy
Costume Encyclopedia vol. 2 Intimate Apparel
Occult & Horror
Girl's Life
Illustrating Battles
Bishoujo
Dressing Your Characters in Casual Wear
Mech. Drawing

I plan on getting some traditional books soon... don't hit me... :p

[Coen]

By far the most inspirational book to me is this one:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/1405306300.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I love the diversity of styles in it, and most of all, I love her own drawings. I actually got the Dutch version with a different cover but it seems to be the same book.

Awesome thread.

[novenus]

The classic, The Natural Way to Draw, by Kimon Nicolaides. Every serious artist who wants to master drawing should definitely read and use this book.

[permanent_pixels]

Ive recently started collecting the d'artiste series of books and have found those very helpful in getting a good idea of whats possible in digital art.
Checkout.. www.ballisticpublishing.com Great stuff...

[Kevin Lam]

My first anatomy book, which I got last week.

[Mendics]

Hey i am really new here and i knew that starting a new thread will be stupid if there was something like this here. Anyways can anyone tell me a book about how to draw movements, like realetionship, dynamics, balance anything related to movements. Most of the books i've found was about anatomy and little was covered on movements, I just visited the bookstore today and found nothing about it, well maybe a small part of it but it doesnt really help. * i dont wanna spend money on something i think that will not help me.. *
it'll help me a lot if you guys know something.. thanks.

[Eloth]

Goldfinger is a good one for how the bones and muscles move. I know that may not be what you are talking about. I always just went to a coffee shop or something with a big window and did quick sketches of people walking or talking. Also, pausing dvd's for quick action. Anatomy really is the key to most of this. If you know how the bones move, how the muscles are connected and shaped, and how they all interact, you can do any pose you can think of with enough gesture drawing.

[LORDBISHOP]

I agree with Eloth. I have been studying anatomy from various sources, but something was missing from my drawings, LIFE!!! So I had to go back and break out the Vilppu and Bridgman and study gestures for a while. :confident

[Rasme]

javascript:self.close() http://www.processrecess.com/detail.php?uid=AF9B46&start=0&limit=6#
I think James Jean is awsome, and his book is too. I can't wait to see his next one.
http://www.paperview.com/store/images/categories/bammesgestalt.JPG
Also Die gestalt des menschen by Gottfried Bammes is very useful. Exept the fact that i only have it in German, so I can't understand a word of it. but all the illustrations are so good, that I think they tell much more than the words in it.

[kingshaj]

this fella (Anthony Ryder) has been inspiring me alot lately
he has a very odd way of approaching the figure (the opposite in fact from the standard blocking approach) he actually starts with the figures contour/ silhouette...i don’t think his approach would work well when drawing from ones imagination IE without a model...nor would i recommend it for beginners. But I have found it very helpful and totally inspiring.

his site
http://www.tonyryder.com/

[Modesty Personified]

After taking a look through this topic, I felt inspired to check out the art section at Barnes and Nobels. I stumbled across a few books, most of which were mentioned here. I just wanted to thank everyone for contributing to this topic. I saw a huge improvement in my art after just glancing through some of the books and getting a few ideas, and I am certain that I have more to gain after studying the books further.

The sky's the limit, right?

:painting:

[grenogs]

i noticed in one of these threads this week, a lot of people trying to look for this book, its supose to be very good, well i just found a pdf version, only 25meg. hope its some use to someone here.

http://www.austinsketchgroup.com/share/loomis_FIGURE_draw.pdf

[Flake]

Okay, I discovered this book this year and still believe it is one of the most helpful things any artist could possibly read, study, and work from. If you come upon this recommendation, find this book! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/darkwolfb87/dec8729fd7a04596968ac010.jpg
I scored a copy of this for Xmas and it's absolutely superb, my mind is being blown every third page or so.
It's long out of print but you should be able to find a used copy on Amazon.

It's up there with Loomis and Speed for me.

I also got a copy of this and it's gorgeous.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/3286/tapestrybigtw7.jpg

[TASmith]

Well it took 12 pages, but people finally mentioned the books I'd most recommend: The Spectrum Books, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, and Loomis' Figure Drawing For All It's Worth.

The Spectrum books are great for inspiration. There are many original concepts to browse through and study. What's more, they're all award winning, so you get a good idea of what you need to work towards, to survive in the profession.

Scott McCloud's book puts into perspective just what kind of art you can make, and why you'd choose certain styles/forms - realism vs. abstractions vs. icons. It's real genius.

