Customer Reviews
The greatest intoduction to CARTOONING ever written 
2006-12-14
"Cartooning the Head & Figure" --by Jack Hamm
Artist and Christian minister Jack Hamm passed from this world at the age of 81. He illustrated the notable cartoon strip characters "BUGS BUNNY" and "ALLEY OOP" early in his career as an artist. He wrote and illustrated over 25 books on drawing. He pioneered an early TV show on drawing instruction in the Dallas/Houston Texas area.
I admit I am not an expert on fine art, but after reviewing many books which teach beginners HOW-TO-DRAW, it is my sincere opinion that Jack Hamm is the finest instructor America ever produced. Hamm almost never composed text, or used wordy explanations about drawing something. Hamm drew you a picture or series of pictures and showed how it might be done. He did not do this ..."sometimes" in his books. Hamm did this ALL THE TIME, whether it was cartoon figures, seascapes, landscapes, or drawing the human figure.
That is why any effort to list all the contents of his book, "CARTOONING THE HEAD & FIGURE" staggers the human imagination. I might be sitting at the computer for several hours, just listing the contents. Hamm shows how to draw every possible human emotion. Pages 22 & 23 alone are specific instructions in how to draw particular parts of the face to yield a human feeling.
The amazing thing is, Hamm is offering a book not only that adults can use; rather, Hamm is offering a book that CHILDREN can use. This book is in a class by itself, just as is Hamm's classic on drawing the human figure. Hamm's books are one of the richest treasures ever produced on American soil.
Effective and Enjoyable 2006-11-05
We learn to draw for several reasons. Animation, 3D modeling, illustration, painting, draw cartoons, write comics books..or just for the fun of it..and we stumble into cartooning sooner or later.
In order to use something, first of all we need trust, and we should try honestly. couple of years back after buying this book, and after spending some time trying to copy some of the drawings, I put it aside saying this is for some non serious people. I went on to learn from Kimon Nicholaides, Glenn Vilppu, Loomis and the lot.. true life drawing though challenging can be rewarding. It was a difficult path, consumed lot of time, but grew my confindence.
The key is confidence. getting rid of that shakiness, the doubt about the "correctness" and so on..and quite frankly practice is the only tool that will build us confidence.
Kimon's book taught that. just boldly and confidently scribble your way to learn drawing. mistakes after mistakes takes us closer to where we want to go,and one fine day we would have shaken off all that doubt and our pencils will start drawing what we want them to.
Glenn Vilppu is another master teacher, his DVDs and his Drawing manual are Gems! you can spend that money just to learn how to hold that pencil properly..seriously.
Recently I dusted out 'Cartooning the Head and Figure' from my closet, and boy! I found a treasure. this book is so densely made, it needs some real overall plan of approach to make good use of it. Plenty of step by step approaches to achieve individual results are presented.
It has all that you ever need to create your cartoons. and so simply and clearly made.
We just need to spend time at each step. practise.practise.practise..and one can very quickly gain confidence in cartooning. When Jack presents us a 100 different noses, we need to *use* them on our own figure.. when he presents us countless numer of expressions, we need to *build* them on our own figure.
The large collection of different artifacts needed .. heads,eyes, brows, eyeglasses,noses, mouth, moustaches, hats,hairstyles, expressions, heads,hands,feets,bodytypes,dresses.. Wow!! It is truley encyclopedic in some sense. We just need to *use* them properly to learn it all.
I would suggest that we should prepare our own sets of exercises based on our interests, maybe develop a set of characters, first just the face and then apply all these to them, example, create a character..with specific headtype,eyes, nose mustache etc.. and then apply those endless expressions on them.. amazing, how effective and enjoyable this book becomes.
The key is to study the drawings to seek the differences in styles, expressions and to effectively apply them. There is no copying..only analysing and re constructing..
Nowadays I keep this book at my bedside, and before going to sleep,draw a few based on this book. so much fun!
Great book 2004-09-16
Learning to cartoon and draw caricatures can be a daunting task, but the late Jack Hamm makes it all come together. From dozens and dozens of facial expressions and basic anatomy, animation and advertising, even political and editorial cartoons, the artist takes you step by step the world of drawing "funny pictures". Regardless of style or genre there is plenty to learn here.
Excellent! 2004-09-07
I own most of Mr. Hamm's books now and all of them are excellent.
Some caution though for comic book artists wannabes, this book
doesn't teach you action oriented cartoons. Get "Action!
Cartooning" by Ben Caldwell instead.
However, Mr. Hamm's book is a classic because it's not just a
how-to book but rather a book founded on good art principles
considering Mr. Hamm isn't just a "cartoonist" but a true
artist.
Get this book! You won't be disappointed.
A must for people learning illustration 2004-05-03
I think I've read this book more than 100 times. It is one of my favorite references for illustrating the human figure.
a classic; old-school style 
2008-06-15
Exhaustive variations, small printing and illustrations, pages jam-packed with examples. Good for the price; some readers will probably prefer a more modern volume. Talented author. Worth a look.
Cartooning the Head and Figure 2008-05-08
This the best cartooning book around. A classic. A must for entry level cartoonist or professional.
Hamm! 2008-01-09
I'm always looking for the perfect book of whatever variety, & speaking as a former library employee, a cartoonist & art teacher, Jack Hamm has written THE book on cartooning. It is so packed with examples & not so much text, as it should be, it has tips & then TONS of examples. The style ranges from early American cartooning style to 50s/60s modern style. Fantastic examples of different expressions, hand positions, walking positions, drawing women, all of it. All good. If you want a great guide for old fashioned American cartooning, this is the one to get. Then get the Preston Blair book from Walter Foster.
Great reference 2007-12-05
This book is full of great ideas and tips. There's plenty for the beginner, like little tutorials on highly-stylized eyes or noses or mouths, or straightforward examples on common poses, but it's not just a book for beginners. There are a lot of highly-finished drawings as well, and examples of moving from simple to more complex drawings. Plus tips on various penciling and inking techniques, and various cartoon genres. All in all, there are literally thousands of examples and sketches, enough material to keep anybody busy for a long time. I've pulled this book down from the shelf more often than any of my other numerous drawing books, and I've filled page after page with exercises based on the material. A classic and worth far more than its price.
An amazing book 2007-12-03
If you're a cartoonist this is a book you have to have. It has been in publication for quite a while but nothing better has been created in the way of a great, all-purpose reference book. I've gone through a couple copies of this book and no matter how many times I looked at it I was still able to come up with ideas. Whether you're just starting out or have been doing cartoons for years you should have a copy of this book.
