How Not to Be a "Cover Band" Visual Artist


Artist Michael Mentler is know as The Bone Doctor for his knowledge of the human skeleton. He recently came to mind as I was struggling to draw the skull in the Watts Head drawing curriculum.

Awhile ago I downloaded an iPhone app of Mentler's book but the drawings and his handwriting were too small to be of any real use.

But after checking online, it turns out that he has a book and a video focusing on…THE SKULL!

Talk about synchronicity!

I immediately bought both and watched the section of the video related to drawing a frontal view of the skull (the video starts with the profile but it makes more sense to me to start with the front.)

This video shows clips from the lessons:



I'm still amazed that I found this just as I was struggling with this same topic!

The beauty of Mentler's approach is that he's taken the lessons of George Bridgman, Andrew Loomis and Robert Beverly Hale and combined them into a process of measuring accurately the drawing of the skull and skeleton, a method that works for him. Per Mentler:
"If you take any one master and try to follow that person exclusively, you become nothing more than a cover band for that artist. I don't care how well you play The Beatles, you're still a cover band for The Beatles."
Thanks to Mentler's skull measuring method, I am no longer aimlessly trying to learn how to draw the skull. Instead, I'm learning to draw the skull deliberately.

Since I have found no other method for accurately drawing a skull, I recommend Mentler's approach.

Do you have a method for drawing the skull? If so, please share in the comments. Thanks!

Watts Atelier Drawing Curriculum Temporarily On Hold



Working my way through the Watts Atelier Drawing Curriculum, I completed the Fundamentals section and eagerly started the Head section.

And immediately hit a wall!

The Head section begins with drawing the skull from various angles.

The problem I'm having is that the lack of a measuring system for the skull. I know how to measure when placing features onto the face but I don't know how to measure the placement of the parts of the skull to ensure that they're in the right place.

Since Watts is $99/month, I was happy to see that there's the option to put one's subscription on hold which I've now done.

Now I need to learn the skull.

I've been drawing from the model I have but there's been a nagging concern that I'm not really "getting it."

That's when The Bone Doctor popped into my head!

Michael Mentler aka The Bone Doctor

More about The Bone Doctor in the next post!

Artist Andy Griffiths is a Creative Illustration Fan!

Comic artist Andy Griffiths of toonskool.com made this video extolling the virtues of Andrew Loomis's "Creative Illustration."

Actually, Griffiths recommends ALL of  Loomis's books!

Watch his demo of Loomis's informal subdivision done in Manga Studio: