Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators, Second Edition (Paperback)

~ Mike Mattesi (Author)
Key Phrases: forceful shape, forceful form, directional force, Mike Roth

Editorial Reviews

Review

'For animators or anyone exploring life drawing, this book is an inspirational choice.'
3D World, Feb 2007

'Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators, 2e is key to understanding how to capture forceful poses with dynamic drawing. It is informative, concise, and packed full of inspirational illustrations...Force is not just another 'anatomy for animators' book - it assumes that the reader has experience of figure drawing. The focus here is to build on that knowledge and to use straight and curved lines to show the direction of force in the body. Every point in the text is thoroughly demonstrated with the help of superb, dynamically drawn examples.' - Animated News, Oct. 2, 2006

Book Description

Animators and artists will discover and master the difficult techniques of rhythmic drawing - bringing their work to life!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 2 edition (September 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240808452
• ISBN-13: 978-0240808451
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,161 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #15 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Design & Decorative Arts > Graphic Design > Animation
  #21 in	Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Figure Drawing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STILL my favorite drawing book, September 25, 2006

By	Grant Beaudette (Missoula, MT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

My copy of the original edition of Force has seen plenty of wear and tear since I try to always keep it handy when I'm drawing. But that one's going into retirement for this new expanded version.

Rather than the complex anatomies of some books and the stick figure and cylinder creations of others, Mattesi follows the animator's axiom of drawing verbs rather than nouns. Capturing the dynamic motion of a pose that is the prime factor in an appealing drawing.

This isn't an animation book per se, but no one interested in animation or any other form of figure drawing should pass up the lessons Mattesi teaches. The benefits of conveying movement and sheer LIFE in a still drawing can't be ignored.

Also with this version coming from a bigger publisher in Focal Press, the overall image quality is far higher than the somewhat pixel-y look of the pictures in the original. Plus an extra 50 or so pages of instruction isn't too shabby.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what I was missing.., August 5, 2007

By	Fantasy Illustrator "rafodil" (Hattiesburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews

I have been illustrating professionally for 15 years. I am self taught, meaning I rely on books and the advice of my peers.
I've always noticed there was some elusive thing that was usually missing from my figure drawings that made them less dynamic. Burne Hogarth's books were very helpful, as in Dynamic Figure Drawing (Practical Art Books). But they didn't teach me how to get into the flow. How to make them go POW!!
Remember those John Buscema roughs in How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way? I used to think that his talent was the ONLY thing that made his work so forceful. This book gives you the direction to feel out these forces and shapes. I used to think that these things couldn't be taught.
When Mr. Mattesi's lessons click in your brain, you are truly feeling this power.
For me it makes all the difference in the world.
Brian LeBlanc

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mattesi is a pro. , February 18, 2007

By	Timothy Moen "Tim M." (NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book definitely is an off-shoot of James McMullan's High Focus approach to drawing, although Mattesi discusses many of his own concepts as well. It is similar to High Focus in that it teaches its readers: to see the figure as being made up of three dimensional forms, to use the all important hierarchical approach, NOT to just copy the figure using measurements and negative space estimations, to feel the forms as they are being drawn, and view drawing as a very interactive experience. It is different from McMullan's approach in that Mattesi strongly emphasizes the importance of finding directional and applied "forces" (hence the name) throughout the figure. This becomes a very important concept for animators because of the nature of animating. In the figure drawings, the forces, the squashes, and the stretches are all exagerated, just as an animator has to exagerate his or her key drawings in this manner. Also, the drawings in the book tend to reflect Mattesi's background in animation, whereas McMullan's drawings are more realistic. I believe this book is written specifically for animators. However, the classically trained artist has much to learn from this book as well.