{"id":2862,"date":"2013-10-08T16:22:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T23:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/?p=2862"},"modified":"2024-01-10T16:25:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T00:25:40","slug":"dilettante-010-a-cartoonists-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comic-con.org\/toucan\/dilettante-010-a-cartoonists-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Dilettante 010: A Cartoonist’s Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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STEVE LIEBER’S DILETTANTE<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dilettante 010: A Cartoonist’s Library<\/h1>\n\n\n
Steve Lieber<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I get a lot of questions about whether or not it’s necessary to go to art school. The short answer is this: No. In more than 20 years as a working artist, none of my clients have shown the slightest interest in whether I had a diploma. Your portfolio is all publishers and art directors care about, and your work is all that readers and fans will ever see. So why go to school? In my case, I needed a structured environment with teachers to help me rearrange my priorities and classmates to call me on my B.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, art school isn’t for everyone. It can cost anywhere between a lot and a fortune, the quality of instruction can vary wildly, and not everyone learns well in a classroom. But teaching yourself is hard. Making comics is a demanding craft, and there’s a lot you’ll need to know, particularly if you’re interested in a traditional style rooted in academic illustration. Fortunately, there are a lot of books to get an aspiring artist over the hump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades the core of any traditional comics artists library was formed by two sets of books:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Andrew Loomis books and The Famous Artists School manuals.<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Loomis’ books are back in print after years of being unavailable outside of eBay, digital bootlegs and 7th generation photocopies. Among Loomis’ many books are 3 must-haves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book is all about drawing people\u2014construction, anatomy, proportion, lighting, gesture, rhythm, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative Illustration<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This textbook emphasizes the principles of composition, and how to arrange the elements in your picture to communicate clearly. It largely assumes you already know how to draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Successful Drawing<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a sort of a problem-solving manual, with lots of wonderful diagrams explaining how to accurately describe forms in space and how to light them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loomis’ aesthetic and his techniques are rooted firmly in early 20th Century American illustration, but the principles he teaches are rock-solid and will be valuable to any artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Famous Artists School lesson books were correspondence courses from the 1950s and \u201860s. There were separate ones for illustrators and cartoonists, both contained in multiple oversized binders. There’s some overlap between the two courses, but both contain ridiculously valuable lessons in telling stories with pictures, written and illustrated by the undisputed masters of the craft: Norman Rockwell, Albert Dorne, Robert Fawcett, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Famous Artists School lesson books are, alas, out of print. Copies frequently turn up on eBay and at used bookstores, but they aren’t cheap. Illegal scans show up on pirate sites now and then, too. I wouldn’t feel right steering my readers to those sites, but if you go to one, you’ll have a chance to do some quick life-drawing from all the pop-up windows full of nudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing in the FAS books that was particularly helpful was their lesson on drapery- the clothed figure. This remains a big gap in the world of how-to books. Burne Hogarth wrote a book on the subject, but I don’t think it’s particularly useful. I like Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure<\/em> by Barbara Bradley.<\/strong> And there’s a short but very good section of Jack Hamm’s Drawing the Head and Figure <\/em><\/strong>that was quite helpful to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recommend several of Jack Hamm’s \u201cHow To\u201d books. They’re ostensibly written for younger readers, but advanced students and working professionals will still find plenty of useful information in them. Along with Drawing the Head and Figure, <\/em>you’d do well to get your hands on these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n