Loomis' figure drawing books is unique in a couple ways. First, he presents a simplified mannequin that's easy to sketch from memory in different poses. He has some excellent pages on balance, and how to make figures in motion off balance to suggest movement. He's also a very eloquent writer. I've saved some quotes of his on rhythm, balance, movement, etc, for teaching. Then, there are tons of sketches in the book to draw from. They're mostly attractive young dancers, and he draws them mostly through pencil shading, based on light and shadow. It's the kind of work you could do from photos, and really Hogarth is more helpful for memorizing the figure. One plus is that he claims a teacher once told him he'd never make a good artist, and to give up. So if he can succeed, then, hopefully so can any dedicated student.

Hogarth's Dynamic Figure Drawing is great, but it lacks a couple Anatomy Atlas sketches that'd make it perfect. For those images, you have to get his Dynamic Anatomy, or some such, and flip to the back. He has all sorts of simple rules for lines of rhythm, how to view forms and shapes. His drawings don't look like real people - they're exaggerated to emphasize his concepts. Once you really understand that, and read along with each sketch, you learn a ton - better than most college courses on figure drawing.

Sarah Simblet's book on Anatomy is very pretty, but not nearly as helpful. The photos are beautiful. I tried to use them to study the anatomy - sketching the photos freehand, and then tracing over them, trying to place muscles in the right places, etc. There's just not enough info in the book to do it right. I had to guess way too often, even when I took those same sketches to a BodyWorks exhibit and stood in front of real bodies. The sketches just didn't make sense with them. She is good at drawing, but she makes the mistake of not labeling her sketches properly. You see a sketch of a thigh, and you don't know if it's the front or rear view, or which side is facing outwards, away from the body, and which is facing in.

Heinrich Kley's a really great illustrator. He has a couple sketches I use for teaching. One, of an Elephant ice skating, emphasizes gravity, and how to create the illusion of gravity in drawing. Another shows a Kangeroo with baby in pouch, both playing a harp. It's called The Prodigy, and it's really cute.

For inspiration in comics, there's none better than Bill Waterson. I put together some classes on cartooning, and Bill Waterson serves for every teachable lesson - facial expressions, twisting, posing figures, size as a dramatic effect, effective/dynamic page layouts, mixing drawing styles to enhance the story, even making entire comics without any dialogue, just going from one image to the next. Plus his dialogue's great, when he uses it.

David Cho is also a great cartoonist that shares many of the same qualities as Bill Waterson. What's the name of his series? Something similar to Bloom County... Something Meadows.

Anywho, Berkeley Breathed is great with Bloom County, making great fun of 80's mass culture and politics. If only he were still going. We need him to pick at GW.

Akira comics have some of the greatest drawings I've seen so far as suggesting motion. You can hear the metal hitting concrete and explosions just from seeing the drawings.

No one's yet mentioned some New England realists like Wyeth and Homer. They're great.

There are a ton more great artists out there, but I can't think of titles just yet.

[grail]

I've got-
frazetta:a retropestive,ashley wood's fantas and sketchbooks, goad by phil hale,guild wars 2 and nightfall artbooks, assassin's creed concept artbook, some boris and julie bell's, dave mckean's,bill sienkiewicz's, christopher shy's,brian froud and alan lee's fairies, metal gear solid artbook, masamune shirow's and then some.

all inspire to be better artist

[JPArt]

Well if we're tossing out book titles here, as far as those
artists & illustrators who inspired me in their own way,
I'd have to say Dean Cornwell, Harrold von Schmitt, NC Wyeth,
Howard Pyle, Frank Frazetta, Heinrich Kley, Andrew Loomis,
and JC Lyendecker, plus Saul Tepper, Hadden Sunbloom,
Montgomery Flagg and a myriad of other illustrators of that caliber & period.

Plus tons of comic book artists, like John Bucema, Joe Kubert,
Al Williamson, Gene Colon and tons more. Some really talented
artists working today that I admire are Frank Cho, who works
on a lot of marvel Titles, plus his own characters, and Mark Shultz
who did Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. Great stuff, and their drawing skills
& anatomy are juts spot-on!

[SwordOfDivineFire]

I have quite a large collection of art books myself. This is a great thread, I'm sorry that I just stumbled upon it now. I didn't get to check out all 12 pages so I don't know how many of mine have already been mentioned, but these are some great art books that have inspired me...

