(Part 2) Best arts & photography books according to redditors

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We found 47,990 Reddit comments discussing the best arts & photography books. We ranked the 17,779 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Subcategories:

Art history & criticism books
Individual artists
Collections, catalogs & exhibitions
Graphic design books
Business of art reference books
Arts study & teaching books
Drawing books
Fashion books
Painting books
Photography & video books
Sculpture books
Music books
Architecture and design books
Other art media books
Decorative art & design books
Vehicle pictorials

Top Reddit comments about Arts & Photography:

u/MeltedGalaxy · 364 pointsr/me_irl

Ok, now take note of what went wrong with your drawing and try again, and again, and again. Then after a few weeks go back and compare your latest drawings to this one.

The master has failed more times then the novice has tried.

If you want some resources, here are some youtube channels:

u/nmk456 · 335 pointsr/todayilearned

He actually came up with the idea for the movie back in 2005 and spent 9 years working on it, with several different directors and writers before Christopher Nolan. Check out his book The Science of Interstellar, it's full of information about the physics in the movie and the production of it.

u/JamesMercerIII · 237 pointsr/news

Many of them are Baby Boomers or Gen Xers who were exposed to plenty of education and critical thinking as they were growing up. However, there's the idea that in the information age, we are bombarded with so much information and stimulation that it is hard to begin to filter out the junk. It becomes much easier to simply pick a single source of information and label that as "trusted", than to be constantly scrutinizing all the information you get from everywhere.

This phenomenon was predicted as far back as the 80s, with the rise of cable TV and mass media advertising. There's an interesting part of a book called Amusing Ourselves to Death (https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X) where the author proposes that modern governments don't need to limit the amount of information their citizens have access to in order to control them. All they have to do is overload them with nonsense, making them unable to effectively process the quality information they do receive.

I am hopeful for the future, because our current generation was raised in the Information Age, and we've been exposed to this environment since our early years. We are more adept at navigating the internet, and therefore investigating the reliability of our sources of information. Our relative youth makes us less stubborn than people in their 50s or 60s.

u/icx · 111 pointsr/todayilearned

See if you can find The Science of Interstellar at your local library. I bought it and found it rather interesting that Kip found some genuinely clever ways that the physics could "work" for what Nolan wanted to achieve. Yes, creative liberties were taken, but not as many as you probably think.

u/dangerscarf · 106 pointsr/dataisbeautiful

Welcome to dangerscarf's school of data visualization!

Theory

Although you could just wing it, knowing some of the why's and why not's of data visualization will help put your creations an inch or two above the rest.

I highly highly recommend picking up Edward Tufte's The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. After you read it you'll be able to make jokes about inside jokes about pie charts and be everyone's best friend. On a first read-through it might not make too much sense, but once you start working on projects light bulbs will start going off.

Practice

These days the major thing to learn in the world of data visualization is D3. It's a big hunk of JavaScript code that can help with everything from drawing maps to making graphs.

If you want to learn D3 (which you now should), the best place to start is Mike Bostock's Let's Make A Map. The end result is a pretty boring map of the UK, but it steps you through the hows and the whys of every single piece of code. When I first started with D3 I could have saved myself a lot of headaches by reading it closely.

Once you get your feet wet, [http://bost.ocks.org/mike/selection/](How Selections Work) is great for clarifying some of the concepts behind how D3 deals with data display.

There's also a tutorials page on github, but the shortest and most efficient path to making cool visualizations is just plain copying. How to make great visualizations, in 3 steps:

  1. Visit http://bl.ocks.org/mbostock
  2. Scroll around until you find a couple examples of the kind of visualization you want to make
  3. Copy the code, then hack away at it until it does want you want

    Since you've already got some coding background you might be all set. JavaScript can be an insane beast at times, but if you start simple and from existing code you should get the hang of it without too much work.

    A Brief Introduction To Coding For The Web

    OK, so maybe you do need to learn a little HTML/CSS/JavaScript first. But let me stress the little - it's easy to get bogged down in the details, and the skills you need to edit a visualization to do what you want aren't exactly the same as when learning JS from scratch.

    Fundamentals: HTML, CSS and Javascript. HTML is the information on a page, CSS is what makes it look nice. JavaScript it what makes it move around or be interactive. JS is the toughest, while HTML and CSS are easy (the basics, at least).

    Go ahead and learn HTML and CSS from Codacademy first. I disagree with the way that every single place on the Internet teaches this stuff, but so it goes.

    Check out these recommendations or these recommendations for JavaScript. If you don't feel like reading through them I'll just blindly point you toward Codecademy - JavaScript track, jQuery track.

    Sidenote: jQuery is a big hunk of JavaScript that makes common web programming tasks easier.

    But really, honestly, truly, you should read the links that aren't Codacademy.

    What do I make visualizations about?

    Any time you hear something interesting or read an interesting article or just think, "could I make a visualization out of this?"

    Other resources

    Pretend you're a developer for a news organization. Read up on Source, Data for Radicals, and a million other things I'm neglecting. If you want to get real crazy subscribe to the NICAR email list to see how people who do "computer-assisted reporting" think.

