Drawing the Head and Hands

by Andrew Loomis

Book Overview

A classic how-to-draw book featuring helpful images as well as in-depth art theory from a legendary illustrator and major influence for comic book and graphic novel artists

Famous for his mastery of figure drawing and clean, Realist style, illustrator Andrew Loomis (1892-1959) is revered amongst classic artists like the great American painter Norman Rockwell and comics and graphic novel artists like Marvel and DC superstar Alex Ross...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0857680978
• ISBN13: 9780857680976
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Titan Books (UK)
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 2.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.1" x 12.2"

Customer Reviews

A popular standard in learning to draw heads from memory...

...for beginners & intermediates in ability. It's 32 pages taken from several of his original books- easily my favorite Loomis collection! In recent decades there have been 3 main teachers in learning to draw heads from memory. For cube-based construction we have George Bridgman. For ball/sphere-based construction we have Andrew Loomis. And for oval/ellipse-based construction, we have the famous teacher of the Dynamic Drawing series- comicbook artist Burne Hogarth. Many of today's Japanese animation & comicbook instructionals are using these very same principles, along with some of the teachings by the Famous Artists School. My current interest is in oval & cube-based construction, but it's Loomis' famous *ball/sphere-based* construction here that many people consider to be the BEST. All artists, from beginners to even professionals(!), could easily benefit in learning these 3 popular standards. In any case, this is a great work *in pencil* on heads of all kinds. All popular aspects of construction are covered: men, women, children, teens, elderly, fashion-models, proportions, rythmic lines, planes, anatomy, bone structure, simple lines & shapes, perspective, common actions, expressions, clear line drawings, and even full-blown tonal studies (whew!). That's a lot in just 32 pages. It's all done in a classic mid-20th century style, similar to Jack Hamm's excellent Drawing The Head And Figure. My favorite pages here are p.26, p.27, and p.30, because these are his clearest & most detailed pure line drawings- exceedingly great to copy & learn from. A tremendous help for anyone interested in learning to draw from memory- get this great book today! P.S. ...just so you know: this reviews page is shared by 2 Loomis books. The 1st is his slim & tall, 32-page Walter Foster paperback collection currently entitled Drawing: The Head (HT197). This HT197 guide was also known as Heads/2. My review is for this Walter Foster collection. The 2nd book this reviews page is linked to is Loomis' original hardcover called Drawing the Head and Hands; a full-blown book- more than 32 pages. At this writing, this 2nd book is out of print. The real reason these 2 books share these reviews is that the shorter, Walter Foster collection takes a few pages from several books, including pages from this full-blown Drawing the Head and Hands. As I understand it, Loomis actually *created* ball/sphere-based construction for heads, printed in Fun With A Pencil circa 1939- and I see no evidence to contradict this. And today it's one of the most popular methods around. His books being out of print confuses many! That's why I give this 5 stars: instead of slamming Walter Foster's publications for their lack of completeness, we should thank them for keeping Loomis' name alive(!). If it weren't for this Drawing: The Head collection, I might never have given his Figure Drawing For All It's Worth a chance. Now I have both- thank goodness!

A very, very good book!!!

"Drawing Heads" by Andrew Loomis is a very thorough and comprehensive book that has amazingly been crammed into under 70 pages. There is no waste whatsoever in any of the pages. The illustrations are beautiful and it contains simplified, easy to understand approaches to drawing the head as well as basic anatomy and facial planes. Also contained are the proportions for small children, babies and teens. It would have to be the best book on drawing the head i have come across and is at a bargain price. It is a "must have" for anyone serious about learning how to draw the head.

Best book in the world!!

I've owned this book for quite some time now,but the only thing is that it's a translated chinese version of it & the translatiton was done very badly.Still with the well drawn images,I was able to learn everything on drawing of the head & hands.It's a great book & everyone should at least flip over the book to see how faces should be drawn well.Sorry for those who wants this book,I'll never sell it away(May be after I've got the english version of it).

Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis

I'd like to know who currently holds the copyrights for drawing instruction books written by Andrew Loomis. If possible, please provide an address and send to rkempke@precisiongraphics.com. Thanks.

This book is unbelievably comprehensive and helpful

I am a high school junior with interest in art. I read this book at my school library, but someone ripped half the pages out (that's why I'm looking for it now). Even with a lot missing, this book still vastly improved my drawing skills.