Frank Frazetta: Icon
Frank Frazetta: Drawings Arcanum
Dean Cornwell: The Dean Of Illustrators
Drew Struzan: Oeuvre
Mike Mignola: The Art of Hellboy
Frank Miller: The Art of Sin City
Alphonse Mucha: The Spirit of Art Nouveau
Any and all of the Spectrum annuals
Paul Calle: The Pencil
Andrew Loomis: Figure Drawing For All It's Worth
Mythology: The DC Art Of Alex Ross
The Drawings of Heinrich Kley
How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
Lucien Freud
Gil Elvgren: The Great American Pin-Up
Norman Rockwell: Pictures For The American People

[SwordOfDivineFire]

A few more I just thought of...

Ralph Steadman - I, Leonardo (absolutely CRIMINAL that this book is out of print!)
J. Scott Campbell: Danger Girl Sketchbook
Barry Windsor-Smith: Opus Vol. 1 and 2
Princess Mononoke: The Art and Making of Japan's Most Popular Film Of All Time

[anomandarist]

I love Christophe Drochons paintings. It's a bit weak on the actual technique but the finished product is amazing.


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61XFR9Q6QVL._SS500_.jpg

[j-just]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/empress_of_drac/8_gen-41.jpg

I get most of my inspiration from strangers that I've never met. Nylon Street is really great whenever I want to meet someone new.

[TheComicFilmBoy]

great to see people sharing their favorite books! here are some of my favorites

books that help me include:

Andrew Loomis - Drawing The Head and Hands
Andrew Loomis (again lol) - Figure Drawing For All It's Worth
Jack Hamm - Drawing the Head and Figure
Jack Hamm - DRawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes
Glen Vilppu - Vilppu Drawing Manual
George Bridgman - Bridgman's Life Drawing
Boo Radley - i'm just kiddin, Barbara Bradley - Drawing People: How To Portray The Clothed Figure
Ken Hultgren - The Art of Animal Drawing
Preston Blair - Animation
Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics
Bert Dodson - Keys To Drawing



as far as inspirational books go, I don't have many. Though I do have Faeries from Brian Froud and Alan Lee. Great book! Oh wait, I recently got That's All Folks! The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. frickin love the Looney Tunes!

[JetLime]

Two books that come to my mind are
Jeno Barcsay: Anatomy for the Artist (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anatomy-Artist-Jeno-Barcsay/dp/1402735421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207056635&sr=1-1)
Andras Szunyoghy & Geza Feher: Human Anatomy for Artists (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Anatomy-Artists-Geza-Feher/dp/3833120452/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207056741&sr=1-8)

Both books are precise, beautiful, exhaustingly detailed and probably useful to med students as well as they do contain the Latin name for everything :) I'm not sure if they're available in the US, but they are in the UK and probably the rest of Europe and of course on the internet.

[alexandrov]

Great thread. Inspired me to buy Art of Star Wars series and Art Of Lord Of The Rings series.

1. Zone Of The Enders - The Second Runner/Anubis.

Great art and illustrations. Features such masters as Kaneko Kazuma (Shin Megami Tensei series all-time illustrator) and Yoji Shinkawa (Metal Gear Solid).

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117055047ff703e915ce.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117062947ff7065084bf.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117064947ff7079e81b6.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117070647ff708a0928f.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117073447ff70a6b1c72.jpg



2. The Ark - Lineage II Illustrations.

Awesome pack of digital and hand drawn concepts. NCSoft released Second Edition, which contains even more beautiful art. I don;t know, where to buy this one... Probably, this book has some J.P.Targete's works, as he worked for NCSoft.

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117080747ff70c73aeb8.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117082847ff70dc1a83b.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117084747ff70ef6c7b8.jpg



3. Yoji Shinkawa - Art Of Metal Gear Solid 2.

Mix of japanese traditional art, Moebius and Kaneko Kazuma. Unique gear design.

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117091347ff7109c6bb5.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117093947ff7123c81e6.jpg

http://www.imagehost.ro/pict/1117095947ff7137316e2.jpg

[SaintFuse]

First off I want to say thanks to everyone here for being so generous with their time and knowledge!

I am just about to start with a SB Thread this week, and I wanted to really hit it hard, and by doing this I want to get more books on art tech. more then anything.

so my question to you all is I am budgeting about $125 on some good books, all through Amazon mind you since I get free shipping and their prices are good.

But here is my list, and I would like some suggestions on these and maybe some other ones you would recommend.

Perspective Made Easy - Ernest R. Norling
The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study - Kimon Nicolaides
Artistic Anatomy (Practical Art Books) - Dr. Paul Richer
Keys to Drawing - Bert Dodson
The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain - Betty Edwards
Drawing Human Anatomy - Giovanni Civardi

Thats 6 books, but I still have some money left over, any suggestions?

