Figure Drawing Without a Model
Ron Tiner
David & Charles
Nonfiction, Art
*****
DESCRIPTION: Life drawing and reference pictures are essential for any artists hoping to draw a convincing image, but what about times when it's impossible? How can one draw a realistic fairy or troll or wizard without photographic reference material? If you're drawing a sports comic book, do you have to dress up your friends and make them re-enact every frame to get it to look right? A popular illustrator for comic books and graphic novels, Ron Tiner gives pointers on how to draw the human form when standard methods are impractical or impossible, by developing visual memory and an understanding of the human form.
REVIEW: This is a great book, especially for people like me, who rarely take their sketchbook out in public but still want to be able to draw reasonably realistic humans. Let's face it: there's only so many times you can draw your family sitting and staring at the TV before that little exercise gets old (not to mention depressing.) Even with all the help in the world, I can't say that I'll ever be able to draw a decent human, but this book really helps. Hundreds of helpful illustrations, with suggested exercises and good text. As a bonus, Mr. Tiner includes a section on how to compose pictures to tell a story, plus making interesting contrasts, unique poses, and other things that a graphic novelist needs to know. Myself, I don't intend to go into the field professionally, not being an especially competitive person, but I do like to sketch out scenes and characters from my stories. Thanks to Tiner's advice, you can now tell the difference between the humans and the dragons. (In my case, the big blob with the long neck is the dragon, while the puny little scribble-mark is the human.)
You might also enjoy:
Constructive Anatomy and The Human Machine (George B. Bridgman, Art - Creating the forms of human anatomy)
Drawing & Painting Fantasy Figures (Finlay Cowan, Art - Developing and drawing fantasy characters)
Anatomy for Fantasy Artists (Glenn Fabry, Art - How to apply the rules of anatomy to fantasy figures)
Cyclopedia Anatomicae (György Fehér, Art - Extensive anatomy reference, including animals and comparative anatomy)
Anatomy for the Artist (Tom Flint and Peter Stanyer, Art - Art anatomy book)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques (John Grant and Ron Tiner, Art - Tips and methods to develop genre art);
Drawing the Head and Figure (Jack Hamm, Art - How to draw humans, from head to toe)
Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy (Christopher Hart, YA? Art - An "entry-level" book on human anatomy)
Dynamic Figure Drawing (Burne Hogarth, Art - Drawing humans, with emphasis on exaggeration and "deep space" motion)
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (Stan Lee and John Buscema, Art - Drawing lessons from Marvel comic artists)
Freaks! How to Draw Fantastic Fantasy Creatures (Steve Miller, YA? Art - How to draw "furries" and anthropomorphic animal hybrids)
DragonArt Fantasy Characters (J. "NeonDragon" Peffer, YA? Art - How to draw fantasy humans and kin)
Fantastic Realms (V. Shane, Art - How to draw and ink fantastic creatures and worlds)
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