    But honestly, just do it! That singles map was the very very first visualization I ever made, and 5 years later it's still getting plenty of traffic. Throw a bunch of nonsense up on a site, submit it to reddit, and eventually you're bound to have something work out.

    Good luck!
u/icefalldozed · 71 pointsr/IWantToLearn

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771/ref=nodl_

Every comic book artist has gone through several copies of this book during their career. It’s all you need to get started

u/Konwayz · 43 pointsr/politics

"The media" no longer exists to inform, it exists to entertain.

I highly recommend this book on the topic: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business .

> What is happening here is that television is altering the meaning of 'being informed' by creating a species of information that might properly be called disinformation. Disinformation does not mean false information. It means misleading information--misplace, irrelevant, fragmented or superficial information--information that creates the illusion of knowing something but which in fact leads one away from knowing. In saying this, I do not mean to imply that television news deliberately aims to deprive Americans of a coherent, contextual understanding of their world. I mean to say that when news is packaged as entertainment, that is the inevitable result. And in saying that the television news show entertains but does not inform, I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed. Ignorance is always correctable. But what shall we do if we take ignorance to be knowledge?

u/bube7 · 42 pointsr/photography

Read The Photographer's Eye. On the impact/price scale, it was probably the best thing I did for my photography.

Edit: Then go out and shoot of course :)

u/ranma · 42 pointsr/anime

(30+ years experience as a commercial artist, animator, broadcast designer and special effects designer speaking here. Plus I got into digital graphics back in the late '70s before anyone even knew what it was.)

The best place to start is to learn to draw. Anything else is a distraction and an attractive nuisance. Software is the least of your worries for quite some time. And even then, a cheap scanner or digital camera and some simple software are all you need to do a whole lot of learning.

And by drawing, I mean drawing from life. Find a life drawing class in your community if at all possible. I can not stress this enough. This may or may not be what your daughter has in mind, but it is like learning your scales to a musician. It's certainly possible to become a cartoonist without this type of training, but if you succeed you succeed in spite of the lack not because of it. I would say it is not possible to succeed as an animator without formal training. To become good enough to do this for a living, or even for fun, is a lot of work. But very satisfying.

Some books I recommend are:

  • _Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain_ by Betty Edwards

  • _The Natural Way To Draw_ by Nicolaides

  • _Figure Drawing For All It's Worth_ by Andrew Loomis (and back in print after 30 years for a very reasonable price! $25 at Amazon!)

  • Animation by Preston Blair. This is a Walter Foster How-To-Draw book and it is the best introduction to cartooning for animation. It is a very fun book, and very worth while, but don't neglect the other areas of study.

    When she gets a little farther along, get a copy of _The Animator's Survival Kit_ by Richard Williams.

    Edit: Your biggest expense isn't going to be software or computers, but time and paper and pencils. I recommend cheap printer paper, 8.5 x 11 and 11 x 17. Regular pencils work just fine. Get them at the office supply store. Better art supplies can make a difference when you are much farther along, but the main thing when starting out is to do lots of drawings, and make lots of mistakes. Ward Kimball, one of Disney's master animators used to joke that, "the first hundred thousand drawings are the hardest." And it's not really a joke.
u/Smartnership · 30 pointsr/todayilearned

He even authored a book called

The Science of Interstellar

u/notdanecook · 30 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Hey there! I'd like to consider myself a pretty experienced drummer, so hopefully I can be of some help to get you started.

If you aren't too familiar with reading music, I would highly recommend getting Syncopation for the Modern Drummer . It's a great starting book for reading music and familiarizing yourself with common snare & bass drum patterns that can be applied to the drum set.

If you want to learn more how to play the complete drum set, which I'm guessing you'd like to do, check out The Drumset Musician . It provides a basic intro to coordination and ability to use all your limbs separately. (One of my biggest struggles when starting out was forcing my hands and feet to not do the same thing at the same time on the drum set)

Other than those books, YouTube will definitely be your best friend, so don't be afraid to use it!

Best of luck to you, and I hope you end up enjoying the drums as much as I do!

u/OnlyTim · 29 pointsr/Art

Thank you! Here's a quick list of the ones I can recall. :)

Figure drawing - Michael Hampton

alla prima - Richard Schmid

figure drawing for all it's worth - Andrew Loomis

drawing from life - George Bridgman

Color and light - James Gurney

As for videos, a whole lot of youtube ones, specifically from these channels;

Bugmeyer

Feng Zhu

Stylusmonkey

and a few workshop videos by Whit Brachna, Brad Rigney and Donato Giancola.

hope it helps some. thanks for the interest! :)

u/zwordi · 26 pointsr/graphic_design

It would be truly «Swiss Style» if you did the following things:

  • Use a proper Grid system, align everything to it. Like /u/ponypebble said, this is a good starting point, for further info you could buy Grid Systems by the legendary Josef Muller-Brockmann.
  • Don't use lines to divide the content, it should be clear what belongs together from the placement of the text blocks (you can keep the line of the Logo as it comes from that)
  • Don't use as many font styles and font colors. Regular(or light) and Bold in white should suffice. Also keep the kerning consistent. Also you could change from a geometric to a more Grotesque Typeface (Like Akzidenz Grotesk, Neue Haas Unica, Helvetica, Univers, Akkurat usw)
  • Remove the transparent type in the background


    Don't get me wrong it looks really good and I like it as it is right now, that would simply make it more «Swiss Style» as the old Swiss Masters around that time used more or less the following principles:

  • Absolute Minimalism, only show whats necessary
  • Strong use of Typography, often experimental Typography
  • Strong, even rigid use of Grids, construction of complex Grid Systems. (For Example this Poster by Josef Muller-Brockmann)
  • Use of mainly Grotesque fonts

    I also just love the old Swiss Masters and geeked out a little, sorry. :)

u/sometimesineedhelp · 25 pointsr/pics

I upvoted you, but I want to add that I also used to make jokes to disassociate from the reality of what I was contributing to by eating meat, so one day several years ago I just stopped. It was a lot easier than I anticipated and the physical and emotional rewards of that decision have been pretty profound so I just wanted to encourage everyone who was disturbed by this picture (in the least preachy way I possibly can) to read the book "Eating Animals" and give this issue just a little more thought.

u/RedRedRoad · 24 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers


Comprehensive List of Books Relating to Music Production and Creative Growth

<br />


***


On Composition:

<br />


Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies - Dennis DeSantis
Amazon Link
This is a fantastic book. Each page has a general idea on boosting creativity, workflow, and designing sounds and tracks.


Music Theory for Computer Musicians - Michael Hewitt
Amazon Link
Really easy to digest book on music theory, as it applies to your DAW. Each DAW is used in the examples, so it is not limited to a specific program. Highly recommend this for someone starting out with theory to improve their productions.


Secrets of Dance Music Production - David Felton
Amazon Link
This book I recently picked up and so far it's been quite good. It goes over all the different elements of what make's dance music, and get's quite detailed. More geared towards the beginner, but it was engaging nonetheless. It is the best 'EDM specific' production book I have read.


Ocean of Sound - David Troop
Amazon Link

Very well written and interesting book on ambient music. Not only does David go over the technical side and history of ambiance and musical atmospheres, he speaks very poetically about creating these soundscapes and how they relate to our interpersonal emotions.


***


On Audio Engineering:

<br />


Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio - Mike Senior
Amazon Link
In my opinion, this is the best mixing reference book for both beginners and intermediate producers. Very in-depth book that covers everything from how to set-up for accurate listening to the purpose of each mixing and mastering plug-in. Highly recommended.


Zen and the Art of Mixing - Mixerman
Amazon Link
Very interesting read in that it deals with the why's more than the how's. Mixerman, a professional audio engineer, goes in detail to talk about the mix engineer's mindset, how to approach projects, and how to make critical mixing decisions. Really fun read.


The Mixing Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owinski
Amazon Link
This is a fantastic companion book to keep around. Not only does Owinski go into great technical detail, he includes interviews from various audio engineers that I personally found very helpful and inspiring.


***


On the Industry:

<br />


All You Need to Know About the Music Business - Donald S. Passman
Amazon Link
This book is simply a must read for anyone hoping to make a professional career out of music, anyone wanting to start their own record label, or anyone interested in how the industry works. It's a very informative book for any level of producer, and is kept up-to-date with the frequent revisions. Buy it.


Rick Rubin: In the Studio - Jake Brown
Amazon Link
Very interesting read that is a semi-biographical book on Rick Rubin. It is not so personal as it is talking about his life, experiences, and processes. It does get quite technical when referring to the recording process, but there are better books for technical info. This is a fun read on one of the most successful producers in history.


Behind the Glass - Howard Massey
Amazon Link
A collection of interviews from a diverse range of musicians who speak about creativity, workflows, and experiences in the music industry. Really light, easy to digest book.


***


On Creativity:

<br />


The War of Art - Steven Pressfield
Amazon Link
This is a must-read, in my opinion, for any creative individual. It is a very philosophical book on dealing with our own mental battles as an artist, and how to overcome them. Definitely pick this one up, all of you.


This is Your Brain on Music - Daniel S. Levitin
Amazon Link
A book written by a neurologist on the psychology of music and what makes us attached to it. It's a fairly scientific book but it is a very rewarding read with some great ideas.


***


On Personal Growth and Development:

<br />


How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Amazon Link
Although this seems like an odd book for a music producer, personally I think this is one of the most influential books I've ever read. Knowing how to be personable, effectively network, and form relationships is extremely important in our industry. Whether it be meeting and talking to labels, meeting other artists, or getting through to A&amp;R, this book helps with all these areas and I suggest this book to all of you.


7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
Amazon Link
Similar to the recommendation above, although not directly linked to music, I assure you reading this book will change your views on life. It is a very engaging and practical book, and gets you in the right mindset to be successful in your life and music career. Trust me on this one and give it a read.


Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Amazon Link
You know the feeling when you're really in the groove of jamming out and all worries tend to slip away for those moments? That is the 'Optimal Experience' according to the author. This book will teach you about that experience, and how to encourage and find it in your work. This is a very challenging, immersive, and enlightening read, which deals with the bigger picture and finding happiness in your work and life. Very inspiring book that puts you in a good mindset when you're doing creative work.