Im a very 2D artist, I have a hard time drawing anything thats not staright on, so anything that might help with that would be great.

And for inspiration I HIGHLY recommend Massimo Frezzato

Sketchbook on Amazon
(http://www.amazon.com/Frezzato-Sketchbook-Maser-Massimo/dp/1882931777)

[sekard2]

The practice and science of drawing by Harold Speed is a must along with Perspective For Artists by Rex Cole if you having trouble with perspective.Both can seem academic and wordy at times, but both books are quality.Don't forget Loomis is free on the internet, and if you're lucky enough to still have any change left over ,Drawing Lessons from the Great masters by Robert Hale should do you nicely.

[Ekove]

Hey,

I'm an artbooks addict and I have many to recommend and review, though I'll keep it to one favorite of mine recently.

Out of the Forest: The art of Paul Bonner

I didn't know about Paul Bonner until I saw his book, and I couldn't put it down since I opened. His watercolors' paintings are amazing down to the smallest detail and is full of life and personality. His work is mainly fantasy art he has done for games like warhammer, he had a chapter for some bat-man style sci-fi that I didn't like much.

I can't describe how good his art is, since I've been through this book inspiration has been coming to me non-stop. He's easily one of the best contemporary artists.

http://www.fantasy.fr/news/upload/actu/20070731-Artbook-Paul-Bonner-Couverture.jpg
http://www.fantasy.fr/news/upload/actu/20070731-Artbook-Paul-Bonner-2.jpg
http://www.fantasy.fr/news/upload/actu/20070731-Artbook-Paul-Bonner-1.jpg

[GFX Slave]

I'm looking for a good book that'll teach me how to digipaint, make concept art, increase my drawing quality (character drawing, anatomy, etc.)
I was thinking about this one:

http://www.nl.bol.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/nl/-/EUR/BOL_DisplayProductInformation-Start?Section=BOOK_EN&BOL_OWNER_ID=1001004005450643

Does anyone know if it's a good one?
Does anyone know a good book for me too buy? I live in Europe by the way.

[GFX Slave]

Could someone please answer me?...
Please tell me if that book is of a good quality or not.
And what book should I buy if I want to practise drawing human anatomy?

Please answer me! :)

[Blacktwang]

can you guys recommend some of beginner books for me ??
about sketch
sorry for my bad English

[Dogprince]

Hey Everyone, i have had an interest in drawing my entire life and should i have stuck with it when i was young i would like to think that i would be really good right now. As it is, i have only been really serious about it (drawing every day, etc) since December 07. Even then i've slacked off from time to time.

So my question is: Will books honestly help with my drawing (i have a few in my library already) or will paying more attention to drawing every day be the most beneficial? Or a combination of both?

[Arshes Nei]

Well a lot of books have been mentioned but first and foremost most instrumental in harboring change in my art attitude is

Art & Fear

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217883194&sr=1-1

I often buy a lot of clipart books from Dover...

Henry Yan and Anthony Ryder I look to solve shading

http://www.henryyanart.com and http://www.tonyryder.com

I also have Hale's book Master Class in Figure Drawing:

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Class-Figure-Drawing-Robert/dp/0823030148/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217883447&sr=1-2

I also got both of Bammes books in English though I had to hunt for his German ones. Great stuff.

Art Books:

Gary Tonge

Doug Chiang - Mechakina

Gil Elvgren

Apple - inspired by the Japanese color comics Anthology Robot. Sad part is I think the Koreans are doing anime/manga designs better than Japan now.

I also have Ken Hultgren's book in Animal drawing.

[donalfall]

The Art & Science of Drawing by Harold Speed. Everything else I'ld push on people has been mentioned as far as I can tell.

I'ld throw in Richter's "Artistic Anatomy" as well, although I think someone else had that in above.

[Flake]

The Art & Science of Drawing by Harold Speed. Everything else I'ld push on people has been mentioned as far as I can tell.


If you haven't already, get his Oil Painting book. It's exactly 43 different kinds of awesome and it costs about the same as chewing gum for a week.

[cbiscuit]

I loved John Howe's Fantasy Art Workshop, he has some incredible stuff

[Nickodemus]

My painting instructor pointed me towards a book called "American Sublime: Landscape Painting in the United States 1820-1880" Hands down, the best landscape work I have ever seen. Church's "Cotapaxi" is beyond magnificent.

[jg233]

"The Art of Warcraft" Hmm, I'll look for it, and I totally agree that it's what stimulates "you".

