# Book Spotlight: Post your fave art books



## Jw (May 14, 2011)

Well, I'm out of town and enjoying a vacation right now, but I'm really digging into some books that I bought yesterday. Blew some money yesterday on books and been reading the hell out of them.

So I thought we here could post some of our favorite books and maybe get some insight on our next purchases if we get some money to burn holes in our pockets.

(to set up an image link, here's what you do: www.booksite/imagecode.jpg[./img][,/url]
obv, fill out the right way with the links and without the commas or periods.

[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Artist-Sarah-Simblet/dp/078948045X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305411630&sr=8-1"][IMG]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41bYDtGHgqL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
*Anatomy for the Artist*
Essentially just got it yesterday, but it's got tons of great reference photos and some insights that drawn anatomy books might otherwise miss. Does an okay job explaining things, but uses photos and overlays to really show the most accurate anatomy explanations I've seen anywhere. 
Perks: incredibly reference pictures with decent lighting.
Flaws: explanation may be weak if you're new to anatomy.




*Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter*
Nice insight into the inner workings of colors. Got this recently too, so I am a little limited on thoughts quite this far. Still, GREAT color theories and I have learned so much in just a car ride. has taught me on the use of gamuts, which I have NEVER heard of before but seem essential to color theory. Also discusses some supplies you might use and really explores how light sources will affect what you perceive as the color for the light.
Perks: fantastic for applying color theroy
Flaws: Not found any yet, honestly. 




*Anatomy: A Complete Guide for the Artist*
Very cheap and dependable book that shows plenty of interpretation of the human form in Sheppard's style. Very subjective, but actually insightful. Breaks down systems very clearly and explicitly, and uses tons of halftone drawings to illustrate the bones and muscles in 3060 degree rotation per 15 degree increments. Still, cannot compare to getting to see a real skeleton in real life. But incredibly useful in the meantime. 
Perks: very detailed drawings, cheap, plenty of variety
Flaws: subjective, some figures appear fairly outdated




*Life Drawing*
Shows some ways and directions to develop powerful portrait in mainly pastel or charcoals. He does a great job of breaking down shadows and lighting, but really falls short it seems on anything related to color control. also subjective to a maor degree in representation. Teaches techniques but may be weaker on anatomy in exchange. 
Perks: Excellent technique walkthroughs
Flaws: weak on anatomy at times compared to other life drawing books




*Facial Expressions*
Wide variety of faces, though they tend to be over-acted at times. Still worth a look and EXCELLENT for faces for animated/ caricatured faces. Another weakness was the age range, in that the youngest pictured was 18. Upper range was solid though.
Perks: wide span of ages, ethnicity and facial structures
Flaws: no youth pictures, expressions are overacted at times, occasionally too small to see essential details.




*Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain*
Indispensable if you're a new artist or someone that seems to be stuck in a rut. Has critical exercises I base a lot of my critiques on in some ways. If you spend time with this book, practice and concentrate on what is taught, you will improve. 

Perks: it's like the bible for new artists
Flaws: may seem low-level after a point for some people. VERY BASIC at times.


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## keretceres (May 14, 2011)

Erm I like the anatomy one...:V


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## FireFeathers (May 15, 2011)

Both books are incredibly comprehensive and both under 20 USD.


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## Deo (May 15, 2011)




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## Arshes Nei (May 15, 2011)

Basically a bible for artists - learning how to have faith in your art making.





Don Seegmiller is great at showing how to work with both Photoshop and Painter





One of my favorite constructing the figure from the mind books to date.





Probably one of the best encyclopedia of anatomy books to date for drawing. I've have Simblet's book but find it overrated.

http://amzn.com/1844486907
Out in October - looks promising if this is a translation of Bamme's German books.

http://amzn.com/0823030148
Got me interested in doing research on great master works just from the lessons that helped me with anatomy.





