Animation Illustration Art

Book Review : The Complete Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:06:00 +0000

Nice edition to Read and to Keep

The Complete Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is one enduring character, written with the analytical reader in mind, with Conan Doyle presenting the logic and the reasoning as detailed as the story itself.

This particular edition, is the perfect one. Comfortably large size, easy on the eyes, hardbound is elegant and somehow I found it very easy to position it anyways I wanted, whether I was sitting upright with the book on the desk, or when in travel with the book on my lap, lying on my side with the book on the left. I thought this is important to mention , now ofcourse to the content..

The higlight of this edition is the illustration collection by Sidney Paget, as they appeared when it was first published. It is significant to read the stories with Sidney Paget's illustrations, since Sidney Paget practically defined the way Sherlock Holmes appeared. though Conan Doyle's descriptins can lead one to visualize Holmes, it was Sidney who set it on paper. and the fact that he was working along with Conan Doyle, brings in the authenticity and approval of the visual representation of the stories. Sidney Paget ofcourse is a master illustrator, with fascinating black and white illustrations capturing all the drama in the stories.

The book contains, 37 short stories and a complete novel from The Strand Magazine. With all 356 original illustrations by Sidney Paget.

Stories included are
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892 (12 stories);
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Published in The Strand as additional episodes between December, 1892 and November, 1893 (12 stories);
The Hound of the Baskervilles, published in The Strand between August, 1901 and April, 1902; and
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, published in The Strand between October, 1903 and January, 1905 (13 stories).

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

2010 solar eclipse through Pinhole camera

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:34:00 +0000

The Sun and Moon spectacle is as much of Art as it is Science.

Here you can see the 2010 Jan 15th spectacle as observed from Chennai, as captured by the pinhole camera I made using two sheets of cardboard.

You can make as many suns as you need by simply punching that many holes :)

Book Review : Rip Kirby Volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:44:00 +0000

Rip Kirby Volume 1 (Hardcover) by Alex Raymond

Golden Age ... Again !!

This is definitely the Golden Age of reprints! A glance at this book will affirm it.

This book is wonderfully made, leather(atleast looks like it) bound!, *very large* book, printed on non-glossy heavy paper, brings out the fantastic black ink work, of which, Alex Raymond is a master.

The book begins with few articles introducing Alex, and his work, pictures of him, a few flyers that promoted the strip when first published, along with some pictures, where you can see Alex Raymond with the beautiful models who were the secret behind his stunningly realistic looking figures. A traditional figure artist of perfection, in line with Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth, Sy Barry and the gang, he is undoubtedly at his best in Rip Kirby.

This is part of a series (atleast there is a Volume two in the works)

This volume 1 contains 8 complete stories from 1946-48.

1. The Chip Faraday Murder
2. The Hicks Formula
3. Enter: The mangler
4. Fatal Forgeries
5. Past Imperfect
6. The Dolls House
7. Bleak prospects
8. Terror on the Thames

Those who love Alex raymond's art work will simply love it, each frame is a comic book artist's study. Composition, Figure drawing, Light and shade, drama, suspense, angles, inking..all is found between the covers of this lovely collection.

Those who love Golden age realistic detective, adventure comics will ofcourse love this. This can also serve as an introduction to the Golden age to any young reader, to be awestuck on the efforts of the artists that went into these amazing stories.

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

Tintin English Facsimile Editions in Color

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:40:00 +0000

I recently discovered a curious set of Tintin editions in English. Published by Egmont in 2008, they are known as the "English Colour Facsimiles".

Tintin as most of us know evolved in form and content and style over long periods during the first half of the 20th century. Beginning as black and white periodical comic strips, it evolved into the book form, and then at a later point was introduced in color.

The style, language and content kept refining. Censorship played a role in its evolution as well, primarily related to racial sterotyping. Even the paper on which these stories are printed accquired a distracting gloss reducing the charm of the matt, somewhat muted colors that are vintage Herge.

These books are wonderfully made hardbound , have a cloth like spine and brings out the soft and enchanting coloring that is known of Franco-Belgian comics in general and Tintin in particular.

The Back Cover Reads: The Tintin Classic Collection by Hergé. Published in English for the first time, this is the original colour edition that first appeared over 50 years ago. An essential edition for Tintin enthusiasts! Editions available: The Black Island (1943); The Broken Ear (1943); Tintin in America (1945); The Blue Lotus (1946); King Ottokar's Sceptre (1947); Cigars of the Pharaoh (1955).

