Product Description

The ultimate reference for comic artists, this unique book/CD set is packed with photos of men and women in basic and dramatic superhero poses uniquely tailored to the comic artist’s needs. Comic Artist’s Photo Reference:

-Delivers over 500 color images of beautiful women and muscled men in the poses comic artists need

-Features six step-by-step demonstrations by well-known artists, so readers can learn firsthand from the pros

-Comes with a CD-ROM of over 500 additional photos for added inspiration

With this reference, comic artists of all skill levels can draw from a diverse group of models in a hundreds of poses--any time they want!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13801 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This is a terrific book for all artists, not just those interested in comics. Professional artists demonstrate how to use photo references in drawing, what materials to use, and techniques needed to do studies and finish the work professionally. The photos show models in various action poses, alone and in pairs, with and without props, in capes and street clothes, and expressing several emotions. The only difference between this and a professional artist's photo reference book–and what makes it a perfect addition to a library or art classroom–is that the models are all clothed. The CD-ROM has the images from the book and can be used by groups working together.–Dana Cobern-Kullman, Luther Burbank Middle School, Burbank, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Ho-Hum
I'll list the GOOD, then I'll list the Not-So-Good (aka. BAD).

The best two things about this book are:

1) A decent amount of images therein show the models in clothing (cloaks, some street clothing).
2) There's some decent reference of models holding weapons in "battle" poses.

That's it, really...

The *not* good (ie. BAD) things about the photograph are as follows:

1) The images are SMALL. Even the ones on the enclosed CD-ROM. Seems like the largest they get is around 700-800px on the longest side.

2) The camera's focal length causes the subjects to look distorted (ie. Huge hands close to the lens, tiny feet far away). For example:
http://is.gd/21M0

3) Only 4 models total. And two of them don't take their socks off. It may seem like a small thing, but not showing the feet is kind of huge. There's a lot of important detail in the tendons/bones/toes that is completely missing from half the images in this book.

4) The lighting creates strong shadows. This could be good or bad. Good because you get some nice play of light across muscles/tendons. Bad because sometimes parts of the model cast shadows on their face/etc, and obscures expressions and such.

All in all, it's OKAY. Frankly, I wouldn't buy it again. I'll keep it now that I have it, but my recommendation is to look elsewhere for a good reference book.

Inconveniently Helpful
The book would be ideal if it was wire-bound, and you could flip to a certain photo, then lay the book flat to draw from it. Otherwise, it's hard to keep it open to one page without clips, clamps or otherwise incovenient tools. While the CD is helpful, leaving the computer on the whole time to draw from it wears your eyes out quickly.

Very Average Reference - Google Images is Better and FREE
I was very disappointed after purchasing this book. The content is average at best and the CD doesn't even contain ALL of the images found in the book which I thought was very misleading to the customer - you have to scan the images not on CD that you want - what a waste. You can do better by finding image references through Google Images and those are free. This book has some value, perhaps if one is just starting out, but hardly a top resource for anyone else. The "extremely positive" reviews here are no doubt either people who fall into this newbie category or friends of the author looking to help him out by placing positive reviews. Pass on this one or get it used / discounted somewhere. Not worth the full price that's printed on it. I was suckered.