Great way of getting people to understand composition





One of the best watercolor books out there





Great art book in terms of looking at Painter artwork. Cover artist is Anry (the person who is known for that cat licking avatar) http://anry.deviantart.com/gallery/





Pretty prolific pinup artist. I love looking at his oils and found out many other artists by reading this book





While I also own the Hultgren book too, I found this one much more informative.





I have Frazetta's other books but It's great to just see the sketches and how artists think.

http://amzn.com/0486236722
Same reason I have the Frazetta book - I also own a Sargent book with sketches too. Love them.

I also keep Brigman around a lot - George Bridgman Life Drawing, Constructive Anatomy, Human Machine etc...


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## Taralack (May 15, 2011)

I've ordered the Colour and Light book in the OP, but the amazon shipment is taking its sweet time to get here...


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## Thaily (May 15, 2011)

Very surprised no-one has linked Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
A very good read, especially for beginners.


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## Jw (May 15, 2011)

Thaily said:


> Very surprised no-one has linked Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
> A very good read, especially for beginners.


Thanks, I went ahead and added this to the OP. 

Also, i've updated the OP to go over perks and flaws with each book. I also left instructions with how to link inside a picture. if you are still unsure, here is the code for the fist picture of mine: 





Remove the periods and you will see the image link as it is intended


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## Arshes Nei (May 16, 2011)

The reason I didn't list it as a favorite book is that it's a recommended book for the absolute beginner. It is in no way a favorite book of mine. The reason being is that the exercises are great but the right brain/left brain stuff leaves much to be desired.


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## Arshes Nei (May 20, 2011)

The Skillful Huntsman is a good book on working on projects for design/concept.
Look how much work into designing characters and scenes based on a story or concept.

It was one of the first books I noticed a process on working on concept than your typical art book. It's a great read on how to set up your own processes by looking at what these students did.


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## blackat (Jun 12, 2011)

these are my favs


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## Taralack (Jun 28, 2011)

Requesting this to be stickied please


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## Zydala (Jun 28, 2011)

Found this fantastic book the other day so I'm glad to see this thread!:






Framed Ink, a book on composition and visual storytelling. Anyone who wants to go into graphic novels or storyboarding or really wants to learn GREAT composition skills... this is it, definitely. :] It's worth EVERY PENNY I love it!



I also dug up my copy of this and have been re-reading it:






Perspective! For Comic Book Artists Not that anything in this book can't be applied to any other pictures, it just happens to be written in a way to appeal to the visual style of the graphic novel. Plus it reads like one too which is so fun!







Also, to add to the Gurney love, I got Imaginative Realism, which is a great book for intermediates hoping to push their works further. Plus it just has tons of great art!


Last but not least I always love pimping these books out, they're my personal favorites:



    and    



Even if you don't make comics, they're just fun reads and really mind-opening about the whole process. Enjoy!


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## Taralack (Aug 4, 2011)

Can this be stickied please?


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## Saeto15 (Aug 5, 2011)

Dittoing anything by James Gurney.  I have both of his recent art books.  I also enjoyed his "Artist's Guide to Sketching", too, even if it was co-authored by Thomas Kinkade. 

Other than that, I don't have many art books, though I did recently purchase "Animals Real and Imagined" by Terryl Whitlach, and that's an excellent source for tips on animal anatomy.


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## Arshes Nei (Nov 2, 2011)

http://amzn.com/0857680978 
Just FYI the book is in print.



I also own 




http://amzn.com/1844486907

There is a TON of info and methods to use to learn figure drawing in Bammes books. Sometimes the drawings may seem very crude. The book's binding leaves much to be desired imo (because it interferes with keeping it open). However, this book is about 300 pages so it's worth the price


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## Fenrari (Nov 2, 2011)

The James Gurney book! He had copies for sale at Anthrocon 2010!


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## Jw (Nov 2, 2011)

Oh awesome, I was wondering when Bamme's was going to have the English translation. I want to peek at it so badly now.

