Customer Reviews

Comic Artist's Photo Reference: Men and Boys

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I suppose this sounds a little bit odd - but I was sort of irritated by the misleading title? The youngest model is 18, which I suppose I at 20 would consider a young man rather than a boy. As someone who was illustrating a story that involved a younger boy, I was hoping for some good dynamic reference - of, well, a boy - like the title claimed.

The models range in age otherwise, but not so much in terms of build. It would also have been nice to see a few more for each age group rather than just the one model for each.

I appreciated it because it's definitely a reference for comic artists - lots of cool poses with interesting items; guns, swords, things you don't find in your run of the mill guide. The poses are dynamic and come up often in a typical action-based comic book.

So although I think it could have been better, it would be a lie to say I won't get a lot of good use out of it!

I've been a fan of Comic Artists Photo Reference since the beginning and this last edition in the series (this is the 3rd) did not disappoint. The book builds on the previous editions by adding different poses and a few different weapons and themes. And of course, the models are different as well. It follows the format of the earlier editions by providing 4 different sections with a different model in each - ages 18, 25, 37, and 44. The book crackles with energy and provides page after page of dynamic and energetic poses. The models stand out well from the backgrounds and overall the lighting has been done very nicely... sculpting the bodies and making them pop out 3-dimensionally. The accompanying CD is really nice as well and gives you hundreds of photos that you can put on your computer. One of the ways that I utilize this is to to use a slideshow format (in iphoto or any other program) and draw from the model with timed poses. You can work with a book like "The Natural Way to Draw" very easily this way if it's hard to hire a model or attend classes. This book is also really helpful when studying anatomy. I've used George Bridgeman, Burne Hogarth and others and I like to lay this book out next to what I'm studying to help give my studies depth and such. Some reviewers complained about the ages of the models. There's a great book called "Virtual Pose - Children and Teens - that covers this age group very well (although it lacks the dynamic qualities that Scalera is so good at capturing. Until Buddy Scalera does a book on just children (hint, hint:) Virtual Pose might suffice. But regardless, "Men and Boys" is a great book to add to your library.

This is another fine product from author Buddy Scalera. He included a nice assortment of models and the poses are very useful. Since I've purchased Scalera's previous books, I knew what to expect, and I wasn't disappointed. This book will be used often.

I actually picked up all of the Comic Artist Photo Reference Books on the cheap but this one was the first one to get opened so it gets the review:

Cliffs: Overall a good solid book, cons: photos in the book are not on the CD.

The good:
Tight binding and a physically well made book: I've already lugged it around in my gig bag, splashed water on the cover and have yet to crack the spine.

The photos themselves are great. Glossy, full color, well-lighted, dramatically lighted on some, adequatly sized 3 x 4 inches on most with lean and fit models (Yes, I own the Fantasy Artist's Photo reference and ugh). The models have proper action poses unlike some fine art reference manuals where you get the nude in a chair, nude standing listlessly, nude reclining on a chaise. Now you get RAWR, I am EVILY smoking a cigar, Karate chop! and OH crap someone stabbed me!

The how to's are not awesome but they're fun to look at and just a general idea/guidline on how to use the photos, setting up frames, storyboard etc.

The CD doesn't require you to install some crappy proggie on your machine in order to look at the photos. Kudos to them. Extranious software drives me bananas.

Another feature that some people might like is that they use an HTML setup to display the photos in a mouse-click friendly webpage navigator. I happen not to like it but I can see where other poeple could find it very user friendly.

The bad:
The photos that are in the book are not on the cd! Which I don't like because I like porting the photos into photoshop, tracing over them, cutting off limbs and blacking out the eyes and some of the images in the book would be great for that (hey, it's a hobby) but now in order to do that I have to scan, crop, re-size etc. They just should have put them on the disc. It's my biggest gripe about the book is still having to carry around the book.

The CD has a lot of stuff on it (easter eggs--I hate easter eggs btw) but it is stored oddly--which i will cover under the "irritating section". If you were thinking you were going to pop in a disk and DL the images to your HD and start photoshopping away...

Well, if you're [...] about organizing like me--save some time and go to ROOT_DATA\HTML on the disk and start wading through the extras folders to see if you even want any of that stuff. The extras_amy_gallery has pictures of an toy action figure parachuting, camping, in a tree and was done by the editor of the book and while cute I probably wouldn't waste the HD space.

The models' folders are aptly labeled anthony_37, Rory_18, Jarrett_25 and Mark_44

The irritating:
When you put the disc in your drive and it loads up you'll see some folders come up (_notes, ROOT_DATA, Templates) and another one at the very bottom that says "start_here.html". You click on it and it opens up a webpage from your disk drive to where you can navigate the photos on the disk in a very well laid out webpage style format and click your way around, look at the extras and easter eggs and videos clickity click click click.

This is purely from a personal style choice but I find the disc setup pretty irritating I just want the core images.

This is a great book for anybody who likes to draw comics.As you illustrate stories youll find this book lacks photos of people doing things besides fighting.However action is the most important part of comic books and so this book is integral.

I am one of the models who worked on the book, and I can't tell you how excited I am with the final product. First it is awesome to see the photo of me on the cover draw masterfully into an action hero. I have several friends who are artists, and they tell me this fills a need where other photo reference books fall short. The action poses, and expressions are just what comic book artists need, for the cross between realism and fantasy that is the art if the comic. Mr. Scalera not only supplies a wide range of high quality photos, but also demonstrates how to use and combine them for professional quality comic book artwork. A great tool for pros and aspiring artists alike!

A collection of dynamic action poses that is intended to assist the artist in getting the anatomy right. This book has only male references. The photo CD that comes with the book is just as valuable as the book itself. This series of photo reference books is the first reference tool that I reach for to get an image of how to make the anatomy believeable. It is also a handy tool for when you just want to be inspired for a new scene. If you can not find the pose you want on the printed pages but like a certain action sequence be sure to check out further photos on the CD. I highly recommend this product to any figure artist, the photo work is classy and does not create embarassment in mixed company.

Very good book for learning how to draw comics. My 14 year
old grandson draws quite well, and I thought he'd like this.
Thing about it is - he draws like he draws, and didn't feel
the need to learn how someone else draws. I'd recommend it
to someone who needs a little more help in drawing.

What can I say, other than I love these books I bought the People and Poses book a while back and so when I saw this one I just had to have it. Lots of angles and good shots, I love the disc that comes with the book as well. The only problem I have with it is that people are always trying to borrow it xD

Old time storyboard and comp artists - as well as many illustrators - used to maintain a "scrap file." In case that term is new to you, it meant that they collected photos, tear-sheets and clipped-out pages of magazines to use as reference for illustration assignments. Few artist's can draw a convincing, realistic, image straight from their imagination, so having a handy reference saves much time and frustration. Of course you can stage your own photos as did many famous illustrators, but doing so takes time. Fortunately, Buddy Scalera and his intrepid crew took the time and the result is a stellar collection of carefully staged, and professionally lighted images. Please note that these are not static poses, but artfully composed action images of models leaping, wrestling, fighting, and using weapons. To make the fighting scenes accurate Mr Scalera retained a martial-arts expert. As you might guess, the target audience for book is mainly people drawing for action-oriented comic books or storyboard artists. I have three of these volumes: the other two are Women and Girls, and People and Poses. One final note, these are tasteful books. Mr Scalera had all of the models post in tight-fitting workout clothes. "Tight-fitting" not to please the voyeurs, but to allow the illustrators to capture as much of the musculature as decorum would permit.