A popular standard in learning to draw heads from memory...

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	• Drawing the Human Head (Practical Art Books) Burne Hogarth Watson-Guptill, 1989 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent!

I absolutely love this book. I learned a lot from it in a short period of time. Most definately I would recomend it to anyone who has an idea about drawing that is interested in drawing portraits.

A popular standard in learning to draw heads from memory...

...A popular, intermediate-level effort- It's definitely *great* for memory drawing, and it's recommended *mainly* for this reason...

In recent decades there have been 3 main teachers in learning to draw heads from memory. For cube-based construction we have George Bridgman. For ball/sphere-based construction we have Andrew Loomis. And for oval/ellipse-based construction, we have the famous teacher of the Dynamic Drawing series- comicbook artist Burne Hogarth. Many of today's Japanese animation & comicbook instructionals are using these very same principles, along with some of the teachings by the Famous Artists School. My current interest is in oval & cube-based construction, and it's exclusively *oval-based* construction that is emphasized in this book.
For me, the *best* section in this book is the 2nd of its 6 sections- which is oval-construction simplified. It's just 21 pages out this book's 160- but it's actually worth getting if you're interested in drawing from memory. The rest of the book, in my opinion, is mainly filler- to justify an entire book on this subject. In fact, Burne Hogarth's 1st book, Dynamic Anatomy, gives us a *very* brief intro into this exact same oval-based construction, and I think many people will prefer getting Dynamic Anatomy for this reason. I highly recommend getting the *original* version of Dynamic Anatomy- since I'm not a fan of the new, 'revised and expanded' version available today.

Really, the *main* sections in this book that seem interesting to me are that 2nd, 5th, and maybe 6th sections. In the 5th, many different head-types are depicted and compared, including about 30 specific ethnicities- giving this book a somewhat 'international' feel. The 6th section is a 'gallery' of heads as shown in ancient sculpture, as well as more modern western art. It's interesting information overall; just not really necessary in learning to draw heads from memory. In short: For *beginners*, I highly recommend Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm in addition to this. For everyone else, this book is *moderately* recommended.
P.S. For photo-reference of different ethnicities, check out Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference For Artists; also here on Amazon!

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A worthwhile addition to the reference library

I picked up this book while taking a drawing class on portraiture, and I found it to be an excellent supplement to the material I was learning in class. Hogarth takes the reader through the basics of measuring facial proportions, shadow and light planes, and anatomical details that are important to keep in mind when trying to draw realistically. While some of it may seem like overkill at first, with practice it becomes clear how paying attention to such small details (such as the various areas of light and shadow on a nose, or around the eye socket) can help improve one's ability to create a convincing human head in any medium of artwork.

There are reasons to be critical of the book, however. As my art teacher pointed out, Hogarth's illustrations are extremely high contrast, emphasizing light and shadow for teaching purposes much more so than they should be in a realistic drawing. Some sections are more filler than actual useful information as well, such as the "Gallery of Great Heads"; I could have used more detail on taking the anatomical information of the earlier sections and how to apply it to portraiture and creating a specific likeness.

Overall, though, this is one of the better books I've found on the subject and I do find myself using it as a reference when needed.

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Ok for measurements but not for technique

Burne Hogarth takes you through his technique of measuring human proportions. Beware, at times you will feel less like an artist and more like a mathmatician. Hogarths work is better suited to my sculpture than my drawing as he tends to show all the planes in his work as very defined surfaces. For a beginner trying to draw you can do a lot better.

Not for the weak of heart...

This book is excellent! This is first and foremost a book on drawing no fat, face composition "blanks" of human face types. This is the most complete basic face composition book out there. Changing this into a certain person comes later on. If you're looking for a book on how to draw certain people, this is not a book for you. If youre merely looking for in depth info on aging this is not a book for you. If you're merely looking for a book on how to draw faces simple and easy, this is not a book for you. But if you have the desire to know what the form is really like, not just lines, this is the book for you. The illustrations are to be understood, not to be copied. This book is for understanding, not remembering. It's logic, not like a phone number. An instant classic.

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