The Art of Work - Jeff Goins
Amazon Link
A very fascinating book that looks at taking your passion (music in our case) and making the most of it. It guides you on how to be successful and turn your passion into your career. Some very interesting sections touching on dealing with failure, disappointment, and criticism, yet listening to your intuition and following your passion. Inspiring and uplifting book to say the least.


***


Happy reading!

<br />



u/meepwned · 21 pointsr/Guitar

My suggestion is to learn on your own, and if you choose to go to college, pursue a major that has more profitable career options. Minor in music theory and invest your free time in practicing your instrument. Here is a reading list I recommend to start getting into serious music study and guitar playing:

u/nyxmori · 21 pointsr/learnart

IMO, the best way to start drawing is with a pad of unlined paper and mechanical pencil.

But if you want software: GIMP is free (yay), Photoshop is the well-known standard (and these videos are good), PaintToolSai feels more natural to draw with, and I just started using Mischief (which has a natural drawing feel, infinite canvas, and vector-based). My recommendation is Sai, since it's cheap, easy, and fun to use.

To learn how to draw people, start working through the Loomis books, beginning with Fun with a Pencil. A classic for learning how to 'see' like an artist is Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. And when you start to feel frustrated with your work, turn to Art &amp; Fear and Daring Greatly.

Let me know if you have any questions, and good luck with your art journey :)

u/NoddysShardblade · 20 pointsr/Music

Sometimes quantity leads to quality tho:

&gt; The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

&gt; His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A".

&gt; Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity.

&gt; It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

From Art &amp; Fear

u/thefryingpan · 20 pointsr/trance

DAW

So basically there's gonna be a few things you're gonna need. First and foremost is your DAW. I use and I highly recommend Ableton Live 8. It's powerful and versatile and works both in Mac and Windows. And once you learn the interface, it's pretty easy to get ideas down on the page. Plus it comes with a great set of built-in plugins.


SPEAKERS

The next thing you'll need is a good pair of studio monitor speakers. This is really important because you're gonna need to listen to the full audio frequency spectrum to get the mixdown of the parts of your track just right. You want studio speakers because they have a flat frequency response, unlike say most crappy desktop speakers. A good starting point is M-Audio. Check out their BX8a or BX5a Deluxe studio monitor lines.


SOUND CARD

To go along with that, you're probably gonna need a decent audio interface (sound card). I recommend getting a good external firewire or usb card. The company I like and card that I use is from FocusRite. Check out their Saffire 6 USB Audio Interface. You're gonna want a card that has outputs that will work with your studio monitor speakers. Most of them are balanced 1/4" or XLR connections. I recommend getting something with balanced outputs, as this will minimize any noise that might otherwise be created, and will assure you get the best sound out of your speakers.


SYNTHESIZERS

Next you're gonna want to invest in some decent synthesizers. As a starving college student, I don't have a lot of money to throw around myself, so I only have software synths, but there are some really excellent ones out there. These days, software synths are becoming more and more powerful and give hardware a real run for their money. Most of the soft synths made out there are in either the VST or AU format; these formats are pretty much the standard that basically all modern DAWs like Ableton will be fully compatible with. A couple of the ones I really like are:

Native Instruments Massive

Lennar Digital Sylenth1

U-He Zebra 2.5

U-He ACE

reFx Nexus

reFx Vanguard

FAW Circle

Spectrasonics Omnisphere

Spectrasonics Trilian

Arturia Minimoog V

GForce Software Minimonsta

FXpansion - DCAM: Synth Squad

Rob Papen's Virtual Instruments

One thing to realize is that most of these plugins won't run by themselves. You must run them in a host application, like Ableton to work. I find that this confuses beginners sometimes. You just have to make sure you setup whatever DAW you decide to go with, to look at a specific plugin directory, and then make sure you install all your plugins to that folder so your DAW can see them and they can be ready for you to use (not just your soft synths but other plugin units like fx for example).

As you can see, there's a lot of great synths out there, based on different types of synthesis. And for me this is a really fun aspect of trying to make music. I am still learning myself, as there is so much to learn, but I suggest you try some of those synths out, get to know them, and learn synthesis.

Synthesis is a whole monster onto itself, so I also suggest going online and searching for tutorials on youtube to help with that endeavor.

OTHER PLUGINS

As I briefly mentioned above, synths aren't the only types of plugins you will need in music production. There's other plugins that you will need to use like compressors, filters, equalizers, vocoders, distortion unit, gaters, chorus, and delays and reverb to name a few crucial ones.

There's a whole world out there of these type of plugins, with many great people/companies making some AWESOME plugins. In fact, there are WAY-TOO-MANY to mention here. But alas, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I will list a few, in no particular order, that you can check out:

Audio Damage

PSP Audioware

FabFilter

Togu Audio Line

u-he's Uhbik

2CAudio

Studio Devil

WAVES

Camel Audio

Sugar Bytes

SYNTHESIS

Most synths will come with presets. Again, the fun for me is trying to come up with my own patches and sounds, but at first, some of those synths will look like spaceship control consoles. But I promise, once you learn some of the basics of synthesis, most of those synths will have the same basic functions that you will immediately recognize. So when you first start out, go into those presets, and instead of just simply using them in the parts you write, go into the synth, pick some presets that you like, and try to figure out how those patches were made. Play around with the settings and knobs and see how the sound changes. This will help you translate sounds that you might come up in your head, and then translate them "to the page". I could go on forever about synthesis but I've just hit the tip of the iceberg.

