Customer Reviews

Drawing Dynamic Hands

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been really struggling with learning to draw hands. The best help so far was Bridgeman's, but I was having serious problems nonetheless. However, this book by Hogarth kept coming up whenever I looked at reviews and recommendations.

I'd been avoiding the book -- I love Hogarth's illustration style, but I wondered whether it would be a serious art instruction book. Feeling a little bit guilty, I decided to look at it at a local bookstore before buying it at Amazon. I spent about five minutes reviewing some of the key concepts.

Bottom line: I made more progress on drawing hands in that one evening than I had in the previous week. I ordered the book that night. In order to qualify for super-saver shipping, I also ordered "Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery" also by Hogarth, and it was an excellent purchase as well!

While I have learned much from this book, and the esteemed Mr. Hogarth's other instructional books, I do have one gripe that potential buyers should be aware of.

It seems that this fine artist does not write for beginners. His style is obviously advanced, but so are his instructions. A new artist might not be able to avoid the feeling that he or she just isn't "getting it."

Mr. Hogarth teaches through excellent sketches and explanatory paragraphs accompanying some of those. The text does not always lead from A to B. Sometimes, it leaves B, C, and D out entirely and leaps straight onward to E.

Mind you, I strongly reccomend this book. However, I suggest that new students of the drawing arts do not rely on it exclusively .

...Right along with his famous, best selling Dynamic Figure Drawing, and the 1990 printing *original* version Dynamic Anatomy.

While this is in my opinion an attractive, *amazingly* detailed effort, I personally find The Book of a Hundred Hands by George Bridgman to be an easier & more effective work in its entirety. Both books deal with drawing from memory- drawing hands completely without a model.

Common praises(+) & criticisms(_) here:

+ ...amazingly detailed- in pictures & anatomy.
+ ...*crystal clear*, small-to-large sized, black & white drawings.
+ ...best-ever coverage of proportions & measurements.
+ ...the most comprehensive book on this subject to date.
+ ...helps a person discover many hidden aspects of hand construction.
+ ...covers all main actions, angles & views involving foreshortening.
+ ...males, females, kids, occupations & the aging process are depicted and described.

_ ...maybe *too much information*, too overwhelming & not all of it necessary.
_ ...hands often look too overly detailed, exaggerated & stylized. Maybe best for illustrators- not fine artists.
_ ...barely any coverage of female hands (just a few pictures).
_ ...*might* inadvertently make drawing hands more complicated than it needs to be.

Commercial & comicbook artists in particular often *love* this book. It's not necessary for everyone though- definitely worth considering!

Length:: 0:18 Mins

Drawing Dynamic Hands is a really good book on drawing hands. It explains almost everything you need from the form, structures, proportions, anatomical landmarks, functions to foreshortening. The illustrated examples are plentiful with hands in almost every humanly possible pose. There are so many to practice from.

The only problem with this book is the ridiculously muscular fingers in all the examples. We don't see this level of muscles even in superhero comics. But you already know that when you buy a Hogarth book.

This book is perfect for anyone who wants to draw hands. A general anatomy reference book is recommended as companion for those who cannot get pass the over stylized Hogarth style.

(Check out my Amazon profile for other books I've reviewed.)

Fists, guitar players, the effects of age on hands from pudgy little baby paws to veiny old ones. Covers the anatomy, including the veins which are sometimes visible, foreshortening the hand, and the effects of movement on the structure.

Not for the freshman artist who is still learning how to draw--anatomy books never are.

Dynamic Hands is the ideal book to learn how to draw hands and understand the structure of the hand and how it works in all positions. Well drawn hands and feet are extremely important for finished paintings and illustrations. I am a commercial artist and designer, but have worked for many years on non-figurative projects. I am focusing on figurative work again, primarily in the game, fantasy and science fiction field. My goal is to draw entirely from imagination without having to use reference material, and this book by Burne Hogarth and his Dynamic Anatomy is helping me to reach this goal. The illustrations are very well done with several important hand positions and range of motion diagrams. I highly recommend it.

Good book, when trying the hard art of drawing a human hand.

I ordered this book on the strength of readers' recommendations. Although I'm not interested in comic book or cartoon-style drawing, it's clear from the reviews that this book has helped quite a few people. I was prepared, as suggested by another reviewer, to keep an open mind. But despite my best open-minded intentions, by the time I got to page 31 on first viewing, I had to put the book down and take a breath.

There is just one Hogarth Hand. It is male. It has a very short palm and very long fingers, and the most bizarrely exaggerated knuckles you have never seen on a human being. Hogarth loves knuckles so much he moulds them into little hearts.

Another problem for me is the very heavy shading on a few of the illustrations. I'm already working hard to keep an open mind about those knuckles (and I haven't even mentioned the silicon-injected finger pads), so when I also have to peer through layers of ink to see what's going on, it can be hard work.

But despite all that it's an exceptionally useful book. The Hogarth Hand just has to be robust: by page 121 he's put it through just about every dynamic pose possible, and he's shown how to construct it from the inside out. I have identified the pages that are most useful to me and shall revisit them often.

I just don't feel like the illustrations give an accurate impression of hands. (And being a book about illustrating, the pictures are one of the most important parts.) The way things bend is unnatural, the shapes and proportions are wrong, and the overall impression just doesn't look like a hand. The "seven to eight years" hand (supposed to be the hand of a child) was the one that came the closest to looking like a normal adult hand to me. In some pictures I found it very difficult to tell the thumb from the little finger. That can't be a good thing. The anatomy may be technically correct, but correct anatomy is NOT everything. Giving the correct impression is vital.

You've got your own hands right in front of you. If you choose to use this book as a reference, please don't neglect the much more accurate reference material at the end of your wrists.

This book, like any instruction manual by Burne Hogarth, is beyond compare. He provides excellent instructions on technique and application. The samples are superb, and they offer outstanding reference for a multitude of illustrations. Two thumbs up!