These are available at Amazon (UK) where I got them from. The Tintin Shop (UK) and Egmont (UK).

The English Colour Facsimiles are the exact replicas of the first color versions minus the censorship. There are currently six books published in this format. I just got hold of them, and they are simply stunning. The best Tintin books I have to date!

Famous Artists School Course Free Online Material

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:42:00 +0000

The undoubtedly great famous Artists School course material from the 50s/60s are now made available online for free by couple of folks. This is great, since these materials are very very hard to come by, and even if they do, they are not in good shape.

There is always going to be a question of copyright and stuff. If you do look at it from a broad angle this course is some sort of world heritage stuff. To be preserved for posterity. The lessons are so absolutely to the point, and practical and applicable , created by commercially successful artists of the time. And they were wonderfully packaged into a coherent course by the ever so shrewed a business mind, as great as an illustrator, Albert Dorne.

Albert Dorne, Norman Rockwell, Willard Mullin just to name a few of the faculty, was a dream team.

There were basically three courses paths the students could take: Commercial Illustration, Cartooning and Painting.

(1) Here is where you will find the entire course material for the Commercial Illustration Course:

The Complete famous Artists Course (1960) at onAnimation blog. Thanks to Daniel Caylor for this great job.

(2) Here is where you wil find the still harder to get Cartoon course:

The Famous Artists Cartoon Course at Comicrazys blog.

Enjoy while it lasts.

Big salute to Albert Dorne and Co. !

Book Review: The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:52:00 +0000

The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics

Vintage "Comic" Comics

This is an awesome collecton of some of the nicest comics that one would have read and relished as a little kid.

First of all the book is very well put together physically.

* The size simply stuns you!... humongous book
* Stacked with page after...page after..page of full color comics
* Printed in an amazingly thick matt (non-glossy, non-shiny) paper
* Brings out the vividness of the pen/brush art and the true colors
* The soft off-white page color makes them as they appeared in the originals
* The binding is perfect, nice to grab and handle.
* There is enough margin space, and the author/story name is printed along

Other publishers should take a note from this book. The glossy/shiny papers that we have suddenly become fixated with, ruins the art.

This lovely collection includes comics from the 40/50s of
* Unca Scrooge
* Donald Duck
* Dennis the menace
* Little Archie
* Little Lulu
* Pogo
* Fox and Crow
* Captain Marvel

to name a few.

Each character is present in one,two or three stories max, and hence makes a nice mix of all the nice stories.

There are 67 stories in total grouped into five categories,
* Hey, Kids
* Funny Animals
* Fantasyland
* Story Time
* Wacky & Weird

This is a must for the oldtimers who want to get back in time to catch up on some of their best times, and this is awesome for newcomer kids(as well as adults ofcourse) to get introduced to some of the nice stories and comics of a simple, innocent and happy era.

Kudos to the editors and the publisher. we want to see more of these.

You can't go wrong with this one, that too with the steep discounted price!

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

Herge's Guide To Comic Book Compositon

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:12:00 +0000

This is an extract from the refreshing book on Herge's life , Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin.

1. Find a story line sturdy enough to hold for the whole course of the adventure. A simple chase connecting gags is not enough.

2. Find a story that is believable enough to seem true. Jot it down on paper, in twenty lines, maximum.

3. Divide up the story, panel by panel, plate by plate. Each page has to conclude with an element of suspense.

4. Penciling-in stage: sketch the figures with a cursory background drawn with 9-cm (3.54-in) squares on Steinbach paper measuring 51 by 36 cm (20 by 14 in) in size, within a useful format of 40 by 29.5 cm (15.75 by 11.6 in), which is to say twice as large as a book page. Divide the sheet into four strips of 9.5 by 29.5 cm (3.74 by 11.6 in ) each, separated by a blank space 6.5 cm 2.55 in) wide. (The blank areas were used as scrap paper, combining all the early versions. All sorts of notations were scribbled there: portraits, objects, landscapes, lists of names, addresses, and telephone numbers.)

5. Final drawings are copied square by square to offer a better selection and re framed and placed on another white page, which Will become the definitive plate. Touch-ups and final details are added. Copy is moved around. Herge ceaselessly sought simplification. is objective: hide the scaffolding.

6. Coloring stage: focus on the costumes and the background decor, relying on a solid base of documentation. Exactitude is required, as the settings (desert, sea, moon, jungle) aren't static.

