Customer Reviews

Drawing Cutting Edge Comics

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The good thing about this book is that most basic drawing ideas are covered: faces, basic anatomy, and perspective. One of the articles I particularly like is the drawing comparison between different top artists (from using the same reference). It gives an idea of how to develop your own unique style rather than copying someone elses. The focus in the "cutting edge" comic market today is to give a "dark" feeling. Hence inking is exaggerated and skin tones are darker (compare Witchblade to Wonder Woman and you'll know what I mean). If you're interested in these aspects of drawing, then this book will give you a taste that no current other book can offer.

Despite the uniqueness of this book, the problem is that book is NOT a stand-alone (all-in-one) guide to drawing "Top-Cow" and "Chaos" style comics. If you are a newbie in drawing, then this book is more eye-candy than an aid to help you. You will have difficulties reaching Al Rio's level of quality on this book alone. There are little step-by-step instructions or diagrams. Since there are different artists contributing to different sections of the book, it can be a distraction. No offense, but I don't really think Chris Hart's artwork is "cutting edge." It looks rather cartoony as another reviewer said. Hence, I think this book can be better streamlined and edited. In addition, there should be more about shading, more about anatomy and poses, and more about creating impact. I think Andy Smith's "Drawing Dynamic Comics" has better basics than this book. In fact, it would be good to pick up that book as well because it gives a different perspective from another author. In any event, this book tries to do too much. I would rather have this book dump all the "basic stuff" and dig deeper into the advanced stuff.

The comic book equivalent of "extreme" sports. While comic book figures are obviously drawn "larger than life," this book takes that technique well over the top. If you're not distracted by recurring illustrations of women with proportions which don't remotely resemble reality (augmention notwithstanding), you won't mind this book.

Instead, I recommend Hart's books "How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains" for a less "extreme" treatment of his method, and "Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy" for general guidelines on drawing the human figure without a live model, and checking the proportions of your subject by "internal" reference.

Others have suggested "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" (1978) instead, and I concur. I also highly recommend "The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics" by Klaus Janson (2003) as a companion volume.

Make sure you look at this one in the bookstore before deciding to buy it.

I have almost every single book on comic book art written in the last ten years, and this one tops them all. By far.
I recommend this book not only to people who want to be comic book artists, but also those who are interested in more "serious" art forms. The tips and tricks are indispensible for anyone drawing the human form or face, regardless of the style.
I've read this book a hundred times, and I still use it every day for reference.

Two thumbs up! This book blows Hart's previous how to books based on comic art out of the water. It shows examples of correct anatomy, facial expressions, different camera angles, foreshortening, perspective, page design, and genre types. And for those who want to draw beautiful women and massive men this book shows you how. Those basics are a must have for those of you who want to be aspiring artists, because the comic industry is very compeitive. Some of the samples of art are outstanding! This book is for more of advanced artists. It also gives you tips from top people in the industry from TopCow and Chaos comics. The styles shown is this book are how many top artists draw now so if you wanna be a perfessional comic artists I implore you this book is absolutly a must have! I use this book as an everyday reference so it's easily worth it's money and can help you develop that cutting edge you need. DO U ENJOY DRAWING COMIC ART AND READING COMICS AND LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT, E-MAIL ME.

"Drawing Cutting Edge Comics" has been the best drawing book I have seen on the market by Chris Hart in a long time. Totally blows his other books away! How ever, it's more for ppl who already know how to draw human anatomy...a.k.a they don't show you how to draw the human body in motion like "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way." This book is def. like a book for ppl who are serious about going into the Comic Book Industry. It's a must buy.

Well, what can I say but Chris Hart has totally outdone his previous books! This book is an excellent source of information with art and tips from pros from company's such as Top Cow and Chaos comics. There is even a small section on coloring with a 2 page comic preview of Bad Kitty (Chaos) at the end. The best book on the market I have ever seen. I myself am a freelance comic book artist and I give this book a 5/5!

An accessible reference point, Drawing Cutting Edge comics is not a how-to book. For the most part, Hart tends to touch on topics without actually elaborating on them(as if he is writing because he has to and not simply because he wants to). From a reference vantage point, this book contains excellent material on basic anatomy and facial structure--including an extensive section regarding the face drawn from varying angles, etc. Also helpful for both beginning and advanced artists is the four page spread on drawing hands and feet in different positions. Hart attempts to present a comprehensive chapter on drawing more seductive females and will again this is good reference material, realize that Hart's females are simply cookie cutter models. You'll notice he uses the same body types and faces and only changes the hairstyle and costume. While it's a good section for those beginning to draw female comic characters, you'll need to keep in mind to create a more diverse selection of characters in your own work. Beyond that, the remainder of the book is basically Hart's take on creating unique characters. Yet again, while there are some good learning tips to be found, his characters are anything but unique and it is better to focus on your own creations while perhaps using Hart's illustration as a rough guide. Roughly one-sixth of this book is dedicated to "interviews" with artists, etc. which unfortunately fall short in that they only tell you what you already know and don't shed any new light on breaking into the comic world. At the end, there is a noteworthy selection on transforming comic book characters into tv animation characters. So in conclusion, while this book is not the pinnacle of artistic instruction, it does provide reference for several key elements of the trade.

Sorry. It's rather typical, I'm afraid. It's a collection of obscenely-muscled male hero stereotypes, and barely-clothed babes with [a]giant [chest], skin-tight outfits and bare midriffs and absurdly-low pants (starting right at the cover). No doubt they're sexy, but I wouldn't call it "cutting edge." Rather, it's dead-center in the middle of comic cliches that abound on any comics store shelf. While it's fun to draw and gaze on such hypersexed creatures, there's a weird feeling of adolescant bedroom horniness about it all. When are we going to see truly "cutting edge" characters who aren't all imitations of the same body with different heads and costumes?

Your better off buying your favorite comic books then buying this book. Problem is he's trying to adapt to the Marvel House of style. You don't need extream foreshortening to be a good line artist. The book was rushed and done for money. There is a DC comics book out there with Klaus Jansen and Draw magazine published by twomorrow is a better bang for you buck.

This book is a ... , trust me when I tell you that you will learn very little out of it , it has lots of pretty samples but it is not enough to teach , there are no tutorials , no step by step and hardly any informative text . For example the coloring section shows the inks and then the finished colors next to it - that's it .

You can learn just the same by looking at comics , I was very disappointed from this book . ...