MUSIC THEORY

So do you have to have a degree in music to make electronic music? While it certainly helps, you don't need to know music theory to start making electronic music. Honestly you just need to have a good ear. Also, you will need patience, and dedication, because it's not going to come overnight. There's a lot of established electronic music producers out there that started out with basically little background in music theory. You just have to stick to it, and learn on the way!

If indeed you know little music theory and you're just starting out, a great book that I suggest you pick up RIGHT NOW if you're at all serious about starting production is Music Theory for Computer Musicians. It's ~$20 on Amazon. FTW!

MIDI CONTROLLER

Now, the next thing that really helps to have around in your studio, is a good midi controller keyboard. Now with most DAW's you'll be able to write midi parts out just by the click of your mouse, but trust me, this isn't really fun. Having a midi keyboard makes your life, a whole lot easier, it's more fun, and you can get parts down faster onto your DAW. You won't need anything too fancy. I suggest looking at the M-Audio Axiom line of keyboard midi controllers. The 49 key ones are nice ;)

SAMPLES

Now, some people like to create their own percussion elements. Whether by recording their own sounds, or tweaking the shit out of existing samples they might already have. This can be time consuming, and when you're just starting out, you just want to get ideas down. Since you're starting out, and you said yourself you just wnat to start making the beats you hear in your head, I'd suggest looking into getting some solid percussion sample packs. You're not gonna be at the level of making your own, so you're gonna need a little help when you start out. And many established producers use percussion sample packs which will have many single shot drum samples of kicks, hats, snares, claps, fx. Some packs will have loops, but I generally stay away from them. I suggest using the single shot sounds, and try and create your own loops from scratch. The place I like to go to get some solid packs are

Loopmasters

Vengeance Sample Packs

OTHER RESOURCES

Another good resource is COMPUTER MUSIC Magazine. It comes out every month, from the UK, so go to your nearest chain bookstore, because they're bound to have it. CM has great articles and tips, and reviews on the latest software and hardware that's coming out. They also have great interviews, and it also comes with a CD that comes with a lot of good free and trial software that you'll find useful. There's also usually a video interview from a top DJ/Producer/Electronic Artist which are always really insightful and great resource as you can see the perspectives of music making straight from other artists themselves. For these interviews, they'll usually go explain and show you how they made one of their tracks; like I said, an awesome resource from which you'll get some great tips.


IN CONCLUSION

I hope that what I've written you will find useful, and will be a good starting point. If I think of something else, I might yet add it here. And of course like it's been said, you just gotta go in your DAW and FUCK AROUND; that's the only way to get better - through PRACTICE. And go to places like YouTube and search for production videos. You'll find some good tutorials from which you'll learn some good tips, synthesis, and production techniques.

If you stick to it, dedicate yourself, you'll get there in no time. You're gonna find yourself making those beats you hear at night in your head, and turning them into reality.

EDIT: Added Music Theory and Other Plugins section :)

u/tr1207 · 19 pointsr/circlebroke2

Absolutely. There were people in my drawing and live study classes from all different skill levels w no judgment (unless you acted above it all)- my pal was an absolutely amazing sculptor and literally could not draw a woman for shit. The curriculum usually works from the ground up in terms of learning perspective/ shapes/ theory if it’s not an advanced class, i don’t think a professor would expect you to come in knowing all that.

If you’re interested in landscapes, imo taking a watercolor or oils class is also helpful- the loose wrist motions associated with it lend well to depicting nature. If you’re interested in people taking a sculpture class can also be helpful- understanding the body 3D helps so much with correct poses and proportions in self drafted drawings. Figure drawing design and invention is my favorite book for self teaching and practice also.

u/hufnagel0 · 19 pointsr/politics

If you're not already a fan of Amusing Ourselves to Death, you would be. Postman really lays out how form dictates content, and the depth of that content. And he was hitting this nail on the head decades ago. Great read, if anybody hasn't read it.

u/Dr_Terrible · 19 pointsr/photography

My triumvirate of intro photography texts:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

Langford's Basic Photography by Michael Langford et al

u/mcdronkz · 19 pointsr/photography

The most important thing that 99% percent of the photographers don't seem to know: if you want to make good photos consistently, learn the fundamentals.

Because a photo can be made in an instant, a lot of photographers work intuitively, without making any informed decisions about their pictures whatsoever. This is why a lot of photos taken without any training aren't appealing.

If you learn about composition, color, light, etc. like an illustrator or a painter does, you will be able to make repeatable successful photos. In the beginning, you shouldn't be overly concerned with sharpness, depth of field or your equipment. No, you should be concerned with how your photo looks at the most basic, fundamental level.

