Fantasy Art Drawing Skills: All the Art Techniques, Demonstrations, and Short Cuts You Need to Master Fantasy Art
Entertaining and very practical - this is a guide which any fantasy artist will like on their bookshelves.  All the usual topics are covered - anatomy, perspective, backgrounds, movement.  What makes this book special is the way in which Socar Miles offers new insights and ideas - how to subvert reality and turn pictures into something slightly different, and how to tell a story within a picture.  She shows how to create unusual characters - a zombie dog, a bird queen, a royal toad and even give a tarot death card a new look.  The amount of information packed within the pages is incredible - ideas, suggestions and details.  This is a book for every fantasy artist no matter how skilled or experienced they may be.  Lots of short cuts and innovative ideas make this a reference book par excellance.-Monstersandcritics.com When a book gives itself the strapline, "All the art techniques & shortcuts you need to master fantasy art", it's setting the bar as high as it can get. So it's a delight to be able to say that this one clears it with room to spare. I've frequently said that fantasy art isn't my field, but there's a lot more to this than just elves and grottoes and, as a manual on drawing, particularly the human figure, it's spot-on. In fact, it's one of the best drawing books I've ever seen. The author has a sensitive style that captures personality to perfection, bridging the gap between super-detail and soft-edge in a way that suits her subject matter ideally. As well as the figures and landscapes you'd expect, Socar Myles looks at linear and non-linear perspective and the structure of the human body, as well as how to capture movement and develop character. There's an enormous amount here and I'd have no hesitation in recommending it to any artist, even if they know less about fantasy art than I do.-Artbookreview.net How do you turn the workings of your imagination into art? This new book on the technique, Drawing for Fantasy Artists by Socar Myles shows you how. Socar is convinced that anyone with a pencil and an idea can learn how to capture that idea on paper for others to enjoy. From basic draughtsmanship to exploring materials and techniques, the author describes the essential skill set that is needed. The book opens with a description of how you can get the most out of the humble pencil. This is followed by coloured pencils, technical and fibre pens and, finally, nibbed pens and brushes. Sections on paper, sketchbooks, digital media, finding inspiration, using reference material and drawing from life follow before Socar describes, in some detail, picture-making techniques, such as light and shadow, texture and patterns, perspective and composition. Chapter three look at anatomy, including face and features, hands and feet and non-human references. The book concludes by pulling all the strands together to help you to create concepts and characters of your own. The illustrations are superb and will have you itching to find out where your imagination will take you.-Leisure Painter Picking up this book I felt a little transported to a Tolkien world. The layout is that of a scrapbook at times and this gives what could be dry information at times a certain uniqueness. This book gives real advice and takes into account that the reader might not have much experience. Yet what can seem basic information gives tips that help the novice get an insight into how a fantasy drawing is created. Without realising the book has taken the reader through key terminology and given the ability to add words to concepts. This is a friendly book and rather than a troll I would consider it a friendly 'Hobbit'* of a book. *copyright Tolkien-Marian Carr, Bradford College--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.