4.20

3

Nov 23, 2012

Burne Hogarth was the artist for the early Tarzan comics- his style is brilliant but rather mannered and at times odd looking with stylised poses and over-sized feet (to my eyes). There is a lot to get out of this book however it is a perseverance test to get at it and you will be best advised to work at it yourself and spare yourself the trouble of trying to get through his TERRIBLE prose. He really suffers for not having an editor who could stand up to him I guess- the prose is quasi-accademic Burne Hogarth was the artist for the early Tarzan comics- his style is brilliant but rather mannered and at times odd looking with stylised poses and over-sized feet (to my eyes). There is a lot to get out of this book however it is a perseverance test to get at it and you will be best advised to work at it yourself and spare yourself the trouble of trying to get through his TERRIBLE prose. He really suffers for not having an editor who could stand up to him I guess- the prose is quasi-accademic as though a 4th former had grabbed a dictionary and a thesaurus and for every straightforward one syllable word had substituted a four syllable obscure one. Some of his prose is simply laughable, for example:

Where the approach to the figure is neither tactual nor visual, spatial orientation may depend on the total positional stress of the third form concept.That is to say the viewer is given the task of interacting with the figure; it is a case where the viewing angle of the total figure form demands special notice

This was taken at random and gives a good indication of his style- florid, wordy, use of jargon, never use one word where a few will do

so, look at the pictures, don't bother with the text- it will defeat you after a couple of pages
...more

4

Aug 29, 2014

I'm not saying this technique will work for you, especially if you aren't already decent at sketching people, but if you have a good eye and need to improve your grasp of underlying shapes and how to make them look fluid this may be the book for you. While the poses are often comic-book extreme and the musculature too that doesn't bother me for two reasons 1) I found this book in a comic book store AND flipped through it before buying so it was expected and 2) the exaggeration compared to I'm not saying this technique will work for you, especially if you aren't already decent at sketching people, but if you have a good eye and need to improve your grasp of underlying shapes and how to make them look fluid this may be the book for you. While the poses are often comic-book extreme and the musculature too that doesn't bother me for two reasons 1) I found this book in a comic book store AND flipped through it before buying so it was expected and 2) the exaggeration compared to average physiques and poses makes it easier see what the artist is talking about. ...more

1

Jun 27, 2008

Hogarth's figures look a little too much like spaghetti people for my taste. I recommend Loomis if you are looking for a good book on figure drawing.

4

Aug 12, 2010

So much to learn from Burne Hogarth! One of the most analytic minds I've ever encountered in art. I love how he's always trying to think of new approaches to view the human figures, from volumes to inside lines and trying to find rules and coincidences to increase the number of points of view. All his illustrations are also the best I know for studying and learning, very clear and a great reference. One of the best books on human anatomy!

The only thing that got me confused was that I believe he So much to learn from Burne Hogarth! One of the most analytic minds I've ever encountered in art. I love how he's always trying to think of new approaches to view the human figures, from volumes to inside lines and trying to find rules and coincidences to increase the number of points of view. All his illustrations are also the best I know for studying and learning, very clear and a great reference. One of the best books on human anatomy!

The only thing that got me confused was that I believe he does all this thinking and measurements in orographic projection, which lead to me doing a lot of head scratching over many pages as he declared some solutions found (especially with the long diagonal of an ellipse) where it seemed to me still problematic... or maybe I just didn't get some things. Anyway, gone through this book like the 2nd or third time now and I still have so much to learn from it. It remains a core book in my artist's library even as others I give away after having read them. Amazing book! ...more

4

Sep 06, 2012

I dig this book. It's Not an intro book but a definite must-read for those looking to better understand and strengthen their art skills. If you give it a chance, this will help you to better understand some of the fundamentals of drawing a body in perspective (i.e. - One of the hardest things for some artists to wrap their heads around). I still turn to this guide when I need a refresher in drawing arms or legs in space.

4

Jan 12, 2014

An amazing reference for pencil drawing on the topic of dynamic figures. Very detailed on anatomy, finding different approaches and perspectives on drawing human body (parts or whole, doesn't matter).

However, it is definitely an advance techniques drawing guide. I have struggled on some of the author's approaches. I am however not a professional artist, nor an art student. Just a plain engineer without any background in art :-)

4

Aug 12, 2012

Great dynamic art by Hogarth. A must read for comic book artists - and in particular, fans of Gil Kane.

