Fun with a Pencil

by Andrew Loomis

Book by Loomis, Andrew

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction, Reference, Art Design, Design, Comics

121 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 1939

About the author

William Andrew Loomis was an American illustrator, author, and art instructor.

Reviews

[রিফাত সানজিদা · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a true helpful guide for the beginners, who have interest in illustration. The way of showing the basic techniques is so easy indeed.

And yeah, making lines & images on paper with a pencil is always fun to me. :)

[Kalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Andrew Loomis. All of his books are brilliant. Reading this book was an excellent first step into understanding how cartoons can be created by breaking them down into simple forms and exaggerating their various proportions. I loved the section on facial expressions and how he encourages drawing from the imagination through the use of the basic construction framework. He also shows how the framework of a cartoon relates back to a traditional figure which piqued my interest for further understanding.

This book was also my first look at the Loomis method of constructing the head, which I will be learning more about as I read his other books. My main criticism is that this book is labelled as a book for beginners, however the content gets increasingly more difficult towards the end of the book when Loomis dives into complicated perspective and shadow construction drawings with little explanation to aid in understanding them. There are so many lines in these drawings that any beginner would have no idea what they are looking at. Aside from that, the content in this book is still 5 stars and the book's main focus is on having fun, which should be the reason you started drawing to begin with.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Класична книжечка від Енрдю Луміса про рисунок "для чайників". Дуже класна структура, дещо старенька стилістика, але всі ідеї подаються тут максимально практично і з гумором.

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

~3.5 stars

A pretty good book with some fun lessons rooted in simple geometry and clear instructions. The perspective lessons at the end are a bit more complex, but they're still good instructions. I'd say back this up with other books on the fundamentals (including perhaps Loomis' other books on figure drawing), since formulaic lessons can become a crutch, but this book is still rooted in a lot of those basics, so you won't be lead astray.

It's unfortunately got some racist caricatures that don't at all age well, with a couple bits that might be sexist by today's standards, but maybe I shouldn't be that surprised, since this book is nearly 80 years old, and some of the 20th century's more brutal, trying lessons hadn't been learned yet (WW2 and its horrors were only just getting started, and the Civil Rights movement was still 15 years off) I call these things when I see them, but I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater with these older texts.

It's a quick book too, especially if you're just doing an initial read through. Less wordy and more pictorial than Loomis' other books. It's old, and I can think of some professors and professionals who might tsk at some of these formulas, but it still has some really good nuggets of knowledge.

[Camilasc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deceptive title.

This book is a gross liar in that it presents itself as a drawing book for "rookies".

Make no mistake, the drawing principles exposed here are extremely hard, and 70% of the illustrators of today do not draw this good...even those who went to art school.

This book covers how to draw with volumes , keeping proportion, technical perspective and shadow and light. Heavy emphasis is on the human figure (the most rewarding and challenging of subjects). All the principles are very HARD things to do, and mastering these concepts will require much* further practice after copying everything from the book.

All in all, a great tool for the artist that wants to move from the low intermediate to high intermediate.

-1 star for pointless racism (if you wanna draw the receding hairlines of middle aged white men, oh boy, do you have diversity *there* :/...).

[Alien Citizen · Rating 2 out of 5]

racist crap...well, racist anyway. This one includes lots of fun instructions on how to draw stereotyped forms of all sorts...from the librarian with glasses on the nose to the African-American man with lips the size of Australia. Yes, this book was written in the early 60s, I think. If that's enough excuse for you then enjoy the read...it's not for intermediate or advanced artists.

[Anelis · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun and very useful guide from a master
you will cringe with the casual sexism and racism though
proceed with caution

[Jordierocks94 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereleased in 2013 (along with another of Loomis' books, 2012 rerelease, Successful Drawing, 1951) this 1939 classic drawing / design book is a skill-building, principal-conveying fun resource for artists and creative types from all areas who seek to learn and master artistic fundamentals. Text us sufficient to introduce examples. Not dated at all to my POV.

Released by Titan Books, London, UK it's worth time spent in studying and performing exercises in each chapter. If you have budget, buy Fun With a Pencil now, learn skills, sell a few pieces from new skills, and continue studying with a purchase of Successful Drawing. That's going to be my approach as soon as my library won't loan these gems any more.

[Brian King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastialy authentic, endlessly useful

Andrew Loomis was one of the biggest influences in commercial art. His guidance will never be missed as long as you can find his books. This one is fun, but loaded with practical information on how to upgrade your feeble attempts to draw what want to illustrate your ideas. Andrew seems to genuinely want you to become proficient and maybe even even excellent as an artist if you catch the drawing bug. And you just might.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the principles seem simple, they are actually very powerful tools to learn how to correctly draw from life. I've always struggled with "seeing" the world as shapes and the examples were good enough to let me draw accurate representations of objects and people I see in my daily life. Now the struggle comes to draw from imagination.

[Siad · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's so cool that there's a book that just guaranteed teaches you how to draw. Like, if you still can't do it after this then you're making excuses. I really wish more of my friends knew how to draw, it's such a fundamentally good and simple thing...

[Lailatun Nadhirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ini kali pertama saya dengar nama Andrew Loomis. Apabila cari nama beliau di Internet, ternyata beliau merupakan ilustrator Amerika pada era 50-an. Bukan setakat melukis karikatur sahaja, malah beliau juga melukis potret yang sangat cantik dan realistik.