Since I started taking drawing lessons and reading books on color and composition this year, I feel way more confident about my photography. I make informed decisions that I know will work. I am able to analyze pictures that work for me, and I know why they work now. Thanks to drawing lessons, I can see a lot better, which is also a great help for retouching. I can think in terms of lines, shapes, forms, spaces, light, shadow. But the most important thing of all: I feel like I can reach the level of photography that I only could dream about last year, the high-end commercial automotive photography.

Some books that helped me a lot:

u/Stupid_Guitar · 18 pointsr/funny

If you really want to draw, I'd suggest picking up How To Draw by Scott Robertson.

It leans more towards technical drawing, but one could apply the techniques learned to many types of creative drawing. There's an app you can download that scans certain pages that will link to video tutorials as well.

It's a hefty tome, but don't let that scare you off. A beginner with a willingness to practice will find their skills improve significantly, but you gotta put the time into practicing, no two ways about it.

Once you find you can handle the basics, I'd suggest taking a figure drawing class, or drawing from life in general. Community colleges are great for this sort of thing, since it would be very inexpensive compared to art school or private lessons. Anyway, good luck!

How to Draw

u/seabass · 18 pointsr/datascience

The "bible" is "The Grammar of Graphics" by Leland Wilkinson. (link to amazon). The "gg" of ggplot2 stands for grammar of graphics.

Then we go into other books, resources that help with actually showing visualizations:

u/David_Bowies_Package · 18 pointsr/pics

Read the book "Art and Fear" (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733). My sculpture teacher in college made us read it and it's 122 pages of amazingly accurate descriptions of how many of us artists struggle with exactly what you described.

I had it too and eventually I started to realize that it was worth messing things up and labeling them as "version 1" so that in my mind I knew that I could make a version 2 if I wanted to. Doing it wrong is better than not even doing it at all because at least then you have mistakes to learn from.

u/Jaguarkmd · 17 pointsr/nba

Pretty much everything about this graphic is terrible. The idea (comparing Bynum, Shaq and D12 by age) is great, but the execution makes it next to worthless.

Go check out Edward Tufte's The Visual Display of Quantitative Information if you want to know more about creating truly useful graphics.

For starters, this one contains a ton of useless information that only serves to confuse the viewer. Most distracting are the lightly shaded circles that don't refer to one of the three titled players, but the words "Lin" and the box of players NOT included in the graph are bad as well.

Second, it is nearly impossible to glance at a given circle and tell who that circle refers to. In fact, even after parsing it for awhile I can't tell who some of the circles refer to. It would have been better to make each player a different shape. The lines connecting the player-seasons together should be eliminated as well, as they do nothing to aid understanding of the graphic.

There is probably more in there that a more experienced graphic designer or statistician could point out, but suffice to say that this is a really bad graphic.

Edit: It also uses PER, which is a pretty pedestrian statistic for measuring basketball players' contributions. There is a lot you can read out there about why it is bad, but Wikipedia is always a good starting place.

u/el_guerro · 17 pointsr/Guitar

http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060384

It's a collection of jazz standards. A must-have for anyone who plays even a little bit of jazz, but it's definitely not something you could learn jazz guitar from without another aid.

u/d_a_macleod · 17 pointsr/Guitar

The Guitar Player: Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine is a fantastic resource.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Player-Repair-Dan-Erlewine/dp/0879309210

I learned by myself largely by by experimentation. It does help if you have a cheap "clunker" to play around with.

Initially I was scared of truss rod adjustment but once I understood how they work it is relatively simple.

Apart from overtightening the truss rod, there's not much you can do that cannot be undone. Have at it!

u/MouthyMike · 16 pointsr/Guitar

Link to amazon http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

Great great book.. Way more in-depth than I will ever need but it has tons of diy level stuff that really is simple and moneysaving.

u/subcypher · 16 pointsr/scifi

Read Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman. It's an excellent book that looks at both Huxley and Orwell and then compares the messages.

u/hzay · 16 pointsr/photography

This book is about composition. I'm a beginner and I've learned more (about composition) from this book than any other resource.

u/SolomonBlack · 16 pointsr/StarWars

Well they do have those Dad Vader books around where he's raising his kids and such.

They're ctually kinda amusing in syrupy sweet family friendly kinda way.

u/ab0mbs · 16 pointsr/funny

If anyone's looking for the source, I believe it's from the children's book "Darth Vader and Son" by Jeffery Brown. He also has a couple other cool star wars children's books as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Darth-Vader-Son-Jeffrey-Brown/dp/145210655X

u/aghamenon · 16 pointsr/movies

The opposite is actually true. To get the time dilation they needed for the story, Kip Thorne had to go to extremes. Nearly 100% of the theoretical limit on a black hole's spin was used to achieve the needed lorentz transformation. Gravity is actually on the lowest end of the fundamental forces hierarchy.