I also purchased this book a few months ago, and it is very interesting and useful:





This book is of course by the respected Bridgman, and while not as well liked by some people it is STILL an excellent deal and quite useful instead of trying to hunt down the 5 books that are edited and shown in this book. Bridgman does have his favoritism and occasionally some odd proportions with extremely wide muscular chests but otherwise I can't complain at all when he knows much more than I do as evidenced by the quality of this book. Wbut there is a wonderful artistic rendering of figures and very insightful


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## israfur (Nov 16, 2011)

http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Animals-...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321491701&sr=1-1
Basically a how to draw animals book. 
Upside- goes more in depth into mammals than any other book I've seen.
Downside- ignores reptiles, aquatic animals, and birds. =/


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## Arshes Nei (Nov 16, 2011)

Well I guess we could post anatomy books all day, but I'm gonna post some inspirational books and others.





http://amzn.com/1595825045





http://amzn.com/0399508066





AUTOGRAPHED baby!
http://amzn.com/1921002603





http://amzn.com/1584505338





1st Chapter is Free on Amazon
http://amzn.com/0470284935





HARDCOVER, AUTOGRAPHED WITH DIMITRI MODEL
http://amzn.com/1897376103





Dirt Cheap and Easy to follow
http://amzn.com/9563100166


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## RattleCan (Nov 18, 2011)

This was mentioned but not linked, Terryl Whitlatch has compiled a bunch of creatures with amazing anatomy in her book Animals Real and Imagined. There's a short video on the Amazon page for the book of someone flipping through the pages so you can see some of the creatures within. Not a step-by-step drawing book or anything, but very inspirational and very original.


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## RTDragon (Jul 16, 2012)

Arshes Nei said:


> The reason I didn't list it as a favorite book is that it's a recommended book for the absolute beginner. It is in no way a favorite book of mine. The reason being is that the exercises are great but the right brain/left brain stuff leaves much to be desired.



Actually i just bought that book today and it's the 4th edition expanded and updated. So when i look at the review there are four editions of said book out.


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## UnburntDaenerys (Jul 16, 2012)

For all of you Frazetta fans, The Frazetta Sketchbook is coming out next month!  Includes rare and never before published sketches and preliminary paintings in full color.
http://amzn.com/1934331570


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## Ryusuta (Sep 10, 2012)

This is the book that really got me to begin to understand more serious artwork, and inspired me to learn and improve myself, giving me some basic fundamentals to begin with. I love it so much.


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## Eimell (Jan 4, 2013)

Pretty sure this one hasn't been mentioned.
"How to Draw and Paint Fantasy Architecture" by Rob Alexander
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0764145355


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## Tigercougar (Jan 4, 2013)

Ryusuta said:


> This is the book that really got me to begin to understand more serious artwork, and inspired me to learn and improve myself, giving me some basic fundamentals to begin with. I love it so much.




Ooh...anyone else got dragon book recommendations?


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 4, 2013)

Tigercougar said:


> Ooh...anyone else got dragon book recommendations?



Yes, and I find it superior.

Mainly because it's a great inspiration book and great approach at dragons. 






http://www.amazon.com/Dracopedia-Guide-Drawing-Dragons-World/dp/1600613152






http://www.amazon.com/Dracopedia-The-Great-Dragons-Artists/dp/144031067X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y


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## Taralack (Jan 4, 2013)

Neondragon is good, but the ones Arshes posted are better.

I also like looking at D&D Monster Manuals.


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 5, 2013)

While he has the book for sale, one artist offers a free downloadable and printable PDF of his book. 
The Fundamentals of Drawing from Life.

*Read The Text*





He sells a physical copy on Amazon for 25. He also graciously accepts donations on his website for providing his free PDF.
http://amzn.com/0615607829

http://wehaslinks.com/ebooks/11957


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## zhuria (Jan 7, 2013)

The perfect bait by Bobby Chiu 




You can listen the whole audiobook here http://imaginism.deviantart.com/journal/#/d5q9kaq (only 3 days left)
And you can buy the book here http://theperfectbait.com/about.php
It has a lot of tips on how to succeed, and how to do art. I really liked it.


