Andrew Loomis (1892–1959)

This is a classic. Even if nowadays you can find all kinds of books about figure drawing, many of them simplify it too much in order to make the subject seem easier and give you the impression that you will learn faster and without effort. Wrong. Andrew Loomis gives full and clear explanation of everything that needs to be learned for those pursuing an artistic career. However, if you just want to know how to imitate figure drawings as a hobby or out of curiosity and don't plan to invest time for further developing your skills and prefer instant gratification, then this might not be the book for you. This book is for those serious about drawing and willing to spend many hours practicing and doing the exercises suggested by Loomis. Great for self-taught artists.
If you find this book too challenging but want to get at this level of good, I recommend you to first check Loomis' [b:Fun with a Pencil|1027978|Fun with a Pencil|Andrew Loomis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1207374284s/1027978.jpg|1014231]… (more)

Finally finished this giant textbook on illustration. This is the best textbook not only on illustration but also for the entire visual art universe. Yet it's written in 1947. The pictures in the book might not be updated anymore but since art skills and our visual perception changed very slowly (it relies on genetic mutation generation by generation), you will find this book valuable even in this photoshopsnique epoch. It would be wonderful if there is a textbook just like this one in the 20s of the 21st century. There are way too many uncreative fine art books for watercolor, acrylic, oil, etc that just repeats the skills again and again and again. But then, probably any photoshop manual is more creative than any art books now.… (more)