Blogging For Books Review for " Foundations in Comic Book Art " by John Paul Lowe
(Posted for Blogging for Books)
Foundations in Comic Book Art by John Paul Lowe is a book I'd definitely recommend for any beginning artist or those pursuing the self-taught route. Whether or not you're into creating comics, there's a broad range of information in this book pertaining to sketching, inking, art tools, perspective, techniques and the like. John Lowe is excellent at providing simple written explanations and exercises for strengthening artistic skills, coupled with helpful visual examples on almost every single page. Chapter by chapter, the book transitions fairly smoothly from the very fundamentals of drawing using basic shapes to more complex skills such as perspective, panel layout and figure drawing. It even touches on a few digital program tricks to use in Photoshop and Manga Studio, though overall I found this book more informative pertaining to traditional art techniques rather than digital art. I also appreciated that Mr. Lowe thoughtfully offers advice and opinions on tools and mediums. Most resource books I've read pertaining to comics might have a paragraph of ink pen and sketchpad brands at the beginning of the book, and rarely a page or two, but Mr. Lowe devotes nearly a dozen pages throughout the book to materials such as ink nibs, brushes, brands of ink and paper
The only thing that prevented me from giving this book a full five stars had to do with a couple of editing and layout quirks in the book itself. Pages 2-3, for example: the text and the example picture were not in line with each other but rather on opposite pages. However that is forgivable, given that the entirety of the book's information was so well researched and presented so concisely. Mr. Lowe's gift for breaking down and reconstructing the complexities of art and visual storytelling speaks of his prowess as a teacher Definitely a must have to include on your bookshelf!
(Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy from Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The options I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255)
Foundations in Comic Book Art by John Paul Lowe is a book I'd definitely recommend for any beginning artist or those pursuing the self-taught route. Whether or not you're into creating comics, there's a broad range of information in this book pertaining to sketching, inking, art tools, perspective, techniques and the like. John Lowe is excellent at providing simple written explanations and exercises for strengthening artistic skills, coupled with helpful visual examples on almost every single page. Chapter by chapter, the book transitions fairly smoothly from the very fundamentals of drawing using basic shapes to more complex skills such as perspective, panel layout and figure drawing. It even touches on a few digital program tricks to use in Photoshop and Manga Studio, though overall I found this book more informative pertaining to traditional art techniques rather than digital art. I also appreciated that Mr. Lowe thoughtfully offers advice and opinions on tools and mediums. Most resource books I've read pertaining to comics might have a paragraph of ink pen and sketchpad brands at the beginning of the book, and rarely a page or two, but Mr. Lowe devotes nearly a dozen pages throughout the book to materials such as ink nibs, brushes, brands of ink and paper
The only thing that prevented me from giving this book a full five stars had to do with a couple of editing and layout quirks in the book itself. Pages 2-3, for example: the text and the example picture were not in line with each other but rather on opposite pages. However that is forgivable, given that the entirety of the book's information was so well researched and presented so concisely. Mr. Lowe's gift for breaking down and reconstructing the complexities of art and visual storytelling speaks of his prowess as a teacher Definitely a must have to include on your bookshelf!
(Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy from Blogging for Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The options I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255)