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 9, 2013)

Thanks for reminding me about that Bobby Chiu book. It was on my list of things to get.

I used to listen to his podcasts a lot. I always get reminded of why you draw from life because of this simple video
[yt]KNM25DZSEJ0[/yt]

Onto Books:

David Colman's book on Animal Character Design is one of my favorite books. Unfortunately I believe it's out of print because the prices for it skyrocketed.





http://amzn.com/0979068606

He does have other books out.





http://amzn.com/0979068622





http://amzn.com/0979068614

He's also got some DVDs for Character design too. Vol 1 and 2.


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## Aleu (Jan 17, 2013)

Believe it or not this book helped me out with perspective and enlightened me on action.

I really need to find it again :c


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## YukiWolf (Jan 28, 2013)

Has anyone here seen this book?

I've flipped through it a bit and it looks like it has some good stuff in it


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## Taralack (Jan 28, 2013)

YukiWolf said:


> Has anyone here seen this book?
> 
> I've flipped through it a bit and it looks like it has some good stuff in it



HAHAHAHAHAHA

no


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 28, 2013)

God that Draw Furries book is still nightmare fuel.

I think Impact went around shopping for someone to shill that topic and got Jared and Lindsay. While their techniques have been generally helpful in the past, like - http://apps.corel.com/painterix/training/tutorial_inking.html?trkid=tpc1006ft and their older book on how to CG. even with the crack eyes. http://www.jaredandlindsay.com/tutorialcdsample/html/chapter4-inking1.html

Draw Furries is creepy and awful. It really is mostly telling you to go use other books half the time. It has some creepy ass eyes and while some illustrations are interesting there's a lot of misses. Even the cover is fucking creepy. Seriously why is that Fox's eye like front view when his head is in profile?


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 29, 2013)

A good Business book. I also recommend the Graphic Artists' Handbook but they update about every year so not directly linking since some prices could have changed.





http://amzn.com/1581150083

More on artists I like I like getting these Sketch books because they're cheap and have a lot of sketches - lets you study their process

Alphonse Mucha




http://amzn.com/0486236722

John Singer Sargent




http://amzn.com/0486245241

One of my favorite books on drawing the head - There is an amusing section how he mixes anthropomorphic features in the end of his book




http://amzn.com/0823003590


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## Tiamat (Jan 29, 2013)

Haha the draw furries book! I discovered it myself (online pics only) and posted on Concept Art a few months back for some laughs.

Generally almost all 'how to draw [insert popular trope here] books are bullshit and should be reviled for the memory of the tree that gave its life for it.


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## Tigercougar (Jan 29, 2013)

To be fair, I think those books have value to young children who dont realize the importance of life drawing yet.


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## Arshes Nei (Jan 29, 2013)

Tigercougar said:


> To be fair, I think those books have value to young children who dont realize the importance of life drawing yet.



Well as shills, yes if you want kids' expendable income.
However, I stated earlier *the book tells you to go to other books including life drawing* so how is that helpful?

Even Lee Ames books have more value than that


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## Aleu (Jan 29, 2013)

I was going through the Impact books and they're kinda...shitty. They only vaguely explain the basics while teaching stylized cartoony things from the very beginning. That includes the DragonArt books, Making Faces, Drawing Heads, etc.


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## Aubreys_Anthro_Ego (Mar 10, 2013)

Joseph Shepard's anatomy book is awesome for learning proportions, too. I'm a little uncomfortable with learning anatomy from drawings and not photos though, but whatever.

