List of Drawing Resources ( Books, Websites, etc)

Hi everyone! As part of my tutorial/academy series, I want to make this list of resources that have helped shape my career as an animator. This list is personal and only includes what I have tried, if you know of any other resources, please post them as a response!

This list will include books, websites, youtube channels, you name it. And I will start first with DRAWING resources, and then ANIMATION resources on a different post in the future. Why? Because I feel that the more you learn about drawing, the more you can achieve with animation. Plus with a good foundation in drawing, you can do more than just animation like: comics, illustrations, etc.

My list of books will have affiliate links to Amazon, so if you decide to order one from here, you will be supporting me as well.

So here I go.

DRAWING BOOKS

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hamptom  (AMAZON LINK) 

Probably the best and most updated book on human anatomy and how to understand it in order to draw it. Every part of the body it's deeply explained, and I love the use of color to separate each muscle on its own, making it easier to understand.

FORCE: Dynamic Life Drawing by Mike Mattesi   (AMAZON LINK)  

This book it's all about gesture and how to translate it into your drawings. Each drawing it's exaggerated, but it helps you understand that when drawing or animating characters it's important to see how the different forces in your lines can benefit to bringing life into your characters, instead of making them stiff and lifeless.

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis  (AMAZON LINK)  (FREE PDF) 

This is a public book that you can get for free. And it's a classic one.  This is probably the first drawing book I got and it gave me a good idea of what it takes to become a better artist and drawer. 

Drawn to Life by Walt Stanchfield (2 volumes)   (AMAZON LINK VOLUME 1 - VOLUME 2) 

I love these two books. Walt Stanchfield was a drawing instructor at Disney back in the day. And he used to make lectures to the artists at the studio. Each lesson that he wrote, over 20 years of work, is compiled in these books. They are full of great insight and a beautiful way to look at life and drawing.

Creating Stylized Characters by 3DTotal  (AMAZON LINK)  

It's the only book focused on character design that I have, but I love it. Several artists show their process of thought and drawing when designing a character for this book. I love all the different approaches and styles. It's super easy and fun to read!

Vilppu's Drawing Manual by Glen Vilppu (GOOGLE SEARCH)  

This is my personal and favorite book on drawing the human figure. It's the book that made me understand shape and form, gesture and rhythm and everything else. It's very hard to get a physical copy of this book since it's out of print. But there are several ways to get it by using google. I highly recommend this book to beginners.

Drawing websites

DrawABox.com - Can you draw a box? Most people would say yes, but their boxes would look terrible. This website's premise is very easy, but it tackles the most important aspects of drawing in general. It's free, it's amazing. If you want to get good at drawing anything, please visit this website and consider supporting it on Patreon.

QuickPoses.com - A reference website to do timed and relaxed practices of life drawing. If you can't afford to pay for live sessions with nude models, this is the best alternative that most artists around the world use.

Line of Action : Another similar site to Quickposes, in case you need more references.

Reddit L2D : A great subreddit for people who want to learn how to draw, where  you can upload your pictures and get feedback.

Drawing Youtube channels

Proko : The best channel on how to draw anatomy IMO. Maybe some of his videos are a bit too advanced, but it's good information nonetheless.

The Drawing Database : An entire public library on how to draw. It's amazing such a channel exists.

 AKIHITO YOSHITOMI : I discovered this one recently and I love it. A manga artist from Japan records his drawing process from start to finish. No commentary, no music, just the soothing sound of his pen and paper.

The Art of Aaron Blaise : The legend itself. Aaron Blaise has some amazing tutorial videos on how to draw from an animator's perspective.

And that's it. Those are some of my favorite books, websites and youtube channels for learning how to draw. I know several more but I wanted to keep the list concise and give YOU the option to suggest YOUR favorites drawing resources on the comments below.

Also, feel free to drop any questions about drawing you may have.

Thank you for your time! And if you are not a Patreon, please consider becoming one in the future ;)

- Moika off!