I just thought some of these books we might end up talking about might stimulate or inspire other people. Gotta share the wealth! Thanks for posting! :D

Can you bring in a photo so people know what to look for?-B

I also suggest the Okami Official Art book ;)

[LORD M]

Anatomy Drawing School: Human, Animal, Comparative Anatomy

by: Andras Szunyoghy and Gyorgy Feher

"With more than 1,200 detailed illustrations by the Hungarian master artist Andras Szunyoghy, Anatomy Drawing School offers an in-depth view into the anatomy of human beings and selected mammals. For the student, the volume's remarkably precise depiction of the skeleton and muscles will open the door to the true-to-life reproduction of the various parts of the body and their movements - a critical step on the road to artistic mastery."

http://resource.tcdc.or.th/bookcover/12002/12002-fc-a.jpg



I absolutely loved this book. It got everything I want on human anatomy. Shows all the muscles and all the bones, it shows muscles and bones in different poses and excersices. And half the book is about animal anatomy - 1/4 of the animal part is about the horse, absolutely wonderfull. I have always looked for ages for reference pictures on horses and other animals - but no more!

[KrisCynical]

This thread is so long I apologize if I missed it...

Could anyone recommend a good book on perspective? Because of transfer credits I didn't get the required perspective class when I was in college, so it's always been a bit of a weak point for me beyond the bare bones basics. It's one of the main reasons I think my backgrounds are so weak.

In other words, is there such a thing as Perspective For Dummies? :bashful:

[john_d]

I just found this thread and spent the last hour going through it. Lots of good stuff here.

Here is one of my favorites that just came out a few years ago. It has a great biography and tons of beautifully reproduced paintings, sketches, charcoal pieces and others.

http://www.brainsforlunch.com/images/basil.jpg

Here is another book that was really helpful when I first started drawing. I used to check it out of the library a lot since it was out of print even then, but purchased a used copy years later when Amazon came around. Looking at it now, I can see it is definitely lacking in things like anatomy, but the basic concepts he goes through were a revelation to me back then.

http://www.brainsforlunch.com/images/bodyworks.jpg

[PMorin]

This thread is so long I apologize if I missed it...

Could anyone recommend a good book on perspective? Because of transfer credits I didn't get the required perspective class when I was in college, so it's always been a bit of a weak point for me beyond the bare bones basics. It's one of the main reasons I think my backgrounds are so weak.

In other words, is there such a thing as Perspective For Dummies? :bashful:

There are drawing and painting books in the "dummies " series but they some of the worst books i've ever seen .And from your website you could write a far better book than they did. I really liked your site and the images on it i didn't get to see everything but your pictures are strong and i didn't really see anything wrong with your backrounds.If you're interested in a perspective book try Ernest Norling's perspective made easy .It's very good and explains things clearly if you want more after that, try Joseph D'amelio's book



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KENVXS62L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0486432084/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link



And so I reccomend those as part of my suggested reading list as well as:

hawthorne on painting

jack hamm's scenery drawing

master class in figure drawing -rober beverly hale

watercolor you can do it

acrylic painting a complete guide -wendon blake

how to draw comics the marvel way - stan lee ,john buscema

drawing with pen and ink -guiptill -random house publishing
this is a real thick book with tons of awesome ink drawings if you can find it it's a real treat.

fill your oil paintings with light and color - kevin macpherson


Of course any list of good art books could conceiveably go on forever but I'll stop now lol

good luck!

[Sphyzex_9]

Rimmer

http://www.scott-eaton.com/excerpts-from-art-anatomy-by-william-rimmer

[rjw]

I heartily agree with the aforementioned plugs for Alla Prima-Everything I know About Painting by Richard Schmid. It is well worth the money. Schmid's demo videos are also really beneficial if you can save up for them.
I don't know if it has already been mentioned, and I'm sure you already know, but The Charles Bargue Drawing Course. It's expensive, but phenomenal.

Those would be my top two. Love the discussion and thanks for bringing it up. I've also gotten some good book ideas.

[kairog]

Yep, long time ago I learned my watercolor with "WaterColor WorkStation". I lost that book during the flood and I forgot the author already. It is a good book specially for beginners like me at that time.

[Uziel]

Guys stay on topic - books.
tshirts - There is no fast way to learn painting, there're a ton of books in this thread some of them can help you but you'll be experimenting techniques no matter what and that takes a lot of time.
Alexander19 - i think your teacher has a better idea of how the layout should look like - as for subject: different gods, buildings, talismans, mummies, statues, writing (hieroglyphs), war.
If a subject like egyptian art doesn't inspire you you're in a lot of trouble.

