Customer Reviews

Drawing Sexy Women

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

There is no doubt that Thorne is one of the most gifted comic artists around. More is the pity. Given his increasingly meager output in recent years, this long-awaited book was a huge disappointment. His sketches and anecdotes are fine, but not worth the 90% of this thin volume. The how-to section is what every fan of Thorne's would be most interested in. This "instructional" chapter looks like a direct rip-off of "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way" (a much better investment). Aspiring comic artists should also pick up Joe Kubert's new book. For Shame, Frank!

I bought this "book" thinking it'd add something to my training in drawing comics, but this is not just an awfully written book, it is also one of the clumsiest and clichéd drawings I've seen in other self-help books, not that this one is one of those. For more than 70 pages the writer rambles about women and what they are to finally give us extremely general rules or advices on how to improve your drawing. ANY other similar book that you can find will be of much more help than this one.

It wasn't what I was thinking it would be.

Instead it is a facinating look into Frank Thorne's life and his remembrances of women. A view into the things that shape the artist.

If your an artist, or comic professional, or want to be it will be worth the look.

If your looking for an instructional textbook look elsewhere.

I've been a fan of Frank Thorne's artwork for decades. He's probably best known for his work on Red Sonja for Marvel Comics and Moonshine McJugs for Playboy, but he also drew several syndicated comic strips during the 50s and 60s, and even then, he had quite a reputation for drawing beautiful female characters. Drawing Sexy Women has the subtitle of Autobiographical Sketches. Indeed, the book is an illustrated narrative of Thorne's long artistic career. Besides being an incredibly talented illustrator, he's a great storyteller. His recollections of childhood are amusing and touching, and his account of meeting the famed pin-up model Betty Page is a total treat, as are the chapters involving Red Sonja's rapid rise in popularity in the late 70s. At the end of the book, there's an eight-page chapter of Thorne's drawing technique, so if you were expecting an entire book of "How to Draw" sexy women, yes, you might be disappointed. Personally, I think aspiring artists could learn a lot just from studying Thorne's sketches, and Drawing Sexy Women offers plenty of material for study. Except for a few chapter breaks, every page features new sketches by Thorne (there isn't a single previously-published piece in the bunch). For that reason alone, this book is an absolute must for fans of illustration and comic art.