Learn to Draw Comics [Paperback]

George Leonard Carlson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2002

This user-friendly guide from the 1930s offers aspiring cartoonists a wealth of practical advice. Rich in period flavor, it supplies the ageless foundations of comic art. Abundant illustrations and clear, nontechnical prose cover: creating expressions, attaining proportion and applying perspective, depicting anatomy, simple shading, achieving consistency, lettering, and writing a strip.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (October 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486423115
• ISBN-13: 978-0486423111
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,163,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Drawing > Specific Objects
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Pop Culture
  • #89 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Cartooning

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, Concise, and Rich from the Golden Age, August 3, 2008

By 

Ganapathy Subramaniam (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learn to Draw Comics (Paperback)

There is always something about vintage things. When something defies its aging, defies time itself, then there ought to be something special about it.Not just because something is old, it can become special, but the fact that out of a possible collection, or competing group of things, when one survives the time and stays alive for generations, then it becomes special.

Also, it seems in the good old days, people were more systematic,strived for precision, accuracy, a hard desire to drive the truth clearly. some achieve this by being verbose, some being very concise.

Learn to Draw Comics, by George Carlson is certainly one special item. first published in 1933, its such a gem even today. It takes the concise route. I got a copy of the book recently, and since then I am loving it.

His style is simple and clear, something reminding us of Herge and his Ligne Claire(The clear Line), did he read this book?.

The book teaches us how to draw comics in under 60 pages. Here are some of the key topics covered..

Drawing the Head and Expressions,the author prescirbes a simple method to draw the head in different poses, the various elements of the face and some variations in the features of the face.

Then he presents us with 16 facial expressions, very clearly made. they are Joy-contentment, Pleasant surprise, Laughter, Grief-worry, Weeping, Anger, Determination, surprise, Fright-terror, The yawn,Stupidity, contempt, the wink, Discomfort, Hauteur,and Blank Wonder. Then he illustrates these on several faces. beautiful stuff. I think using these we should cover majority of situation in any scene.

Then the Figure is taken up. Simple figure construction, method of drawing action of the figure, various examples of everyday activities. Different character types are shown.

Then a bit of perspective, Effects, Shadows,silhouette, Composition etc.

Animals are taken up next, comic versions of barnyard, pet and wild animals are shown how to construct.

Carlson concludes by telling how to create comic strips and how one gets it published.

This must have been a treasure in the hands of budding artists during the Golden era of comic creation. It is no less a treasure today.

Though each individual topic is an ocean in itself, for example figure drawing can be a life-long learning process, the book presents all essential artifacts needed, and with practice of what is in the book, one can very simply and effectively learn how to draw comics.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, January 9, 2010

By 

Bombina "bombina" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Learn to Draw Comics (Paperback)

Great little book.Clearly written and illustrated information on drawing cartoon characters.I make automatas and this book was a great help to me.

4.0 out of 5 stars good easy book, December 24, 2008

By 

Cynthia Schmittou - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Learn to Draw Comics (Paperback)

This is a good book for learning to draw comics on the basic level all the way up to advanced. I would recommend it to a friend.