7. The inking stage is done on Schoeller-Parole paper, with a Gillott's Inqueduct G-2 pen(made in England) of stainless steel, which can be cleaned in water and has a small ink reservoir. (Herge stocked up on these pens before the war. Thirty years later he still had a few. He used to sharpen them with a steel file to conserve them as long as possible.)

8. Photographed by the photo engraver, the black-and-white plate is transferred to transparent film accompanied by several proofs on blue-gray paper.

9. More coloring: the colors applied in flats do not take into account for bright colors, and, if necessary, gouache for opaque colors. (Herge established standard guidelines. For example, there were to be two superimposed layers for Tintin's sweater to bring out the color's full intensity.)

10. Set out the dialogues on the typewriter to gauge the exact number of letters for each vignette, to calculate, with the help of a grid, their position in the dialogue balloons. Draw in the letters. Lettering is delicate because it poses numerous problems. (At these times they also had to consider the English translators, who had to change the French Milou into "Snowy", the only acceptable name in five letters that would not exceed the line when Tintin spoke to his dog.)

11. Last, add the graphics of sound effects, which consist essentially of "Crack!" "Bang" "Bzzzz".

Marcinelle School

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:58:00 +0000

Franco - Belgian comics have a charm that is so unique. It has produced a vast volume of still growing comics of various categories. The most popular output from this part of the world is undoubtedly Herge's Tintin, and Goscinny - Uderzo's Asterix. Ever wondered how these two look so different yet so similar?

What is distinct about these comics? ...The style.

Herge and his group of artists such as E P Jacobs (Blake and Mortimer) evolved a style that uses uniform lines, more schematic in appearance, with a simple and straight forward narrative, with realistic (sometime mechanical) backgrounds and props. Even the palette was unique adding to the charm. The story was more realistic mostly related to the current happenings at the time. This has a great appeal and following and one can see this followed today in works such as The Simpsons.

This style came to be known as the Brussel's School or the Ligne Claire to mean a Clear Line.

While this was happening there was a parallel approach to graphic story telling that had more of fantasy, cartoonish realism, fun, humour and physical dynamic action. The lines are mostly made of brush and have varying thickness, similar to classic Disney cartoons. Uderzo's Asterix was an example of such style. Artist Jijé (Joseph Gillain) is credited for his contribution towards establishing this style among a group of artists. One can see this style in Lucky Luke, Oumpah -pah and a variety of other works. One can see this tradition followed till day in the publications such as Dupuis.

This style came to be known as the Marcinelle School or École de Marcinelle, after the namesake town in Belgium near Charleroi.

Well these are academics. Marcinelle or Brussels.. who cannot love them both?!!

Book Review : Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin by Pierre Assouline (Author), Charles Ruas (Translator)

Interesting Insight into Herge's Life

For anyone who is a fan of Herge's works, be it the evergreen reporter Tintin and his adventures, or his funny Quick and Flupke, or the more familial Jo, Zette and Jocko , there is no such thing as enough when it comes to any literature related to the artist or his art.

Last few years has seen a surge in books on Herge and Tintin, Michale Farr's works in particular, and the newly translated Art of Herge series have given new insights into the working of Herge. How he went about creating the stories, what he used for his ever so detailed art work as reference, etc.

This book by Pierre Assouline is a refreshingly new look at the life and times of Herge. The focus is now on the happenings in the background as Herge went about spinning tale after tale of adventure and fun. It gives a very balanced and unbiased view on Herge, his political social situation, his views and attitudes, and how the political situation in Europe during the early twentieth century was shaping the creativity of Herge and others like him.

It talks about interesting things that artists, readers and anyone interested in Tintin, French/Belgian, European art/journalism in that part of history, will find very informative. This also gives a good coverage on some controversial aspects such as racial stereotyping and such. And how Herge was simply being himself, in tune with the times, plain and straight and not worrying about "political correctness" or being a hero. Those were indeed strange times, to learn that Herge was imprisoned for alleged 'collaboration' with the German occupation and some even thought he should be hanged!!

The book is full of little stories that give answers to so many questions that we might have, artistically and otherwise, for instance, here is a story about how Herge hired a very talented Jacob who influenced Herge in bringing in meticulous details to the mechanical drawings of cars and airplanes. Numerous such stories fill the book. How people, events and situations influenced the artist in his creation are a very interesting read.

