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mewpasaurus's review against another edition
4.0
For an aspiring artist or the illustrator who may be out of practice, Loomis' book is very insightful and instructional on how to best draw the figure. This book covers everything from gestures to fully clothed examples (drapery).
He covers both male and female forms and even delves into discussing how best to draw child and infant subjects.
My only real gripe is that because this book was originally published in 1943, some of the text (if you choose to actually read it) is really out-of-date and doesn't apply anymore as 'current'. He talks about a lot of illustrators and painters who were famous.. back in 1920-1940 all of which are dead now.
Other than that, this is an excellent book for all artists who wish to improve their figure drawing skills, especially those that may be on a tight budget and do not have access to a live model all the time.
He covers both male and female forms and even delves into discussing how best to draw child and infant subjects.
My only real gripe is that because this book was originally published in 1943, some of the text (if you choose to actually read it) is really out-of-date and doesn't apply anymore as 'current'. He talks about a lot of illustrators and painters who were famous.. back in 1920-1940 all of which are dead now.
Other than that, this is an excellent book for all artists who wish to improve their figure drawing skills, especially those that may be on a tight budget and do not have access to a live model all the time.
burritomadness's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this, even with the sexism of the time. Think I might pick up more of his books.
jgkeely's review against another edition
5.0
This book would teach you how to draw advertisements for the 1950s, but perhaps we have lost something of the diligence required. Photoshop has helped to even the playing field, but one cannot but wonder what a man of Loomis's drive and knowledge would be doing today.
typewriterdeluxe's review against another edition
2.0
Skimmed this one. Andrew Loomis' drawings are certainly glamorous, but this book is unhelpful. The only thing I can say I learned is that seeing the archaic and highly idealized forms repeated over and over cemented my determination not to omit details or change shapes in order to beautify a subject.
I would only recommend this to people who want to be able to cover/parody/draw in the style of vintage commercial art, noir, or pulp. (And I would recommend looking at illustration scans online or borrowing this from a library rather than purchasing.)
I would only recommend this to people who want to be able to cover/parody/draw in the style of vintage commercial art, noir, or pulp. (And I would recommend looking at illustration scans online or borrowing this from a library rather than purchasing.)
irate59's review
3.0
I still remember this fondly, it's one of the core basic books on figure drawing. So many who come from the schools of Manga and Comics (OK, graphic arts... *SIGH*) do not get this fundamental training on proper body part ratio, and character posture drawing.
When this book was first published the polaroid camera was robbing young artists of their ability to see what's in front of them, or an understanding of how human bodies work.
If you are lucky enough to find this book, have your artistic children read this thoroughly, and try some of the techniques. Do that before they are corrupted by modern comic books and graphic arts.
When this book was first published the polaroid camera was robbing young artists of their ability to see what's in front of them, or an understanding of how human bodies work.
If you are lucky enough to find this book, have your artistic children read this thoroughly, and try some of the techniques. Do that before they are corrupted by modern comic books and graphic arts.