starting to draw

[YoungHeros]

I have thought about starting drawing again.
I have seen a book called "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way"
Do you know that book and could you recommend it.

TIA ^_^

[Glitch Girl]

It's okay, but there are far better books out there if you can find them.  The Burne Hogarth Dynamic drawing books are a personal favorite of mine for visual reference. 

[YoungHeros]

Thanks

is it good to start with if you are a beginner like me?? ^_^

[psychopanda]

The "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" wasn't very helpful to me. I did find that there was a dvd of it on Netflix, and got a kick out of it. Mainly because I had never seen John Buscema (one of the late, great, classical Marvel artists). It was amazing watching him "sketch" things out. Other than the nerd factor, I can't say it was that helpful for someone who wants to learn how to draw.

Pwime asked a similar question and got a number of good replies, you might want to check that thread out too: click me!

[GhostMachine]

I've been getting some of the How To Draw Manga books put out by Antarctic Press, and they're pretty useful even if you don't plan on drawing manga style. (However, there's another series of books out there also called How To Draw Manga, and from what I've heard they suck)

Antaractic Press originally put out the How To Draw Manga line as a series of comics (about 26 total, I believe), but has compiled the first 24 into 4 books containing 6 issues each. (They've also done "How To Draw Manga" and "You Can Draw Manga: The Next Generation", as well) You can find them fairly cheap on eBay.

[captainspud]

Unfortunately, then you have to deal with the fact that you're drawing Manga characters.

[GhostMachine]

Unfortunately, then you have to deal with the fact that you're drawing Manga characters.

Nope. As I said, they're useful even if you don't plan on drawing manga. For instance, one issue of the comic has a pretty good section on perspective, another has some good tips on weathering effects (ie, aged wood and cracks in cement), and another a good section on doing trees. Plus, there's also an article on using a toothbrush and penwhite to make star fields (you can also use that to make snow, or use a toothbrush and regular ink (black or red, depending) for blood splatter) in one of them.

Wouldn't have recommended them if they were only good for doing manga.

[Lunarman]

The marvel one isn't bad, I have it.

The DC ones are better, (there's a whole series on drawing, inking, colouring, lettering), but that said there are better books meant for more general life drawing of people and objects rather than comic drawing. I'd look in an art shop (most stock a few books).

[YoungHeros]

Thanks all for the replies :thumbup:

i just want to draw comic book things ^_^

i will try to find the books about comic drawing

P.S. what is the name of the book by DC??

[Epimethee]

If you're really serious about learning to draw, I strongly recommend avoiding the comic-based books as your main starting point (the Hogarth ones are more or less an exception). Get the fundamentals of drawing first; once you're solid enough to get a good grasp of what part of a comic-book artist's art is idiosyncrasy and what is genuinely masterful or original as drawing in itself or in the context of comic storytelling, the DC and Marvel books are fine.

There are plenty of books on learning to draw; get something which covers the basics correctly without looking too fastidious. Also get a good anatomy book, plus a photo poses reference used for fashion drawing. (As an aside, I had a good chuckle the first time I saw Kyle Baker and Kevin Maguire wonderful art, as both obviously had a photo book I also refered to a lot, i.e. "Fashion Drawing: Face and Head".)

I also suggest "Learn to Draw: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edward. On the comic-book side, two very solid draftmen with published skechbooks are Steve Rude and Alex Toth. When the latter drew a panel which was particularly good, he scrapped it and drew it again so it would mesh better with the rest of the double page. This illustrates rather well the difference between good drawing and good comic-book drawing... Obviously, on the comic-book storytelling side, Eisner's and of McCloud's guides are must recommended (especially "Comics and Sequential Art" and "Understanding Comics"). "L'Art de la BD" by Duc is also pretty good, but good luck finding it (it's in French and probably out of print for twenty years).

Finally, a tip which I ought to have followed much better, given to the 12-year old me by Hergé's assistant Bob de Moor: "Draw from life first and foremost." (Model drawing sessions are particularly useful, IMO.)

[GhostMachine]

I definitely have to second the recommendation for "Learn to Draw: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" - I don't personally have a copy, but I know someone who does, and if I ever get time to actually get serious about trying to draw, I plan on asking if I can borrow it (Its my mother who has it, believe it or not).

[zuludelta]

I'll just quote myself from The Pwime's thread:

Your best bet for learning how to draw human figures accurately is to draw from life. You can start by copying photographs and then work your way up to live models (even if it's just you and a full-length mirror).

It also helps to have some real references handy. I've used books by Adrian Hill, Frank Netter and the famous Henry Gray's Anatomy for reference. In fact, all of the original Gray's Anatomy textbook is now available online for free, although for most artist reference purposes, you'll probably only be interested in Chapter 12 ("Surface Anatomy and Markings"). Even if you plan on doing more stylized (a.k.a. "cartoony") renditions down the line, having a solid base of sound anatomy will do wonders for your cartooning. I always like to point out guys like Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld as artists who never took the time to hone their human anatomy fundamentals and it definitely shows in their work (and in Liefeld's case, it looks like he learned to draw strictly from studying comic book art). Contrast that with guys like Keith Giffen or Kyle Baker, both of whom can draw in similarly outrageous styles but whose works don't suffer for all the stylization because all the relevant anatomical landmarks are still in proper relation with each other.

[Mr. Hamrick]

I'll echo what Zulu said above and add . . .

Don't look at it simply as "you are drawing just comics", you'll shoot yourself in the foot in the end. 

Especially if you want to do it professionally.

At least look into "life drawing" and books that have good chapters about perspective and scale, not just relating to characters and their surroundings but also to one another.  I'd also look at books with good chapters on proportions: as in the length of a character's arm in relation to their upper body.  Then when you draw characters to whom the rules don't apply (like Beast of The X-men and Swamp Thing for example) then you will understand why.

[YoungHeros]

Thanks all for the replies... again!! :thumbup:

it has been really helpful ^_^

Don't look at it simply as "you are drawing just comics", you'll shoot yourself in the foot in the end. 

it came out wrong :oops:

my bad.