The book takes the reader through the life of Herge during his creative professional years, evolution of the stories, evolution of the formats, how it all started as political journalism, as newspaper strip with the journalist investigating communist Russia, colonial Africa etc., and how the Tintin series itself matures and became more sophisticated as time progressed, with adventurous stories such as the Red Rackham's treasure and the The Destination Moon sequels. We also learn about how the series was revised, reformatted, colored and transformed into a uniform series, and how much of time and labour went into it.

The book is very well paced, like that of an exciting novel, that you want to finish it all in one go. but being a great fan of Herge and his works, one wants to sip it in ever so slowly, enjoying every bit of it as we enjoy Herge's works.

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

Book Review : Cartooning: Character Design :

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:06:00 +0000

Cartooning: Character Design: Walter Foster Books: Sherm Cohen

Outstanding !

This is an outstanding piece of work in teaching character design/cartooning. Only a person with tremendous experience can produce all the essentials in just 32 pages !!

Format: The book is Large! 13.7 x 10.1, the drawings are so clear in this format, which is very important, for us to study and draw. We can just keep it open and start drawing. Drawings are all either in pencil or in black india ink using a brush, which is simply lovely.

Concise: The book is small! :) only 30 pages. so it is very easy to work it through, refer, study and learn. no page is wasted. each page is packed with plenty of drawings with detailed notes, that are so refined and upto the point!

Clear: The large format, clear lines and step by step approach, makes this book so clear and easy to follow.

Workbook: The approach of the book is to take us in a workbook manner, as you study, draw, redraw, practice each of the pages progressively you will get to learn about various aspects of character design (and cartooning) is systematic manner. learning and mastering basic shapes, the Head, the features of the head, variations, body shapes, "Types", body language etc.. and if one sincerly works this book through, one would have become a character designer !.

This would form perfect platform to launch into cartooning, animation and more advanced character design through books such as ,
Cartoon Animation (The Collector's Series),
The Animator's Survival Kit--Revised Edition: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators,
Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels

Sherm Cohen and Walter Foster.. Thank you!

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

Lawrence Lariar Cartooning for Everybody

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:13:00 +0000

Lawrence Lariar was a cartoonist,educator and editor of the long running series Best Cartoons of the Year.

Lawrence Lariar wrote a nice little book titled Cartooning for Everybody in 1941.

After learning about this book in walt Stanchfield's recently published work, I started scouting for a copy and I was lucky enough to procure one in great condition.

Here are my impressions..

One quick scan of the book tells us so much about the depth of understanding of Lariar.

No wonder Walt speaks highly of Lariar. each page is packed with absolutely useful information. There is a great deal of emphasis on doodling, and carrying a sketch book.

I think this book defined doodling.

For great many of us learning to draw, the first steps are the most intimidating. How do you begin a drawing?, where do you start? whether you are drawing from life, photograph, or from imagination, this most important first step is often unclear.

Lariar, like other master teachers, who know what was happening in the head while one draws, tells you to always begin with a doodle. Unlike the conventional meaning of doodle, which is more like scribbling, Lariar means the doodle to be some kind of a template for all our drawings. A simplified pattern language that needs to evolve for each individual, to be used over and over, to produce remarkable consistency with ease.

There are some very significant teachings in these pages, on how one evolves a style, what one should focus while learning, what one can pass etc.

There are plenty of demonstrations on various aspects of cartooning, and he also covers quite a bit of how to go about making a profession out of this skill. This of course is 70 year old book. but much of the tips still seem to hold, in spite of fact that the world has slowly migrated into the Net.

True Gem of a book!

Eugene ZIM Zimmerman Complete Cartooning Course Reprint

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:28:00 +0000

ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive's Reprint of close to a hundered years old Zim's Complete cartooning Course debuts at the San Diego Comic-Con 2009.

The famed, and extensive course on cartooning, comic arts and caricature from the early 20th century, have been beautifully digitized and reprinted by ASIFA.

This is available in two large hardback volumes containing 20 lessons in total.

Read about Zim, his works and his course at..

http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/05/education-zim-course-in-cartooning.html

Details on how to obtain these books and more at...

http://www.animationarchive.org/2009/07/comic-con-zim-cartooning-course-debuts.html

A downloadable preview is here. (14 MB PDF)

.

Willard Mullin

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:59:00 +0000

The essence of any drawing is the gesture. This we see emphasised over and over again. A recent printing of Walt Stanchfield's notes focuses a lot on this aspect.

