Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis
Head and hands are the most difficult of all drawing subjects but there is help! Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis is a reprint of the 1956 book of the same title.
Andrew Loomis was an artist/illustrator who taught at the American Academy of Art in Chicago in the 1930’s.
His books are full of so much knowledge and humor. His illustrations are impeccable and have taught me so much. They are beautiful renditions of people as most illustrators of his time portrayed. The book has helped me with lighting in my portraits. There is an illustration for nearly every type of portrait lighting and I look to this book for beautiful rendering and form.
Drawing the Head and Hands starts with drawing the skull then moves on to drawing different parts of the face. We then learn to develop complete portraits of men, women and children in a variety poses and lighting situations.. The book finishes with a chapter on hand again, showing many different poses.
Drawing the Head and Hands is available online to read in your browser for free by going to archive.org
Other books by Loomis are:
- Fun with a Pencil (1939). Reissued as a full facsimile of the original on April 5, 2013 from Titan Books.
- Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth (1943). Reissued as a full facsimile of the original on May 27, 2011 from Titan Books.
- Creative Illustration (1947). Reissued as a full facsimile of the original on October 12, 2012 from Titan Books.
- Successful Drawing (1951). Republished in a revised edition as Three Dimensional Drawing (16 new pages with technical material on perspective replacing the pictorial gallery sections) and reissued as a full facsimile of the original on May 4, 2012 from Titan Books
- The Eye of the Painter (1961).
I highly recommend any of his books as he is one of the greatest teachers of our time. Please let me know what you think of any of the Andrew Loomis titles! I hope this helps!
Sharon Morley, January 11, 2016
