I bought How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema when it came out in 1978, and I think it might still be the best how-to-draw book I've used. It covers a lot of territory in 160 pages - perspective, figure drawing, action, foreshortening, heads and faces, and composition. I found the last section, composition to be the most interesting.
I lost my first edition, but it has stayed in print so in 2010 I bought a new copy. As far as I can tell, it is exactly the same as the original.
Amazon has it on sale right now for
$7.99




A light box is an excellent tool for illustrators. It allows you to place a sheet of paper with a sketch on it, then place another piece of paper on top of it, and trace the original drawing. A lot of artists do a pencil sketch on a sheet of paper, then use a nicer […]
Project Farm wanted to see if candle wax could be used as a penetrating lubricant to loosen rusty nuts, so he set up a rigorous test to find out. His conclusion – candle wax applied to a hot nut doesn’t help loosen it. It just won’t penetrate onto the bolt. He also tried special penetrating […]
Here’s a vegetable gardener who didn’t want to share his bounty with slugs and snails, so he strung an electric barrier around the perimeter of his raised bed garden. Anytime a voracious mollusk attempts to enter the garden, it must first crawl over a pair of electrified wires, where it receives a mild shock sufficient […]
The good news: Software like Adobe Premiere Pro, Camtasia and Final Cut Pro has opened up a ton of possibilities for desktop videographers. On the other hand, their use is so widespread that you have to be an expert in them before you can even think about a career in the field. That’s a requirement […]
There are a lot of high-tech drones and RC planes flooding the market lately, and the innovations are coming so fast on each new iteration, most of them forget one crucial thing: Flying these is supposed to be fun. Here’s an alternative that keeps that ethic firmly in mind: The Moskito Smartphone-Controlled Plane. This thing […]
There are few intellectual exercises better than a good game of chess against a capable opponent, which is why a lot of old hands at the gameplay it online. But there’s still nothing like the tactile thrill of moving a knight into checkmate. (Or sweeping the pieces off dramatically when you lose.) That’s why we’re […]