Nobody could have absorbed this better and applied them in their work than sports illustrator Willard Mullin (1902-1978). His drawings are an study in gesture, action, force, energy and expression. All that goes into Animation drawing.

A nice little bio can be found here.

Mullin contributed to the Famous Artists School course. His lessons on drawing animals can be found here.

Here is a picture set on Flicr.

Book List

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:11:00 +0000

This will contain a list of books that I have used and have had real impact in my pursuit of learning the art, and which I fairly feel should do the same more or less to others as well..

Drawing / Illustration
Vilppu Drawing Manual
Natural Way to Draw
Dynamic Figure Drawing
Drawing the Human Head
Famous Artists Commercial Art and Illustration Course
Famous Artists Cartooning Course

Animation
The Animator's Workbook
Cartoon Animation
Timing For Animation
The Animator's Survival Toolkit
The Illusion Of Life

Glenn Vilppu Sketching On Location

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:28:00 +0000

Glenn Vilppu wrote another wonderful series for the Animation World Network . This is about sketching at any location live. this is a great way of learning to draw as well as record the unique aspect of what we see.

This is a great series of articles on how to sketch on location, and also helps learn how to compose drawings in general.

When I first read these articles, they did not have that much of an impact. After couple of years of practising drawing, I go back to these lessons, and now I see them to be gems. Every word and picture is valuable information.

I recommend this previous post on Vilppu's Drawing lessons before jumping in.

Let's Sketch on Location

The Thumbnail Sketch

Organizing and Creating Space

Light and Dark Patterns

Texture as Planes in Space

Pencil Technique

Drawing Groups of Figures

The Quick Sketch

The Silhouette -- Positive and Negative Shape

Three Dimensional Figures

Atmosphere

Using Photographs

Glenn Vilppu Drawing for Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:41:00 +0000

Glenn Vilppu is a fantastic teacher, and a great artist. A true draughtsman of the figure in the tradition of the great artists of the renaissance.

His books and video lectures are awesome. Anyone serious about figure drawing, illustration must get their hands on his material. He conducts workshops, online training and guided tours. lucky Los Angels!

Here, I am collecting a series of articles that he has written in the Animation World Network Magazine, over a period of time. I am setting them here in a nice sequence for easy access.These are treasures.

Drawing For Animation

This is the ultimate series on getting started and mastering drawing. Very effectively tailored with the modern animation student in mind.

Gesture
Spherical Forms
The Box
Introducing Material and Proportion
Drawing Ellipses
From the General to the Specific
The Landmarks of Anatomy
Seeing Anatomical Masses
Seeing The Figure As A 2D Object
Using Tone To Draw (Indirect lighting)
Getting a Handle on Direct Lighting
Using The Idea Of Atmosphere

Cartooning with George Leonard Carlson

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:22:00 +0000

George Leonard Carlson wrote a very concise book now available as Learn to draw comics , decades ago on how to draw cartoons. It is so concise and easy to read and follow. In today's context someone who doesnt want to go through the tedium of traditional art course, but want to hone up the drawing skills, maybe say for use in animation or graphics, this book would help you get there with ease.

Here are some samples from this wonderful book.

Charles Dana Gibson

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Its hard to imagine how certain things would be possible without the instantaneous source of information that the internet offers. As time progresses we experience so many various things, some deeply embedded in mind, and always afresh, several others hidden a bit too deep.

One such piece of information is about an illustrator who drew some fantastic pictures for the famous story The Prisoner of Zenda. While at high school I always used to look at awe the beautiful illustrations accompanying the stories, and wondered who drew all these magical pictures. some had their names, some not.

Recently I stumbled upon a beauty of an illustration in Glenn Vilppu's website, and upon a little googling it lead me to the illustrator of Prisoner of Zenda. Charles Dana Gibson

There are plenty of his art work available for the pleasure of study on the Net. Looking at which one can be certain Gibson was a huge influence on the Golden Age Illustrators.

Learning to Draw (Three Great Teachers)

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:38:00 +0000

It is no doubt that we learn to draw by drawing. more often we hit a plateau and find it hard to jump up to the next level. Over the years I have been reading, and tyring to learn from various texts and references on how to draw. while there is always something to learn from every book, there are certain books from great teachers, which will always take one to the next level. I list three such authors here, who I guarantee will make an impact.