It's a bit aggravating having the uninitiated casually dismissing the science behind the film. Some of the film was impossible and some was implausible. This is addressed in The Science of Interstellar. It's harsh to say but layman should be careful about dismissing qualified scientists' models in favor of their feelings and common sense.

u/drgolovacroxby · 15 pointsr/Guitar

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1483563747&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=guitar+player+repair+guide

Buy this book. It will give you pretty much everything you need in terms of knowledge to maintain and repair your own guitars. For less than the cost of one setup at a luthier, you can get the knowledge to do it yourself, and even make some money off your friends.

u/opopopopop12 · 14 pointsr/ffxiv

If you're serious about learning and this isn't a shitpost I would suggest reading through
https://www.amazon.com.au/Drawing-Head-Hands-Andrew-Loomis/dp/0857680978
and
https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819

You could probably find them online if you can't afford to buy them. Working through those books and practicing what they teach will help you see massive improvements. As much as people will say to just keep practicing, it's important that you practice correctly lest you get into bad habits.

u/DrunkHacker · 14 pointsr/badphilosophy

Yep. I've been recommending Postman's book for years:

&gt;What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.

https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

u/ThisSiteIsDumbAndBad · 14 pointsr/GamerGhazi

&gt;e "/I/ am too smart to be affected by media, unlike all the rest of you"

It's this one, and this is the greatest.

Because half of all the advertising/propaganda out there has the easily seen subtext of "I know you think advertising is ridiculous because you're so smart and this will never work, but (INSERT AD HERE.)"

Neil Postman wrote a whole book about it in the 80s
http://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1418335118&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=Amusing+OUrselves

He called it "The Hipness Unto Death," which is awesome.

In the time since he wrote this, this advertising style has become nearly universal, and much more sophisticated. After you read this book, you will not be able to stop seeing it.

u/Agricola86 · 14 pointsr/vegan

That's an awesome decision to look into going vegan! It's so much easier than you'd think once you start. This veganuary website is loaded with tips and info to get folks started. Plus the FAQ on the side bar might answer some basic questions.

If you're up for more motivation Earthlings is a very powerful movie which will likely cement your resolve to step out of an unnecessary system. Also Forks over Knives and Vegucated are on netflix which are much less graphic and provide lots of info.

I also like to recommend books to help people learn more about the ethics of animal consumption. Eating Animals is a great read from an investigative angle from a renowned novelist and Eat Like You Care is a short and very powerful case for the ethical necessity of not consuming animals.

Regarding your health, so long as you eat a varied diet and occasionally add a B12 supplement you health will not suffer and very possibly improve!

You're making an awesome decision and you will be amazed at how easy it gets after just a few weeks!

u/shmi · 14 pointsr/photography

Honestly if you don't know what they need from asking them, a gift card to Amazon. I'd much rather have that and spend it on what I need or whatever G.A.S. tells me I need than to receive a piece of kit that I didn't choose. I don't mean to sound rude, it's just that I rather prefer researching and choosing my own gear.

If you absolutely must, though, I recommend a book.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907708952/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0817439390/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961454733/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159711247X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312420099/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1

Or a notebook for taking notes while out shooting, scouting, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8883701127/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1

u/jaydee_says · 14 pointsr/Design

The idea everything should live within some kind of structure consisting of columns, padding and alignment, etc.

You can use the grid to help create those lines, most people will pull guides and custom measure our a grid. Some prefer to build a grid and design within, others will design organically and mold a grid as they go.

A good read on the practice.

u/wellhungkid · 13 pointsr/manga

learn to use 3d tools and stick to the fundamentals

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1540762345&amp;amp;sr=8-3


https://www.amazon.com/How-Render-fundamentals-shadow-reflectivity/dp/1933492961/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=&amp;amp;sr=

don't bother learning art or how to draw. focus on technique and draftsmanship.

you're looking at 10 years though if your gonna do it solo. you need your drawing skills, then comic skills, plus writing comic scripts, plus plot skills, character design, and marketing/sales skill.

i gave up. now i just draw hentai and furry porn. life is good.

u/runtheplacered · 13 pointsr/funny

If you enjoy this, you may like the book [Vader and Son] (http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/145210655X).

u/Varo · 13 pointsr/SketchDaily

I've been reading this NSFW book. I sketched this lion with some of its principles in mind.

u/Buck-O · 12 pointsr/lego
u/LikeMy5thAccount · 12 pointsr/xboxone

Not sure if you're joking or not, but there is no book written by Tom Clancy that The Division is based off of. There is a book called Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse that acts as a companion piece to the game, but it was written in conjuction with the game's development, so the game isn't based off of it (if anything, it's the other way around), and Tom Clancy had nothing to do with it considering the fact he had been dead for years before it was written.

u/IllyriaD · 12 pointsr/anime

Anatomy and form both need a lot of practice.

You can get Andrew Loomis' book, Figure Drawing for All It's Worth for free on Goodreads -
https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/147941.Figure_Drawing_for_All_It_s_Worth

Undoubtedly she will need to work on perspective as well, and I would highly recommend getting Scott Robertson's book, How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination. -
http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=la_B0034O5O32_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1452971897&amp;amp;sr=1-1

u/JustLoggedInForThis · 12 pointsr/graphic_design

Two things that is very helpful is to know type and grids.