Well since everyone already posted my favorites, I guess I'll post a title that everyone here is going to balk at.
More How to Draw Manga Vol. 1 The Basics of Character Design by Go Office




Go Office's How to Draw Manga series are the only _how to draw manga books_ that I would _*ever *_recommend to anyone. Seriously, don't touch anything else.
I learned how stylism works, how real life translates to stylistic drawings, how using IRL photos as a reference for even the most cartoony picture can help, how hair looks shit tons better when there's a pattern/swirl to it, and a bunch of random stuff (like that shoulder/hips thing) from this.
And it's made by real Japanese people! 

My one complaint is that it's not very organized. Everything's in its proper chapter, but you can tell that this is a bunch of artists dumping every little thing they know and think will help.

The series has been out of production for years now though, and the only ones you're going to find are online used copies and questionably-legal uploaded ones. If you're going to google it, google the whole title I underlined. _wink. wink.
_
*Books for inspiration:*

Random things inspire me, but I guess I probably should post books that make me really want to draw something.
Let's start with my favorite dragon book.





[x]

*Warning:* This book single-handedly could make someone completely and utterly obsessed with dragons. Proceed with caution.
Downside? The art and (probably made-up-on-the-spot) myths may jump start my imagination and leave me in awe, but Ciruelo's art is also pretty intimidating so it _has a chance_ of having the reverse effect as far as inspiring goes.

This book, though, is a surefire way to get me to draw something.
Kingyo Used Books





[x]
It's a cute manga about how comic books and art bring people together. My description sounds awful, but it's a real page-turner and you'll be smiling the whole time.


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## Tigercougar (Mar 10, 2013)

I was following the Kingyo manga at one point. It is inspiring, but the nature of it means that it refers to a lot of manga that's never been translated into English. Don't buy it if you don't enjoy reading a copious amount of notes in the back of the book.


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## Aubreys_Anthro_Ego (Mar 10, 2013)

Knowing the mangas mentioned isn't really the point. The notes are basically just there in case you're interested.
You pretty much get the picture when they're mentioned.

Besides, it's better that you *don't *know the titles that are mentioned, which, again, may be mentioned but isn't close to what the focus is at all. If you don't know them, it prevents reader dissonance like _'well, i didn't actually like that manga at all'_ happening.


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## Arshes Nei (Mar 10, 2013)

There is just too much awesome to ignore this book.
I really love how Marko was able to illustrate and get design down right.

http://amzn.com/0785139621


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## Arshes Nei (Mar 10, 2013)

There is just too much awesome to ignore this book.
I really love how Marko was able to illustrate and get design down right.

http://amzn.com/0785139621


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## QT Melon (Apr 7, 2013)

This was an expensive book, but worth the price. I love all the work that went into it.

It is the Art of Journey - the video game





http://www.amazon.com/Art-Journey-Matthew-Nava/dp/0985902213/

I also have the Monster Volume from Creaturebox. Glad I bought it now, it looks like people are trying to sell it for $300




http://www.amazon.com/MONSTER-Creaturebox-Kickstarter-Exclusive-Signed/dp/0615668542/

I love books :3


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## Zydala (Jul 19, 2013)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sky-Fantasy-Slipcased-Edition/dp/1616551607

Bought this on the cheap through work - best purchase I've made in a loooong time on books! It's three books worth of absolutely stunning art. I seriously love this guy's brushwork, he's a real testament to traditional concept art still rockin'.


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## Tigercougar (Jul 19, 2013)

"The Art of Animal Drawing" by Ken Hultgren. I've never scene livelier realistic sketches of animals: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Animal-Drawing-Construction-Instruction/dp/0486274268/

Andreas Deja, the Disney animator who animated Scar, has a post on his blog breaking down why this book is so awesome: http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2013/05/ken-hultgren.html


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## UnburntDaenerys (Sep 15, 2013)

So Richard Schmid is releasing an updated and expanded edition of Alla Prima, called Alla Prima II.






The original Alla Prima is out of print and sells for around $300 used.  It is considered THE book on representational painting.


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## squiddysquiddysquiddy (Apr 7, 2014)

George Bridgman's books are very useful, I got the triple pack of his Body, heads and Hands books.