(1) The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides

This book would create an impact, no matter at what level one is in their drawing ability. After a long period of lull this created a storm in my artistic endeavor. It is a great place to begin, since it teaches the foundation of art, how one should approach drawing, what is it you draw, what is it that you strive to capture, what is it that you create. Using the simplest of the tools - a scribble, one begins to draw. everybody can scribble. and that's all you need to begin learning how to draw. Gesture, weight and modelling are three fundamental aspects that can be captured by deep observation, and just scribbling. and by practicing this, you can draw anything and everything that you see and over a period of time just from your mind!

(2) Vilppu Drawing Manual by Glenn Vilppu

In a series of chapters , one building on top of the other, Vilppu teaches every aspect of drawing, and introduces the basic tools needed to draw. Vilppu says, drawing is all about capturing gesture and form. Representing 3 dimensional form in two dimensional paper. drawing is all about capturing and creating form, the relations between other forms. How you go about doing this, is all that Vilppu talks about with countless illustrations. Gesture, Form, Light and shade,Atmosphere and so on are different aspects that make the picture more and more convincing. Vilppu introduces simple tools such as Sphere, Box, Cylinder and combine them to create complex forms. these are techniques that come down from the great masters of the renaissance.

(3) Figure Drawing books by Burne Hogarth

At this stage we understand how to go about drawing. mostly we become good at drawing from observation. and possibly retain some knowledge and recreate from the mind.

But if one were to understand the details of the complex human figure, one need to study the wonderful books from Hogarth. Nowhere else one can find such clear renderings of the human form, so easy to understand and hence so easy to add to our mental library of reference. Hogarth analysis the human form in such detail and clarity, all it takes is one look.

By studying the numerous drawings and constantly practicing them, and creating our own actions and figures, one can produce stunningly realistic human figures.

And then of course we need to draw, all the time, from life and from imagination to hone our skills. There are so many subjects, animals, nature, numerous man made stuff and so on for which we seek other teachers, books and references. But these three authors will create a definite impact on the way we go about drawing and will set us on a strong foundation.

Burne Hogarth

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Tarzan ! What an epic in the world of sequential art. Taking us all into the deep jungles, full of danger and adventure, the rich visualization was possible thanks to the genius and draughtsmanship of Burne Hogarth. Never before was such vivid details of the jungle, the animals, the daring Tarzan, ever captured so realiztically in this medium. Burne stretches his imagination while wielding his pencil and takes us on a magical journey.

Hogarth gave the secrets of his great talent to those he aspired, by establishing and teaching at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School in New York, later renamed as the School of Visual Arts. His series of books that are perhaps derived from his teaching,are landmarks in art instruction books. Dynamic Anatomy, Drawing the Human Head, Dynamic Figure Drawing, Drawing Dynamic Hands,Dynamic Light and Shade, and Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery.

Perhans the most effective anatomy lessons can be found in these books. Dynamic Anatomy, Drawing the Human head, and Dynamic figure drawing are outstanding and essential for any stundent of art.So much of information is condensed between the covers of these books. One quick look at any picture can be worth hours of reading a text. Truely the adage 'a picture is worth a thousand words' is never more adept than for his illustrations found here.

Book Review : Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, with Illustrations

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:32:00 +0000

Chronicles of the Classics Illustrated

There are numerous attempts at producing illustrated versions of the classic tales from around the world.

The series called "Classics Illustrated" is the definitive attempt at bringing all the great classics to the easy reach of us with beautiful illustrations, in the grand form of sequential art also known as Comics.

It invovled some of the finest artists, and produced a huge collection of stories. These were the results of the dream of Albert Kanter, materialising during the 40s,50s and the 60s, thrilling and educating and entertaining a generation with vivid, simple and beautiful versions of the well known classical tales such as the Three Musketeers, Ivanhoe, The Count of Monte Cristo, Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe to name a few.

I remember as a kid, I got hold of a used copy of 'The Salt Mountain' this was part of the Classics Illustrated Junior series, there was something absolutely stunning about it, the story, the pictures, the adventure. it captured the imagination.There was something special about it, which I could not find in any other story book, or series. I wasn't aware what series this was part of, who the publisher was, who the artist was. I was a kid, I simply enjoyed it. not a collector or a history buff. But several years later, when I tried to figure out more about that book, I simply couldn't, until recently the omnipotent WWW helped me learn about this amazing series. I was hooked. I am sure many of us can relate to this, and have a similar tale.

