Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators, Second Edition
by Mike Mattesi
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mike MattesiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); German (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-22
ISBN: 0240808452
Number of pages: 248
Publisher: Focal Press
Book Reviews of Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators, Second Edition
Book Review: Instructive AND inspiring
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book, it's exactly what I was after! There are many relevant and beautifully drawn illustrations, not all of them by the author, Mike Mattesi, but some by his friends/colleagues. Nearly every single page is filled with drawings.
Here's a breakdown of the 6 main chapters:
Chapter 1 Seeing Life - This is pretty much an introduction to the ideas behind drawing forces - the author explains how to look at a model and focus on drawing the verb/action rather than trying to copy what you see. The theory is good and I saw major differences in my drawings after just this chapter.
Chapter 2 Forceful Form - This chapter is about technical skills involving drawing from varying angles and perspectives. He talks about creating depth in pictures using foreshortening, using overlapping and using tangents.
Chapter 3 Forceful Shape - This chapter is about shapes and silhouettes - how to draw effectively by knowing where to draw curves. This is a bit harder for me to explaing without showing you the illustartions used in the chapter with the authors' descriptions, but I'd say it was how to draw the descriptive nouns of the objects, while also capturing the verbs.
Chapter 4 Clothing - This chapter is one of my favourites. At first the author discusses capturing the texture and weight of the fabric. Later he talks about using clothing in character drawing to enhance the qualities you're trying to convey about them and their pose. I really love the drawings in this chapter.
Chapter 5 On Location, Reportage - This about going out into the big, wide world and drawing the people out there! There are tips on how to observe people and what you should try to capture about them. The author also discusses drawing "moments", relationships between people, and crowds.
Chapter 6 Animals - Mattesi talks about "comparative anatomy", comparing human anatomy to animals', in this case, a dog. The following drawings are of diffrent kinds of animals seen in a zoo (or Natural History museum) with some pointers on what to note in the drawings and useful tips on drawing birds, something I struggled with. This is the shortest chapter, I this book focuses on drawing people.
At the end of every chapter is a list of pointers for that topic. The book closes with some recommended reading, a brief glossary and a very comprehensive index.
A great thing about this book is the way the author writes, he is really passionate about drawing and his enthusiasm is infectious through the pages. The tone is encouraging, and there are little uplifting quotes about art dotted around the book.
I wouldn't say this was a beginners book but you probably don't need to be "classically trained" to use it. I have a completely technical background and I work in the vfx industry. I've never taken any classes or courses, I've only done clay sculpture and casual sketching as a hobby. I'm working towards becoming a 3D character animator and this book has helped me a lot with practice storyboards. It's more of a guide than rigid instructions, the author doesn't give you numbered exercises, he rather mentions things he gets his classes to do and these serve as exercises you can adapt for yourself. I personally find this combined with the pointers, more interesting and helpful, and less daunting than a structured list of instructions.
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