Saya agak suka melihat strok lakaran penselnya. Sangat kemas! Buku ini merupakan panduan langkah demi langkah beliau dalam melukis karikatur. Ia dimulakan dengan latihan membuat bulatan terlebih dahulu sebagai rangka. Sebagai ilustrator, saya akui bukan mudah hendak melukis karikatur. Buku ini sudah berjaya melatih tangan saya melukiskan karikatur dengan mudah.

Ada juga disediakan panduan melukis bayang-bayang, perspektif dan latar belakang susunan rumah. Agak menarik pada panduan melukis bayang-bayang kerana tiada ilustrator yang menyediakan panduan ini. Sangat-sangat membantu saya.

Saya perhati Andrew Loomis gemar memakai pensel yang mungkin 6B hingga ke 8B berdasarkan kehitaman lakarannya. Tidak pasti sama ada ia editing atau tidak, tetapi jika benar beliau memakai 6B hingga ke 8B, saya memang kagum. Tak ramai ilustrator berani hendak memakal 6B-8B dengan selamba sebegitu.

Sangat galakkan mereka yang meminati lukisan itu membaca buku ini.

[Loran (Inked with Curiosity) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun with a Pencil is a really awesome introductory drawing book for people who have little to no experience with figure drawing or basic techniques. Anybody could pick up this book and get a great grasp for how to start drawing and where to progress from there. Andrew Loomis's lessons are classic and simple to follow and provide enough structure to even encourage those people who don't think they can draw at all. The only downside to this book (and most of Loomis's books) is his personal style is extremely specific and a tad outdated and it can make modernizing some of his figure and facial drawings difficult. Also his technique is extremely realistic so if you are looking to do something more like animation then this might not be the best instructional book for you to start with. That being said anything Andrew Loomis does is classic and provides a pretty solid foundation for those who don't know where to start. I personally was way too advanced for this particular book and found it to be a little too silly and immature for the kind of art I create so I had to give it a lower rating. It's still a great beginner's book though and I don't regret my time with it.

[Cteavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading here that people don't think this is a good book for beginners, but I started with this book and learned how to draw well from the techniques.

I could barely draw a stick figure when I downloaded Fun with a Pencil, but Loomis' techniques of starting with a simple circle and building off it really set off something in me and I was able to draw crude -- but fun -- illustrations on the first day. At today's price point, which is free to next to nothing depending on where you look, it's a great book to start with.

[The_creeper02 · Rating 5 out of 5]

andrew loomis DEIDAD
dios mio, que criticas tan estupidas estoy encontrando, la mayoria se quejan de que este libro es "racista" y "sexista", en primera creo que estan exajerando un monton, si, el libro tiene un par de dibujos que pueden considerarse estereotipos pero tampoco es demasiado ofensivo o escandaloso, y lo de sexista no se que esperaban, es un libro de dibujo, hay que conocer el cuerpo humano si para ti el libro es malo por estas dos cosas en serio necesitas salir de internet un rato y tocar pasto.

[Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible instruction for beginners. The explanations are clear and easy to follow and can greatly improve someone's ability to draw people in a very short period of time. The section on how to draw cast shadows according to specific angles was difficult for me to understand. Here Loomis gets away from his casual way of communicating to the reader and into more technical jargon.

Overall great stuff. I wish I had read this before finishing his book "Figure Drawing for All its Worth".

[Suphatra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of why I sketch — it’s fun! I have been working through his exercises in this book and there is so much joy and fun in his work, unlike the tortured self-expression of some modern art instruction books today. Written in the 1930s, there is a wholesomeness to this book that reminds artist that creation is fun. Though a little complex to read, this would still be a good “rare book find” gift for a budding artist.

[M0rningstar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too incomplete for intermediates, too complicated for beginners. Good grasp of basic perspective is prerequisite. Results of figure drawings require at least some knowledge of anatomy, not possible with information presented in book alone.

[zz · Rating 4 out of 5]

cool book! very nice and simple visual introduction to anatomy and perspective, upped my doodle game magnitudes. it's also just fun to look through, the drawings and sketches have so much 20th-century character to them it's fun to see the creative process behind such charicatures.

[Nephrite's · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena guía, clara e interesante más aún si lo complementás con otros libros más enfocados en tus intereses (L). Para quien nunca dibujó, despierta el juego con las formas, la creatividad y los diseños posibles. Quizá tiene limitaciones y estereotipos de época, pero no lo hace un mal libro.

[kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great content as always. A must-read for beginner artists!

[Ambition · Rating 4 out of 5]

i can doodle now atleast lol

[Χρηστος Παλαιολόγος · Rating 5 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικές συμβουλές. Συστήνεται για όσους ξεκινάνε το σχέδιο.

[Darjeeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the racially diverse characters. Very inclusive:
https://archive.org/details/andrew-lo...

[Konstantine · Rating 3 out of 5]

ill admit that i dont necessarily love loomis for figure drawing, but his studies on the human head are probably some of my favorites

[Cecely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with a lot of fun and a welcoming tone. I definitely enjoyed it.

[Shaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good instructions for the absolute beginner artist on how to get started and have fun drawing. Minus one star for the racist caricatures included.

[Avien Chang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loomis starts everything with drawing little old guys, and it's fun! It also contains some perspective knowledge, which is really useful.

[Carson Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. This is a high-quality reprininting of an old classic (1939), and it's a joy to see the old art styles and follow along with Loomis's excellent teaching.

[Maché Myburgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and practical