stunted drawings i was excited to buy a book about drawing hands but the drawings in this book ended up being strangely stunted and deformed. they look nothing like real hands. the artist isn't very good and the instruction is crude at best. it was a waste of money.
great book if you're an artist or just someone who wants to learn how to draw.. this is a great book to have
One of my Top 3 Bridgman books- great in drawing from memory... Mainly for intermediate-level artists- it's actually *GREAT* for enthusiastic beginners. It has a little bit of *everything* depicting hand construction from memory. It's also great for general improvement; a few tips & tricks- an *excellent* reference for all working artists. The genius of Bridgman, at least for me, is mainly in his construction of heads & hands. The genius in Bridgman is that he selects important lines & planes: He emphasizes the *essential*. His drawings aren't always eye-poppingly 3-D, and to me, that's actually a good thing. They're mainly simplistic- yet amazingly effective. There's *great* power in this simplicity here! Here's the formula I use: copying Bridgman + photos + my favorite artists= success(!). And this book represents his best work on hands- even *better* than his Complete Guide, which includes much of this material. In fact, this book, *along with photographs*, has enabled me to draw hands completely from memory in an amazing range of angles & views! And it's helped me quicker than any other book on the market; quicker even than Burne Hogarth's incredibly popular Drawing Dynamic Hands. The design & layout here are really among Bridgman's best. If you flip rapidly through these pages, initially you might not be impressed. But if you take the time to look at each page, you'll notice some drawings are a bit better than others. Some of his best drawings are his smallest(!). For instance- In learning to draw from memory, I started by copying smaller hands, working my way up to bigger & better detail. I started by copying pages 119 & 101- it's amazing what just a few lines can teach! Many pages are like this: simple, easy, and effective; for beginners, intermediate & up. In short: My Highest Recommendation- 5 STARS!
If You Need a Second Look at Hands Can be an alternative (different views are always valuable) or an augmentation to Hogarth. The drawings are sketchy rather than firm. He takes anatomy a too deep (bones, tendons, deep muscles, then finally what shows under the skin), but the pose you're looking for may be in here. My library could live without it, but it's nice to have.
disorginized confusing sketches This book is not for beginners. To understand this book you'll need to have a good understanding of the hand's anatomy, but if you already understand the hand then this book will be useless. Some pages are organized so on the left will be a description like "the pinky sticks out at this angle", then on the right will be an ink blot test looking drawing where you can't even see the pinky. A good alternative to this is Burne Hogarth's "Drawing Dynamic Hands".
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
