Drawing Crime Noir. For Comics and Graphic Novels

Customer Reviews

Very Good Book

2008-06-02
Great tips for using expressions, postures and shadows. Package arrived in good conditions and on the expected time.

Crime Noir

2007-11-24
Great job of deveoping this genere. Hart, gets to the point-it is all about the mood and drama! His artistic ability to state the obvious shows that he dosen't mess around with the sissified PC crowd. Attitude with brooding emotion is what this life is all about and Hart is the master at pushing you in the right direction to capture this in your art.

Fair, but not great

2007-10-14
I've purchased a number of Christopher Hart's books on drawing certain genres and facets of comic books; as a self-taught artist, I'm always looking out for the next book to help me out. Paging through "Drawing Crime Noir" I was initially impressed, and decided to pick it up.

This book offers a number of interesting sections: discussions of character, clothing and accessories, drawing composition, and, of course, the all-important chiaroscuro shading. However, nice to look at as all of this is, little of it is really "teachable" - in other words, this book talks a good game, but frequently doesn't really "show" you, step-by-step, how to develop principles in creating your own scenes. Probably the most useful section is on drawing costumes for femme fatale characters - it will help a great deal those who are having difficulty drawing the more "cutting edge" fashions. Most disappointing is what one might think would be the most important section, the one on shading. It shows you some different shading options, but doesn't really delve helpfully in how to apply these principles across the board.

Overall, this is a well illustrated book, but it lacks a really hands-on, helpful tutorial style. Definitely for artists of the intermediate skill level and above.

Noir comics for beginners...

2007-10-09
Nice little intro to the concepts and style of crime noir comics. Covers basic fundamentals of drawing and mood for genre. Great for neophytes and novices. A little too specific in dictating the author's view of how the genre should be depicted. Overall a great little book that's fun and insightful.

A Book for refining your art knowledge

2007-09-27
Many images. Little explanation.
As another reviewer wrote, Watson-Guptill is very good at cutting cost in producing books.
Christopher Hart books are theme-centered books designed with publishers to titill you curiosity and your wish to study art.
His books are only complemental books. No foundation of study/construction here. Its marketing hype just like the almigthy marketing power of microsoft.
If you want to study art seriously, get the real bibles of Art by Andrew loomis.
1.Figure drawing for all it's worth
2.Drawing the Head and Hands
3.Successful Drawing
4.Creative Illustration
5.Fun with a Pencil
I would not be surprised if Christopher Hart himself studied from Andrew Loomis.
Beware though, Watson-Guptill has done it again!!!!!
The revered Drawing the Head and Hands has been trimmed to another book Drawing: The Head (HT197) of only 32 pages and
Figure drawing for all it's worth trimmed to Drawing: Figures in Action (HT191)
Get the genuine ones. They are pricey but it's worth every penny of your cash!
NB: It's a pity these loomis books don't have a 'search inside' facility.
Many students are passing by just because they can't get an evaluation of the contents.

Good but not Perfect Book on Crime Noir

2007-07-09
• Strong, cutting-edge imagery shows artists how to make crime pay
• Superstar author Christopher Hart explores a new genre
• Perfect for anyone interested in drawing for comic books or graphic novels

Aspiring artists, lonely, desperate—this is your chance to grab the gold ring of the hottest style around: noir. Windswept streets, dark shadowy figures, reckless women, gleaming pistols, men without conscience, boulevards of fear...they’re all here in Drawing Crime Noir. Extensive instruction, including a complete tutorial on how to turn an ordinary comic-book scene into a crime noir scene, shows how to create the moody world of noir, from using shadows to create intense moods and suspense, to drawing the swirling capes and cloaked faces of tormented superheroes; the trench coats and dark glasses of nihilistic antiheroes; the dark suits of mobbed-up politicians on the take and the hit men who keep order; and the form-fitting dresses and snakeskin shoes of the sexy women who would kill a man as soon as kiss him.

Really Captures the Mood. 2007-07-01
I bought this book first, and have since bought 4 of Chris's other books, so I like his stuff.

This book however is the best, perhaps its just because the characters are the most real, and Im a bit old for superhero's. But I think its more that for all the work I've seen, this is simply the most convincing. Every drawing in the book is worth doing a study of, and it really makes one wish Chris would pick up the challenge of pulling the characters he created for this book together in a story and venture a graphic novel of his own.

Chris presents some wonderful drawings in both their penciled and inked presentations. I prefer the Pencil drawings, but I tend to be biased that way, I prefer the subtly possible in pencil to the starkness of ink. Noir however uses a lot of Ink, really deep expressive shadows, and Chris displays a great mastery of the form.

Thank God... no shades of gray! 2007-06-10
First, this is NOT a how-to-draw book: this is a how-to-INK book. And a very good one. Second, you get eight different artists (including Hart), each with its own style. That's good. And third, no shades of gray, thank you very much: only pure black over the pure white paper. And that's... grrreat! And includes many pencilled drawings, for you to Xerox and try a good brush on them (for private use only, you understand. Never try to distribute, not even for free, copyrighted material).

I bought a book from Hogart, and another from DC comics, on the subject of inking. These are fine books, but for learning purposes, this one beats them all. And don't think that this book is good only for "crime noir" comics. If you take a look at "The Simpsons" (Bongo Comics) you'll see the same techniques covered here...

Book Title Should Read "Good Examples of Comic Art"... 2007-02-17
Honestly, that's what it is - a book full of nice examples of comic art, specifically dealing with noir atmosphere.

Same problem affects all books, written by Mr. Hart - they're amazing, if you will look at them as just coffee table books. Unfortunately, they're marketed as books that are supposed to teach you how to draw and it won't happen, judging by the fact that there are very few comments related to drawing process itself.

So 1 star for marketing, 4 (or 5) stars for pictures.

My advice is this - borrow it from the library, but don't spend 20 dollars on it, unless you want a coffee table book.

Drawing Crime Noir 2007-02-09
I was very pleased with the content. There are certain assumptions made regarding one's ability to draw. The content dives right into great techiques for this style of comic art. I think it is a great book for anyone with this interest.