Editing by Design

Editing by Design

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Editing by Design: For Designers, Art Directors, and Editors–the Classic Guide to Winning Readers
by Jan White

This is an extensive book that deals with typography, graphic design, page layout, style, and the aesthetics of print design. Whether it is for a business card, a one page flyer, a poster, or a catalog, the author walks the reader through the principles of communication design. I highly recommend this.

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Oil Painting Secrets From a Master

Oil Painting Secrets From a Master

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Oil Painting Secrets From a Master
Prominent Artist/Teacher David A. Leffel Shares His Secrets For Making Professional-Quality Paintings
by Linda Cateura

While not as profound as Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima, there is a good deal of useful advice in this book. Whether it is an example of how he painted at the time it was written, or due to the editing of the author, it seems to me that this is a description of the method he uses when he paints. Richard Schmid’s book is more useful as the advice is not particular to one style, method or type of subject matter.

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Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist Stephen Rogers Peck

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Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist
Stephen Rogers Peck

This is a decent Anatomy reference, with not only illustrations, but photographs of bones and body parts, to aid in an understanding of form. It can also probably be found for a steal at Half Price bookstores, or used on Amazon.com.

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Books by Will Eisner

Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner

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Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative
by Will Eisner

Will Eisner is a legend in the comics world, and his books are classics on educating aspiring artists. In addition to comics or graphic novels, anyone involved in film story boarding or illustration could benefit from his insight.

 
Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist by Will Eisner

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Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist
by Will Eisner

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Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers

Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers

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Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers
by Marcos Mateu-Mestre

Although this deals specifically with comic art and storyboarding, any artist could stand to learn about composing compelling images and visual storytelling from this book. The author shares a lot of great insights.

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Visual Storytelling: The Art And Technique

Tony C. Caputo - Visual Storytelling

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Visual Storytelling: The Art And Technique
By Tony C. Caputo
Introduction by Harlan Ellison
Special Essay by Jim Steranko

This book offers a great deal of insight into the process of creating comics and graphic novels that could benefit anyone involved in telling stories, storyboarding, or illustration.

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Drawing the Head and Figure

Jack Hamm - Drawing The Head & Figure

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Drawing the Head and Figure
by Jack Hamm

This book is written much like a teacher’s sketchbook, filled with illustrations of basic principles of drawing, including proportions, anatomy, details about different parts of the body and how they are formed as they turn in space. The book is full of practical advice and useful tips, and is presented in a way that will appeal to artists.

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