Saturday, February 11, 2023

Best Books for Self-Teaching Drawing and Painting

Concept artist Alexander Forssberg says: "I've learned everything I know about making art from studying photographs and real life, and reading these books."


Thanks for mentioning my books, Alexander. I also recommend the other books, and they were all key to my growth. A few notes:

Andrew Loomis was a leading mid-20th century illustrator based in Chicago. He analyzes faces and hands in useful ways using a pencil and paintbrush. Text is encouraging and practical. 

Graceful drawings and helpful information that you can put to use. For picture-making and composition, I also recommend Loomis's classic book Creative Illustration.

Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgman
Bridgman was a famous teacher from the Art Students League in New York, and both Norman Rockwell and Frank Frazetta also credited him as a big influence.

The Human Machine by George Bridgman
Chunky, dynamic approach to analyzing the figure as a system of levers and pulleys overcoming gravity. 

The book was originally based on posts from this blog from 2007-9, where I was downloading everything I know about color and light, which aren't usually talked about together.

Most art instruction books examine how to capture what you see, but here I present all the old-school methods for developing fantasy, science fiction, and historical scenes.

Alla Prima II by Richard Schmid
An influential teacher from recent years who analyzed the process of painting in a unique way. It's a little pricey, so let's hope someone republishes it. 


Alexander Forssberg is on Twitter & Artstation

5 comments:

  1. As someone who went to art school 35 years ago, this list is exactly what ANY artist should have on their shelves. The sheer amount of information that I was never taught at a "real" art school (Ringling School of Art and Design) that is contained in the volumes is staggering. I can also say that "Color and Light" changed my painting forever, thank you very much.

    Every day I enjoy your blogs and videos, and thank you so much for all of the wonderful work you do to help other artists.

    Yours,
    John Geneva, bonsaiartworks@gmail.com

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  2. I have all of Bridgeman and both Color and Light and Imaginative Realism. Though I am a professional and I attended art school, I still believe these are MUST HAVEs, as I keep coming back to them for refreshers.

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  3. I love this ‘library’, I already have two of the books mentioned. I check James’ books out so often from the Public Library, I decided to buy them. Two other books I strongly recommend along with their companion workbooks are Alphonso Dunn,”Pen and Ink Drawing, A Simple Guide” and Betty Edwards, “Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain”.

    Alphonso can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube where he excels in quick, informative tutorials for free.His book is suitable for young artists as well. My eight year old granddaughter thoroughly enjoyed his book and workbook.

    I will be getting these other books on the list as well! I found my 1978 version of Gray’s Anatomy no exactly what I need from an struggling artist prospective.

    Cheers!

    James Page
    jgpage99@gmail.com

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