Now to the book.

This is a fantastic chronicle, of the happenings of the Classics Illustrated series, beginning with the beginning, Alber Kanter's dream, it takes us through the publications history of the various stories, and the involvment and influences of the numerous artists invovled in the effort. The evolution of the style and presentation of the books, such as the evolution from comics style to the painted covers etc. are all full of interesting information.

There were several editions, and series... Classics Illustrated, Classics Illustrated Junior, Classics Illustrated Specials, etc and several republishing attemts up until the turn of the century. All of this is detailed in the book with interesting facts.

This book lists all the stories that were published with details about the author, illustrator etc. as much as is available, also the listings from several publishers, and variations.

The book also contains pages and covers from several Classics Illustrated, mostly in black and white. There is a section of about 8 pages in color in special paper.

For the Classics Illustrated collector this sure will be a delight, as it would be to anyone interested in the grandeur of sequential art.

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

Ligne claire

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:49:00 +0000

Tintin , the evergreen young globtrotting reporter, has captivated generations of readers, and continues to do so. The great success has been attributed to Herge, the creator's genius in bringing together some fabulous ingredients such as a clear story, a free and smooth flow, attention to reality, be it the script or the art, pleasing soft colors, and above all to the style of art he invented, later to be called, the Clear Line.

Clear Line, uses lines of uniform thickness(rather thinness) to show the outlines, the contours, the change of planes of the form, leaving out tones and other such details. The technique of 'feathering' used extensively by the great Alex Raymond is totally missing(no comparisons here.. Alex was a giant, his realistic rendering took comics art to grander levels). This produces in itself a certain clarity and hence simplifies the whole thing amazingly. Herge followed this clarity into the story line as well.

Herge used this style in all of his art, and went on to create a following in the comics creating world, spawing the use of Clear Line. Perhaps the most famous being The Simpsons..

Paul Gravett, has a couple of captivating articles on this interesting topic at his wonderful site, read more here.

Here are couple of awesome videos throwing more light on the ligne claire movement...

Tintin - La Ligne Claire (Partie 1) - Watch the best video clips here

Tintin - La Ligne Claire (Partie 2) - The most amazing videos are a click away

Book Review: How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Well Rounded

This is sort of a classical text, focused on covering the various aspects of drawing comics.

Though drawing comics involves a lot about learning to draw, I would think that an ability to draw whether inherent or acquired would be a necessary starting point to effectively use this book. On the contrary one might as well get started here and then hone the necessary drawing skills.

As in any specific form of art, such as Illustration, Fine art, Animation art, Commercial art etc, Comics art has its own set of skills that need to be honed.

This is a book written by Stan lee and John Buscema, one a great story teller and the other a fine artist. It does cover several aspects of the trade.

As the title suggests the genre is more towards the 'Action' side, as opposed to a style such as Disney, Asterix or that of Herge's Tintin.

A significant amount of the book focuses on the figure and its action, which is so vital to this type of comics, and these are real gems. The quick setup of a pose, the dynamism needed for convincing action, the looseness of the approach, and then the focus on the form, the details of the figure the head and so on are very effectively presented. The other important ingredients of composition, perspective, foreshortening are covered in detail.

There are of course couple chapters that deal with comic book covers, and the all important comics inking.

Though obviously this was written in a pre-digital period, all the information can be readily applied to today's all-digital comics creation.

Coming from successful practicing veterans, the entire book is packed with practical information.

This is an extract from my review at Amazon.com, You can find more of my reviews here.

Water Brush

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:26:00 +0000

" For those who don't know, a water brush or waterbrush (some makers use two words while others combine them into one) has a soft plastic barrel which contains water. When you squeeze the barrel, water enters the bristles, thus eliminating the need for a separate water container. It also makes cleaning the brush between colors a breeze. These are great for watercolor sketching on location. All you need is a waterbrush, a small set of half pan watercolors and a sketchbook, plus some tissue paper or a rag. No more water bottle and cup. If you use a small sketchbook, your entire set up will fit in a pocket. " writes Russel Stutler. Read on about this great utility here.

A World History of Art

noreply@blogger.com (Ganapathy Subramaniam) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:36:00 +0000

Art , they say, is as old as the human race itself. Some of the ancient rock art is so fascinating, so full of life and vigour, almost as if the artist was animating.

All-art.Org is a wonderful collection of art through the ages.