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## squiddysquiddysquiddy (Feb 20, 2015)

There's a shitload of HOW TO DRAW books ready posted, so how about some books featuring art now?

My favorite art book so far is the Dark Souls Designworks book.  It's filled with gorgeous production pieces, concept art, level design... delicious goodies in the gorgeous dark theme of Dark Souls showing off the creative processes of making the game.


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## UnwieldyRoomba (Mar 4, 2017)

High Focus Drawing is very good if you already have experience in life drawing with models, and have some art skill, and is mostly really helpful for pushing more movement and intensity into them.  I personally found it really helpful in all the examples it has!  Would definitely look at reviews as they explain it a bit more.


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## DizzyDame (Sep 11, 2017)

The best one I've ever found for drawing animals is "The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals" the author really shows how to draw movement and volume with good anatomy like nothing else, even drawing them from life. I have it with me if people want photos inside. My uncle bought it for me a few years ago, so the book is very important to me.
The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals: Joe Weatherly: 9780971031418: Amazon.com: Books


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## Sablesword (Apr 2, 2018)

No one else seems to have mentioned it, so I'll add Jack Hamm's
Drawing the Head and Figure


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## S. Zissou (May 8, 2018)

Top left: *Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing *
- my favorite anatomy book for muscles and mass

Top Right:
*Robert Capa: The Definitive Collection*
I heard of Robert Capa through my favorite short story of Patrick Modiano's 
His photos are some of the best photojournalism I have ever seen and I've been wanting to revisit
this book again after visiting my alum's art library,. Phaidon is a great
publisher and while this book could've been a smidge bigger, I think the size suits the photos.

Left:
*Free Hand New Typography Sketchbooks by  Steven Heller, Lita Talarico*
Got really obsessed with typography again and this is a newer typo 
sketchbook published recently Iwant so bad.

Middle: 
*Klimt and Schiele: Drawings *
Accompanying book of an exhibition I saw at the MFA in Boston. I prefer Schiele's drawings over Klmits because of the energy he puts into each line. 
It's a larger format (more coffee table sized) and the reproduction is amazing.

Right:
*Alice in Wonderland, Illustrated by Lisebth Zerger*
I can't get enough of her watercolors.


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## Nozabii (Oct 17, 2018)

These books are great and all, but I think I found the holy grail of artists books.

It's called the... SKETCHBOOK!


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## Uathúil (Apr 5, 2019)




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## WXYZ (Aug 23, 2019)




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## Cosmonaughty (Oct 12, 2019)

Any one of 'Chris Sanders sketchbook' series! The way he draws anatomy is delightfully sexy, yet remarkabley tastefull!


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## ChozetsuDynamisch (Jun 20, 2020)

Welp, that's mine.


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## Lyka Snowfiled (Oct 20, 2020)




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## Furr-Fict (Jan 30, 2021)

S. Zissou said:


> View attachment 31906
> Top left: *Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing *
> - my favorite anatomy book for muscles and mass
> 
> ...



     I Second,* Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing*.  It has led me down the right path to learning and exploring gesture, in a way, I didn't think a book could do with art.  I highly suggest anyone who is starting out and interested in character design/anatomy to pick this one up. After that I would suggest:* Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators, by David H. Ross*, if you're following that same path.  It was a really good look, for me, into how a professional handles their characters and style throughout all their drawings. The main focus of the book is his "glass mannequin", which is also good for beginners to anatomy and perspective.  What I really took away from it though, was how to develop my own shape language for characters;  to create a cohesive style. Though, if you look at my "art" right now, that's not apparent, but I'll need it for when/if I start comics.


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## NinaGrey (Apr 5, 2021)

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you meant, but ive always loved "Art of" books, and these are some of my faves at the moment!


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## Baron Tredegar (Jun 25, 2022)

I had to have it shipped from Australia. This might be my favorite out of all my concept art books.


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