Figure Drawing for All It's Worth

What Hacker News says

1. skydhashAug 2025
   I believe it's a cartesian production of three sets:

   - What (the subject: portrait, human figure, landscape, animals,...)

   - How (the medium: Drawing, painting, digital painting,...)

   - Why (the objective: Study, doodling, full piece, Technical, illustrations,..)

   The what is mostly a bunch of rules about anatomy, poses, perspectives, best practices...

   The how is where you learn the concept of edges, values, color palettes, etc.., as well as the specificity of each medium.

   The why is mostly tips and techniques.

   What and How is your best bet for starting. Animation is kinda a why. So select one subject (portraint and figure drawing are really complicated), then learn the basics of one medium (I'd go with pencil). And then learn about it.

   Most books focus on the subjects. The books about How generally assumes you have practiced a lot and are looking for better approach.

   What I currently have on my bookshelf are:

   - Figure Drawing - Design and Invention, Michael Hampton: The author also post on Youtube

   - How to Render, Scott Robenson, Thomas Bertling

   - How To Draw, Scott Robenson, Thomas Bertling

   - Imaginative Realism, James Gurney

   - Color and Light, James Gurney

   - The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression, Gary Faigin

   - Classic Human Anatomy, Valerie Winslow

   - Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life

   And a few others

   - Anatomy For Sculptors, Uldis Zarins

   - Anatomy of Facial Expression, Uldis Zarins

   - Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, Andrew Loomis: It may be free

   - Force, Michael D. Mattesi

   Show morethread
2. syntheweaveApr 2023
   Which authors wrote about contour drawing?

   >Contour drawing is a technique used in art and design to help artists see the subject they are observing or imagining more clearly, and to create drawings that capture its three-dimensional form. Many famous artists have written about contour drawing and have shared their insights and techniques with others through books and other publications. Here are some well known artists who wrote about contour drawing:

   >Kimon Nicolaides - He was an American artist who wrote the book "Dynamic Symmetry: The Greek Vision" where he discussed the importance of visualizing shapes as a series of connected circles and curves and using this knowledge when creating works of art.

   >Andrew Loomis - An American illustrator and author who wrote several books on art instruction, including "Figure Drawing for All It's Worth". In his writing, he emphasizes the use of contour lines to accurately depict the human figure and encourages students to think carefully about how each line contributes to the overall impression of volume and gesture.

   >Alphonse Legros - A French painter, etcher, sculptor and professor who taught at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1876 to 1893. In his book "A Sketcher's Guide," he discusses the importance of learning to observe objects in terms of simple geometric forms such as cylinders, cones, and spheres before moving onto the process of refinement. >Michelangelo - Italian Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter, and poet considered one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance. His treatise called "The Creation of Adam", included discussion of visual representation and the role of contours in creating volumes and depth relationships between elements within a composition.

   It's correct about Nicolaides - except that it doesn't mention the right text, "The Natural Way to Draw", and then it goes downhill from there. I can at least believe that Loomis mentions contour(I'm not going to check) but the rest are highly plausible falsehoods.

   Show morethread