[R2 aka ROW]

You ever read the book "Dynamic Figure Drawing
by Burne Hogarth"? Please tell what you think 'bout it.

[Blind]

I actually like it a lot. Hogarth was an amazing man. His other books are worth it too, IMO. But I understand there are some valid reasons to not follow his techniques exclusively. Try and treat it as just another resource, and learn from many different directions. Perhaps someone in here can elaborate a little better than I on why his anatomy is a little off kilter.

------------------
- Blind
[email protected]
Clan Shred Company

[This message has been edited by Blind (edited August 11, 2000).]

[Chapel]

I have his book on "Dynamic Lighting". Its ok. He seems to jump around. Talks like you should know it.. then later on he talks like you are just learning it. If that makes sense.

His anatomy reminds me of the comic artist Bart Sears. Its all round and flowing.. which is pretty, but not realistic.

[This message has been edited by Chapel (edited August 11, 2000).]

[Rinaldo]

I think there has been a bit of talk about Hogarth in the past. try putting his name into the search, see what happens.
Basicaly he has tooooo many rules for his and your own good. Generaly they are good ones but he is very "gospel" about the whole thing. He has a tendancy to generalise and compartmentalise (?) the world around him. This results in a teaching style that is very general and ignorant of the myrid eccentricities of nature. My advice is to get the books (Dynamic figure drawing, Anatomy, drapery, light and shade, hands, heads) and read them with a bulshit detector by your side. there are a lot of usefull things in the books but remmeber to go in with a midnset that he is not right ALL the time.

If you have any specific questions then yell out

[Chapel]

Whew... thought it might have just been me.

[AliasMoze]

Ah Hogarth.
Well, if you take a look at the figure drawings in that book, they aren't very good. They are way too overworked IMO, generally losing the point of what he's trying to teach you. It's like having a cube painting tutorial with Spooge's Borg cube.
I really like Vanderpool and Bridgman's books, especially Bridgman.

[hennifer]

when i was in school, for our life drawing class, there was only one reference book on the booklist. it's called THE ANATOMY OF MOVEMENT and strangely enough, its not a "how to draw" book at all - it was originally made for dancers to learn about their own anatomy. it has a lot of really great illustrations, and a nice simple explanation that's short on fancy names, and long on practical information. (such as how joints and muscles fit together and rotate) while it doesn't have any 'how-to-draw' tips in it, i think its a really great reference. once you actually know how the human body works, it's easy to draw what you see without having too many silly misconceptions.

------------------
hennifer

[Visigoth]

I own all of Hogarth's books, and love them. I have nothing but praise for the man, and his work...He was a master of the skinless form, and emphasis on specific muscle sets. I learned how to first draw the muscles, and then smooth them out with skin, flesh and fat using his books. Another one that I love, is by Jack Hamm: Drawing the Head and Figure...Also excellent.

~{V}~

------------------
Your car is a fiberglass penis extension.

[ozenzo]

I think I would have to agree with AliasMoze. If you compare the figures in the Bridgman books and compare them to Hogarth's figures they are just much more alive. They give the feeling of life even when they are unfinished. I think the gesture drawings smoke any of that stuff in the Hogarth books. I own all of the Bridgman books and I have the Dynamic figure drawing book.

My suggestion would be go to your local library and take a look at both authors books and see what you think. That way you can see which you think would be more helpful before you dish out the cake for it.

[AliasMoze]

Well, there are two sides. There's anatomy and then there's figures. And the two are closely intertwined. You have to learn both.

But getting the overall pose, the big picture, is about finding the big volumes and communicating them with line, expressing the rhythm, balance, emotion of the pose. The best exercises are drawing gestures and figures from life, coupled with instruction. [Mozeman started a thread on this, but not many people showed.] Hogarth's stuff is ok, if you're looking for muscle placement, like Hennifer and Visigoth said.

Like a painting, all the life in a pose comes from the gesture. It's very difficult to build up from there and not lose allot. This shows in Hogarth's books IMO.

Having said all that, Hogarth's books won't hurt ya. And the guy himself has some talent, so...

[Anthony J]

I bought Hogarth's dynamic figure drawing book, and at first i thought it was brilliant. The way he could produce a 3d looking-moving person influenced my way of thinking and the approach i take on the way the human figure should be portrayed.

But now i also know, that alot of people in our time don't look like that at all...as a matter of fact the models michaelangelo and leonardo *not the teenage mutant ninja turtles guys* used in their day&age, were quite built muscular people.

In our time, we do have body builders, and men that workout that have sculpted their bodies to look like the hogarth's images...
but for the most part, there are obese and skinny people.

I'd like to take my approach to working on people in that manner. I don't mind drawing sculpted women&men, but i'd for the most part rather create imagery that fits into our time period...

thats all i have to say

i'll post some of my newer wacom work when its done...
i don't think i've posted work in eons...
for the most part i've only done mouse-drawn stuff...my original tablet stuff were 5 min sketches.

so check out my ooooold stuff at my site
but look out for newer stuff

anybody else have comments on hogarth?

oh! and i still think the book is a wicked reference for form and movement in 3d space, but for the imagery...its bs for the most part, his images should be less detailed, and more to the 'tutorial' point. After all he's supposed to be teaching the stuff, not going way over art-students minds.


approache

------------------
---------------
Digital Painting Gallery
http://anthonys.8m.com

"you must feel the force in order to use it Obi-Wan..."

[R2 aka ROW]

Good point!