Some of my books i studie from:
Atlas of the animal anatomy (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OpVGSU4at94/Se03tiTosQI/AAAAAAAADFo/LNZwY3sS_qI/s400/01.jpg)

Anatomy for the artists (http://img.tweedehands.nl/f/normal/55971080-anatomy-for-the-artist-hc-jeno-barcsay.jpg)

John raynes has a couple of fun books.
Vicenc b Ballestar and Jordi Vigue if you like to try different techniques (pastels, crayons, colorpencils)

[Aarossell]

I don't own a huge library of art books yet, but the ones I have are really nice.

1.Norman Rockwell's "my adventures as an illustrator"
2."Norman Rockwell's America"
3. Spectrum 13
4.OOP 2
5.several illustrators&designers annuals
6.Ralph Steadman's "Sigmund Freud"
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/bestselling-comics-2006/3007-1.jpg
7.All Graeme Base books
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61S8Hvf%2B13L._SL500_AA240_.jpg
8.(I don't own this one, but am on the lookout for it) Tapestry: The Paintings of Robert E. McGinnis
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p4I9kL_myy0/SjlXpAmre_I/AAAAAAAACFA/J8gR_X_PJ4k/s400/tapestry+the+paintings+of+robert+e+mcginnis.jpg

[B3CK]

I've been slowly building my library based on recommendations from teachers. Here's a couple of my favorites so far.

Freehand Drawing Self-Taught - Authur L. Guptill
- This is an old old book but I think there are still some used ones up on Amazon. It seems to have a large focus on graphite, despite it's subtitle "With emphasis on the techniques of different media". The first half of the book is focused on instruction - teaching you how to hold your pencil correctly, how to make different strokes, and other important concepts, while the second half of the book offers examples of drawings. Almost all of the examples involve architecture, so they make excellent copies for the aspiring environment artist.

The Head - Andrew Loomis
- This book gives a very practical approach to drawing the human head. It shows correct proportions and offers a wealth of drawings to copy. The Figure by the same author has also been recommended to me, though I don't own it yet.

Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes - Jack Hamm
- This book has some of the best exercises I've seen in a drawing book. My favorite is a two-page spread with 20 different drawings of the same tree, each in a different style. This one totally changed my perspective on how to achieve different effects by holding my pencil differently.

[Lightship69]

Sorry about this but I have just stumbled across this thread and havn't posted anything useful here....... I am very sorry and will hang my head in shame!

Anyhow We are talking about inspirational books here and so here are some of my best!

Painting the drama of wildlife step by step - Terry Isaac - he goes on about the use of acrylic but I have found the techniques or principles shall we say transpose to digital.

Icon A retrospective by the grand master of fantastic art - Frank Frazetta - Love this one to death for more reasons than I can tell its truely inspirational.

Rough work concept art, doodles and sketches - Frank frazetta - just loads of ideas in a book, very good.

The fantasy artists figure drawing bible - Matt Dixon - good starter book has ready to draw characters and step by step rendering techniques.

Illustrating childrens books, creating pictures for publication - Martin Salisbury - This may seem like an odd choice but if you plan to make money from art and illustration then you need to know what editors and such publishing industry folks need or require. Bear in mind that a lot of the people you submit to dont do art themselves. This book takes you through the whole process, from concepts, leaving room for the words, structure and professional approaches.

D'artiste digital artists master class - Authors various and massively skilled - all this range of books from ballistic publishing are simply brilliant for inspiration and technical help. Go to the website and look through the books (www.BallisticPublishing.com).

Fantasy art workshop - John Howe - The mans a genius and a modest one too, the book has some good advice and lots of technique and tips, it's a must have!

I shall finish with a very odd one, I found this when trying to put some childrens book characters in an era that was simpler to take the story out of modern times and add a little more oddness (if that's the word) to the story.

Malcolm Root's Transport paintings - text by Tom Tyler - this is like a snapshot of life in the 1950's and it was stupidly cheap too in a book sale. Go on try something different get away from elves and dragons for a while.

Ok that is a selection of my books, I hope you find them interesting and as inspirational as I still do!

Happy new year you lot !

