Anatomy for Fantasy Artists
Glenn Fabry
Barron's
Nonfiction, Art
****
DESCRIPTION: Any artist should learn human anatomy, but fantasy art often requires anatomy rules to be stretched, even broken, to produce hulking ogres or reed-thin fairies. Abandoning the rules altogether makes for unconvincing pictures, but adhering strictly to them doesn't work, either. This book focuses on the demands of fantasy art, starting with basic human anatomy and showing how it can be modified to suit many fantasy archetypes, from barbarian heroes to inhuman werewolves and more.
REVIEW: Some of the information here seems very similar to that found in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques and Ron Tiner's Figure Drawing Without a Model; indeed, some of the images are straight from the former book, by the latter artist. Still, the information bears repeating. Fabry provides several new angles on fantasy figure anatomy, with a focus toward more adult (as in complex, darker, occasionally disturbing, and minimally clothed) fantasy figures rather than kiddie comic- book creations. There is, as usual, a distinct trend toward portraying females as erotic objects rather than characters in their own right (not always, but often), but that's a bone I have to pick with the field of fantasy art in general, so I can hardly hold it against this book in particular. Some of the facial expressions seemed off to me, but that's probably just his style. I prefer artists whose expressions don't need to be as grotesque or exaggerated to get their point across. On the whole, I liked most of what I found in this book. As I've mentioned previously, I don't have the space or time to do as much art as I'd like to, but I still find inspiration in books like this.
You might also enjoy:
Constructive Anatomy (George Bridgman, Art - Creating the forms of human anatomy)
Drawing & Painting Fantasy Figures (Finlay Cowan, Art - Developing and drawing fantasy characters)
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Techniques (John Grant and Ron Tiner, Art - Tips and methods to develop genre art)
Drawing the Head and Figure (Jack Hamm, Art - How to draw humans, from head to toe)
Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy (Christopher Hart, YA? Art - An "entry-level" book on human anatomy)
Dynamic Figure Drawing (Burne Hogarth, Art - Drawing humans, with emphasis on exaggeration and "deep space" motion)
How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (Stan Lee and John Buscema, Art - Drawing lessons from Marvel comic artists)
Freaks! How to Draw Fantastic Fantasy Creatures (Steve Miller, YA? Art - How to draw "furries" and anthropomorphic animal hybrids)
DragonArt Fantasy Characters (J. "NeonDragon" Peffer, YA? Art - How to draw fantasy humans and kin)
Fantastic Realms (V. Shane, Art - How to draw and ink fantastic creatures and worlds)
Figure Drawing Without a Model (Ron Tiner, Art - Developing skills to successfuly draw humans and humanoids from the imagination)
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