5

Jun 10, 2007

Why do I get the impression that learning more about art will only enable me to understand that Burne Hogarth is still better than me?

5

Jul 13, 2010

Awesome book! Gotta love Hogarth :) He's concise and his instruction is wonderful. Highly recommend!

4

Jun 16, 2012

Very helpful... The drawings couldn't be any better, the concepts are clear but the writing is fairly weak. Still a great reference book.

5

Dec 19, 2013

I'm a big fan of this book. It's one of the essentials for brushing up on the basics of figure drawing.

5

Apr 19, 2012

I've checked this out twice from the library and finally bought it for my shelf. Great action shots!

5

Feb 05, 2014

Helped me in immensely in my art career. Burne taught me the how in relation to the why in relation the human figure in action and space

3

Feb 09, 2010

Browsed at Ken and Heather's. Neat geometric approach to body construction.

5

Nov 13, 2012

Stole this book from my High School Library. I loved it so much. Taught me a lot about human figure drawing. Shading and natural human anatomy. Had it since 1984

4

Jan 04, 2016

Nice, essential book for any kind of storybook illustration. I went to art school, and none of this is covered. Burne's method might not be the only method, and plenty of people point out it's limitations, but it helps you understand the flow and foreshortening of muscles in motion.

4

Jul 30, 2016

This book had several good tips that gave me the confidence to draw more varied and active figures. It's not the easiest to read at times but you can generally get the gist of what he's saying from his illustrations. Recommended if you feel like your drawings have gotten stagnant.

5

Mar 27, 2014

While it's currently to advanced for me, when my anatomy improves I will probably buy a reference copy. While there are manga equivalents of this book, this is a non-cartoon approach so the characters shown are much more realistic.

5

Aug 12, 2013

This is my goto book for anatomy. There are better books for learning to draw the human figure, but this is the best for learning to draw the muscles and form of anatomy. It's a must for comic book artists as well, IMHO.

This in combination with How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way does the trick.

I am also a lover of Burne Hogarth's style, its creapy as hell.

5

Dec 02, 2014

I think this book might be really interesting and would help me increase my drawing skills better. based on the rating on the book i think its in the middle 5/10. I would like to read it and see whats it mostly drawn about and whats its about the most. Also it looks cool based on the over but can't judge a book form its cover. according to everything in this page im really interested in reading this book. Where can I find it?

0

Jan 31, 2011

“Dynamic Figure Drawing by Brune Hogarth is an excellent book for an artist who knows what they are talking about. Not for beginners this book explains in an older geometric style of mapping out the human body. It features a large amount of drawings so you aren’t short on examples or poses plus they all include great descriptions. Hogarth uses his language to describe his process to someone who can understand him and think like him. Simply browsing through this book would advance a draftsman's “Dynamic Figure Drawing by Brune Hogarth is an excellent book for an artist who knows what they are talking about. Not for beginners this book explains in an older geometric style of mapping out the human body. It features a large amount of drawings so you aren’t short on examples or poses plus they all include great descriptions. Hogarth uses his language to describe his process to someone who can understand him and think like him. Simply browsing through this book would advance a draftsman's understanding of the puzzle that is the figure.” ...more

4

Jul 05, 2008

Reading and sketching from this book has been a wonderful experience for me. It's one of those experiences where you feel like a moron at the same time as you're learning things, because it all seems so common-sensical, but then you never actually thought of it that way, did you?

The one complaint I have is that some of the descriptions of how to draw and why you are drawing things in a certain way are full of quite complex language, probably too complex for a younger audience. Then again, the Reading and sketching from this book has been a wonderful experience for me. It's one of those experiences where you feel like a moron at the same time as you're learning things, because it all seems so common-sensical, but then you never actually thought of it that way, did you?

The one complaint I have is that some of the descriptions of how to draw and why you are drawing things in a certain way are full of quite complex language, probably too complex for a younger audience. Then again, the drawings say most of it beautifully. I intend to keep working on sketches in this style in the hope that at some point I will be able to create convincing figures completely from my imagination. ...more

4

Jul 11, 2019

I find the entire series by Burne Hogarth quite helpful. Not necessarily recommended for a beginner but someone who has studied anatomy before would understand it better.

3

Jul 17, 2019

Definitely not a book for a beginner. Heavily stylized drawings, which can be hard to read if you don’t really know all the muscles.
There are a few good ideas how to draw human figure in perspective but overall I’m more impressed by the author’s skill to draw all from imagination without any reference than actually learning and practicing along with him.