[Jenboben]

I don't have a lot of books, but I hope to have a good collection in the future :) But for now, I have these three books that have helped me with my technique, as well as good refs for inspiration and thinking!

http://www.vilppustore.com/images/img011.jpg

The Vilppu Drawing Manual

http://www.morgangaynin.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/illustration-now-vol-3.jpg

Illustration Now Vol. 3

http://www.andersramsay.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/drawing-right-side.jpg

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

[draxc0la]

"The Art of Warcraft"

:D

No seriously...just looking at the seemingly raw sketches and some of the more finished pieces and seeing the commentary and the creation of a game world is inspiring to me. It all depends on what stimulates you, man. :)

I also like to browse KChen's thread and some stuff from strych9ine over at Photoshoptechniques.com don't tell him I said that

"The Art of Warcraft" it's my favorit

[TheComicFilmBoy]

Figure Drawing For All It's Worth
Drawing the Head & Hands


Mega Man: Official Complete Works
anything with Ayami Kojima's art
Faeries
cheesy video game box art (yeah I have a weird sense of humor but for some reason it does make me wanna draw. probably 'cause I'm like "Man that Mega Man 9 box art is cool and funny, I wanna do that)

And, while not exactly books, I have to mention old B-movies. Don't ask why, it just seems to mesh well with some other interests.

[Book Guru]

For the start, do we all realize that excellent art skills can be gained only after many hours of work? At least 8 hours per day for studying, if you want to become a professional.
If not - then it doesn't matter.

Next, just a reminder. During many years Rubens was copying Michelangelo. Again and again. And again. Endless learning process. Then HE became a Master. Then others were copying him next to Michelangelo.
The answer is easy.

Buy big format, great quality books of Art Masters of the past - drawings by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rubens, da Vinci, Bronzino, Caracci, etc, etc.
(Just make sure it's not Dover-like publications. You need the best quality to make good copies. If it's "10 bucks or less" - it's for trash.)
And you don't need any text for this kind of books. Images only. The higher quality the best.

Of course, I can't leave out of attention the publications by the Academy of Arts. Russian Academy, of course, as I don't know any other Academies which publications deserve any professional attention.

1. Fundamentals of Drawing, V.A. Mogilevtsev (http://4-art.org/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&amp;flypage=flypage.tpl&amp;cat egory_id=6&amp;product_id=657)
The only publication on academic drawing. Simply presents the drawing SYSTEM as it was taught by the art academies until the 20th century. And is still taught ONLY at the Russian Academy (and partly in China, thanks to many Chinese students who studied and study in Russia).

2. Sketches and Academic Drawing, V.A. Mogilevtsev (http://4-art.org/products-virtuemart-component?page=shop.product_details&category_id=6&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=630)
Leading professor of the Drawing Department presents drawings and sketches made by the best students during his 15 years of teaching at the Academy. Excellent guide for academic drawing perfection.

3. Drawings, Nikolay Blokhin (http://4-art.org/products-virtuemart-component?page=shop.product_details&category_id=33&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=634)
The best drawings made by one of the best draftsman. A true follower of academic traditions. Study his works, thus improve your drawing skills.

4. Paintings, Nikolay Blokhin (http://4-art.org/products-virtuemart-component?page=shop.product_details&category_id=33&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=636)
See #3, but this time - all about academic painting.

There are also Khamid Savkuev, Yuri Kalyuta, and others - who make outstanding artwork and teach at the Academy.

For those who prefer to see things on computer screen - here are some links:

- Khamid Savkuev (http://www.practicum.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110%3A2010-08-03-08-11-34&catid=32%3A2010-01-11-14-59-13&Itemid=1)

- Nikolay Blokhin (http://www.practicum.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57:blokhin&catid=22:drawing&Itemid=20)

- Yuri Kalyuta (http://www.practicum.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51:ot-risunka&catid=22:drawing&Itemid=20)

Yes, my message is a bit harsh, but it frustrates me to see thousands of junkie "art" books on the shelves of people who want to dedicate their life to the art.

And last thing to mention.
Be careful with what you study and by whom you're taught.
I was a witness of master classes taken by foreign "professional artists" at our Academy. I've seen their frustration and irritation when they simply didn't want to follow instructions,... because they got used to completely different system. Their drawings were... "ok", but too far from being great or even simply good. And it's not just your hand that develops bad habbits, it's your mentality, which later on will be very difficult, if not impossible, to change.

But if you do all this only for fun - please ignore everything I've just said. :)

[jetpack42]

THE WAR OF ART

by Steven Pressfield.

Read it now and thank me later.

[Uncharted_Artist]

I didn't see this book on here, if it is i apologize, but this book is amazing and think everyone should take a look at this one. Has everything in it and it breaks down everything pretty good. It explains everything about the muscles and how they work and explains how the surface forms of the body will look when certain muscles are in use. Hope it helps you all. Enjoy.

[NyeAlexandaFrayne]

some of these are new, and a few iv had for a while :) id say all are worth buying, but i may give proper reviews after iv had a good gander at them..

