Drawing Dynamic Comics

by Andy Smith

A fresh, up-to-date approach to creating comics shows artists of all ages and talent levels how to build basic figures into stylized characters, set them in action, and add the backgrounds needed to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823003124
• ISBN13: 9780823003129
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.6" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Drawing Dynamic Comics

This is a good book to learn the skill of drawing from. anyone that is interested in drawing comics should buy this book

Great!!

This is a great item to get into my collection. Definately a buy that is well worth it.

DDC DELIVERS!

Many people have given this book fewer stars, citing it's ommissions as the reason. I feel this is unfair as this a book intended to teach the reader 'HOW TO DRAW DYNAMIC COMICS', not just 'HOW TO DRAW'.It may not be a book for a complete beginner (even though it does cover many basic drawing techniques), but someone who has a modicum of artistic talent and wants to know how to develop his skills for the comic book genre will find this book invaluable. As for the ommissions such as hand drawing and digital colouring, these are topics that deserve an entire book to themselves, and to try and cover either (or both) of them in a manual of this size would only have done both subjects a disservice. For subjects such as hands, animals, and vehicles, the reader would be better served by looking at the works of Burne Hogarth (Dynamic Hands), Jack Hamm (How to Draw Animals), and Christopher Hart (How to Draw Fast Cars, Monster Trucks, & Fighter Jets). Once you've got these skills, turn back to this book to see how to use them in the creation of a comic book.Andy Smith has written a book that promises to teach us how to draw Dynamic Comic Books. It does exactly that, with entertaining text and many superb illustrations. He talks about tools, techniques, and style, and covers everything from basic anatomy, figure construction and posing, to perspective, panel layout, and inking.Drawing Dynamic Comics delivers the goods. What more can you ask?This would be a great addition to anyone's how-to library.

Wonderful with Clear Instructions

Helping my friend wither her online comic got me interested in drawing people, too. I read through Bridgman's Anatomy and tried my hand at it, but the classical style - beautiful as it is - didn't quite click with me. That's why Andy Smith's book was such a find. I've drawn animals, plants, fantasticals, etc all my life and starting out with people was really intimidating. They rank with horses for difficulty, but this book breaks it down into simple steps. The clear cut instructions make human anatomy all the more attainable. Some valuable lessons in anatomy are skipped, but that's forgiveable b/c it really is too much for a comic book guide to cover. Besides, there are plenty of resources out there that can supplement these lessons. It's probably helpful to have more than one book anyway, since it gives you access to a wider range of styles. Another helpful part was the way he had a wide variety of angles on the torso and waist boxes, then used these examples with the musculature. It really helps the reader follow along with the process. A lot of people have mentioned this book isn't good for beginners, but this is my first time drawing people and I'm really liking the results. Then again, I've had a lot of practice and prep with drawing...so yeah, just another POV. Smith's book supercedes Lee and Buscema's How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way since it incapsulates a lot of what their book covers along with more in-depth lessons on faces and inking. A sort of two for one - although HDC the Marvel Way has a lot more examples of foreshortening and gesture drawing this book could benefit from. For someone who already has a collection of these How-To's going, some of this book could be redundant (or they could be helpful! who knows?), but for a beginner like myself, it gives a concise overview of the basics that is extremely helpful.

Very Excellent Book

For me personally, I think this book is terrfic. A day after purchasing this book, I could draw comic heroes in a snap.There is great discussion on topics, ranging from perspective and paneling to human anatomy and line of action.This is indeed a good addition to Christopher Hart's How To Draw Comic Book Heroes And Villians. It is true that the author, Andy Smith, is a much better comic book artist than Hart.It would have been nice if the book had talked about drawing hands and feet, but, hey, we could draw our own hands and feet. This is a must-buy for any wanna-be comic book artist.