Tags
anatomy, art, drawing, figure drawing, head, how to draw comics the marvel way, John Buscema, lessons, Stan Lee
The following pages from How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way demonstrate all the essentials of drawing the human head. These breakdowns resemble the ones we looked at in yesterday’s Bad Girls figure drawing lesson. But, they go more in depth: more poses, more character types, and more comparisons of the highly idealized male and female faces.
I am an artist. The biggest, greatest, most dynamic lessons I ever learned came from the book “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”.
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I am 63 years old. Since I retired, I am having the time of my life drawing, painting, and viewing great artists like John Buscema. The only hitch is you read that they have passed away. It makes me real sad. I also have the dvd, and sometimes I see him on youtube. My greatest thrill is when I see him and others like him using the pencil in the roughs. I hope heaven exists so I can draw and paint with them.
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Thank you for dropping by and commenting, Joseph. Yes, this is a great book. The more I get into drawing, the more I pick it up as a reference. The lesson on dividing up the human body into units equal to the head size proves especially useful. Figure drawing is a challenge, and Buscema often comes to my rescue from beyond the grave through this book.
For Marvel Comics fans in general, not just artists, this book offers a great analysis of the “house style” at Marvel. It was pioneered by Jack Kirby, who did many layouts and rough pencils for other artists credited in the books. Buscema later became one of the most prolific layout artists, preserving that unified style after Kirby.
Arguments about artist credit aside, the point is: Kirby’s visual sense unified the Marvel style of the Bronze Age. John Buscema took it and ran with it, codifying it here in a way even non-artists can appreciate. After reading it, you can easily see how Herb Trimpe and early Barry Smith (and so many more) conformed to that style. There was definitely a “Marvel Way,” and this book breaks it down in an entertaining dialogue.
Happy sketching!
M
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I wouldn’t call my comments “wisdom” just the best I can do. God bless you all. I hail from Malta which is in the middle of the Mediterranean south of Sicily.
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