1-imaginative realism
2-mechanika
3-digital painting techniques volume 1
4- bridgman, constructive anatomy and 100 hands
5- The art of uncharted 2
6- burne hogarth, dynamic figured drawing & dynamic wrinkles

x

[jetpack42]

AMAZING.

[Lightship69]

Hi all

I just thought That would add some of my inspirational stuff in here too, Theres one book that I used to sneak into the school library to look at that I always wanted a copy of and that was mechanismo with a lot of jim burns stuff in it got me into loads of trouble. Not to mention inspirational words like stop dreaming son, get a job like the rest of us.
1156059
So for sources of inspiration we have lightship and Imago by jim burns
1156057
1156058
theres the art of the brothers hildebrandt, I spent hours pouring over this one.
1156056
I have two Frazetta books as well that I sit and stare at for hours at a time and bemoan my fate to be merely average in the art world, these are
1156062
1156065
all of these are really good sources of inspiration and dreams, (pah! what did school know!!)

and a reasonable source of anatomy pics and advice is
1156068

Thats the only reference type book I own the rest is just stuff to fire my imagination.

So what do you think so far ?

I do have others but I thought I might be getting boring so I stopped.

[kloakatriposa]

Bold visions is pretty useful. But usually I prefer spending money on Spectrums or exposés. You can learn QUITE A LOT by observing the contemporary illustration masters

[Numenorian9]

Hello everyone. I'm new here on this message board and I couldn't help but throw in my 2 cents in this discussion.

Perhaps the most inspiring book in my collection is a massive volume that weighs about 20 pounds entitled "The Complete Work of Michelangelo."
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$%28KGrHqV,!isE1Mz%28W%28nlBNZP-0dBEg~~0_3.JPG

I agree with Book Guru when he says, "Buy big format, great quality books of Art Masters of the past - drawings by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Rubens, da Vinci, Bronzino, Caracci, etc, etc." In fact, this is most massive art book in my collection and is the definitive source for everything that survives of Michelangelo's work.

Another great book that really taught me the fundamentals of artistic anatomy is "The Master Class in Figure Drawing" by Robert Beverly Hale. The subtitle on this book reads "The Art Students League lectures of America's greatest teacher of figure drawing and artistic anatomy." Another one of his books is titled "Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters" and is another indispensable reference on the subject artistic anatomy.
http://images.bookbyte.com/isbn.aspx?isbn=9780823030149
http://images.swap.com/images/Books/10/0823002810.jpg

Possibly one of the greatest and most forgotten books on artistic anatomy is William Rimmer's book Art Anatomy. It's impossible for me to find a picture of the cover for some reason and I think the book is out of print. My copy is a 1962 edition.

And the best photographic reference for figure drawing from life has to be Eadweard Muybridge's book "The Human Figure in Motion." It's an absolute classic and should be in every serious draftsman's library.
http://preview.filesonic.com/img/99/db/fc/1797531.jpg

In my opinion, these are the most important books on the subject of figure drawing and it's important not to overwhelm yourself with a vast collection of art instruction books from all the masters out there, otherwise you'll never be able to get through them all in a lifetime. The secret to success as a draftsman is to copy from the masters over and over. And then recopy the more challenging compositions involving clusters of figures piled on top of each other--the paintings of Michelangelo come to mind here. I could have mentioned books on Raphael, Leonardo, or a more contemporary artist like Burne Hogarth but Hogarth's work is too stylized and exaggerated.

Anyhow, I just wanted to mention what I thought was the 5 most important books for me on the subject of figure drawing and artistic anatomy.

[annaatkins]

Thanks a mil for all the recommendations you guys. My bedroom bookshelf will finally be occupied! :D

[udonhead]

I just stumbled on a book called age of innocence the romantic art of jeffery jones signed and in mint condition at a used antique bookstore I never heard about this artist so I read a few pages and wow inspiration left and right hit me so I decided to grab all of my old books I dont read anymore and traded it in for the book a good fucking deal

another good art book is blade of the immortal by hiroaki sumura and the skillful huntsman by mike yamada


http://www.amazon.com/Art-Blade-Immortal-Hiroaki-Samura/dp/1595825126

http://www.amazon.com/Age-Innocence-Romantic-Jeffrey-Jones/dp/0887331858

http://www.amazon.com/Skillful-Huntsman-Visual-Development-College/dp/0972667644

[Calienté]

did a quick search and didn't find this, so....

Banksy: Wall and Peice

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/12/WallAndPiece.jpg/220px-WallAndPiece.jpg

at best it is inspiring; at its worst, subversive. or is it the other way around? not sure.