“A beginning is a very delicate time.” – Frank Herbert [DUNE]
Well its been more of a starting-over-and-getting-back-to-basics time for me lately, but its close enough to what I’m doing… AND this quote has always been a favorite of mine.
Besides going through all my old comics and trying to fill in some missing books, I’ve also tried to get back to my drawing. I’d forgotten just how much fun it is to lose myself in the process of drawing more detailed art. To that end I picked up a few books to inspire and help me improve my own artwork.
Here are three books I’m currently working my way through.
Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Comics Studio
Forward by Joss Whedon. (You know the guy who directs and writes some amazing sci-fi shows and movies.)
So far its a good over view of the whole process of putting together a comic book. If you love his Ultimates stuff I’m sure you’ll want to pick it up anyway. The style is not entirely what I’m going for but the techniques are good to learn.
Next up is:
Whoosh! 250 Ways to Get Motion into Your Drawings
WHOOSH! is a WOW!
I’m loving this book so far and I’m only really like 12 pages in. You can skip around back and forth through this and get amazing tips. Its all about adding action and getting excitement into your drawings. There are tips on making your characters unique, animal movement, comparisons between styles, composition, etc. There is just so much packed into this small easy-to-read book I can’t go over a fourth of it here. If you get one book out of my recommendations today I’d go for this one. Its under $13 at Amazon (just click the link above to grab a copy and help me out in the process). This is one I’ll personally be referencing A LOT.
And the big finale:
The Art of Todd McFarlane: The Devil’s in the Details
This is the BIG one.
I paid full retail at my local comic book shop and feel it was definitely worth every penny.
This large over sized book is gorgeous and goes through Todd McFarlane’s beginnings as an aspiring artist and toy developer up to publication date. It has rough sketches, layouts, pencils, inks, and finished artwork that he has done through out his career. He gives tips and explains a lot of his thinking. This book is truly inspiring to any comic book artist.
That’s a wrap for this installment. Be sure to chat me up and check out my Facebook page.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.