On typography my favorite is: The Elements of Typographic Style

Another good one is Stop Stealing Sheep


For grids, I like this one: Grid Systems in Graphic Design

Making and Breaking the Grid
is not too bad either.

u/ValentinoZ · 12 pointsr/gamedev

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB40B4FFED0CCB1FC

I created a video series, that's still unfinished(I promise I'll finish it before october!) but will give you a basic idea of how the art pipeline for low poly games works. It's not a howto(as there are really awesome tutorials for that online for whichever package you want, and I link to them in the description)

As far as traditional art goes. it really is just drawing a lot. Buy the book How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way , it's probably one of the best books on dynamic poses and sketching I've ever read. I went to an art school, I've read a lot of art books.

Art is really just about practice. Practice drawing from real still lifes until you get it down. You do this because it helps you develop the muscles in your hand, and your eyes so you can draw smooth lines and curves. Also stay away from a style for as long as you can. It just teaches you bad habits. I can always tell the difference between an artist drawing an anime style and one drawing an anime style but also having a background in traditional art. It's night and day.

To practice drawing characters:

Go to model websites, or porn websites. It sounds perverted, but really you need to practice drawing nudes so you can understand how the human body works. Once you get really good at drawing nudes, start drawing folds of cloth laid drapped over them. You'll need to study by using a real life blanket and pinching it at areas to see how it works. Once you get good at drawing folds of cloth, move onto clothes and such. Macy's catalogues are good for this.

To practice drawing environments:

You need to study proportion and perspective. It's a pretty deep subject. You need to at least understand why and how things work the way they do in 2d, then you can start doing paint overs in maya or blender. You build a scene in blender using cubes, and what not, render out the angle you want, then draw over it. This way you can just focus on shape. But seriously, for reals, study proportion and perspective, and do it by hand first before doing the 3d mockup. The 3d mockup is just to speed the process along when you are in a professional setting. You still need to understand perspective to add details.

tl;dr DRAW A LOT

u/Spuzman · 12 pointsr/learnart

My biggest tip: take a figure drawing class, if you have the time and money. There's no substitute for a good teacher, and as a bonus you'll get the chance to draw from life (which can be very helpful). Don't be afraid to ask stupid questions!

If you're looking for theory, the best books I've seen are Jack Hamm and Andrew Loomis, both of whom offer intelligent simplifications of the figure along with breakdowns of specific anatomy if you want it.
This basic figure frame from Loomis is one of the best things you can learn (though don't place too much emphasis on meeting those measurements-- after all, they don't help for crap once you have to foreshorten).

Try this study tool. Set it to 30 second or 1 minute intervals with nude models and fill up the page with Loomis-style mannequin figures. Don't worry about getting each one perfect; move on once your time is up. Get a bunch of paper and do it for 20 minutes straight.

Think, especially about the shape of the ribcage, spine, and hips. Notice how the ribcage is kind of egg-shaped, how the spine curves, and how the hips are shaped like a wide V.

u/mrjaguar1 · 12 pointsr/guitars

$150 is insanely high for a setup , as much as people love to hate the place take it to either guitarcenter or samash for a setup it shouldnt cost more then $60 with new strings included and it shouldnt take more then 30 minutes for the tech to do the work and if you can watch the tech when he is working if its ok with them and ask questions . Make sure its setup the way you like and so its comfortable for you to play . But any acoustic and even electric guitars will need a setup after sitting for a while acoustics more then electrics .

Or depending how handy you are check out this book http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1410144697&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=guitar+setup+guide and do it yourself with the steps in the book / dvd

u/standard_error · 12 pointsr/Guitar

You'll have to buy a new switch, open the back of your guitar, remove the old one and mount and solder the new one in.

Any good guitar store will have the switch in stock, and it will be cheap. Just tell them what model your guitar is.

The rest is easy or hard depending on your soldering skills. You could just take careful notes of where each wire is connected on the old switch, and then resolder the new switch in the same way, but i might be good to get some schematics for your guitar.

If your interested in being able to service your guitar, The Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine might be a good purchase.

u/ApatheticAbsurdist · 11 pointsr/photography
  1. Look at other photographers and work... study it. Figure out what works for you and what doesn't. Go to museums, galleries, and exhibitions.

  2. Spend time figuring out what kind of photography you want to make and why you want to make it.

  3. Get a notebook. Write about 1 and 2 as well as ideas of photos you want to make and what you want them to say. Having an idea in your head it one thing but our brains jump from thought A to thought G and we don't notice because the mind is very good at filling in the gaps.

  4. Keep building technique but focus on doing so by defining the problems you have and what knowledge will allow you to create the photograph you want to make.

  5. Travel. This is a bit optional and it's usefulness (and where to travel to) varies depending on what kind of photographs you want to make. But I find at the very least getting out of your comfort zone often helps the process of development. There are several photographers who offer workshops, traveling to such a workshop will give you a different geography and find instructors that you want to emulate or learn from.

  6. See if you can find a place for critique... having to put your work up, hear what others have to say, and on some level defend what you are trying to say is scary but it's important for growth. Local Photoclubs are a start, local community art classes will push with a little more pressure.

    Books: Art &amp; Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland, Critcizing Photographs by Terry Barrett (you can find previous additions used a lot cheaper), and On Photography by Susan Sontag.
u/Metal-Phoenix · 11 pointsr/learnart

You're not afraid of drawing. You're afraid of response combined with perfectionism. Read Art &amp; Fear. It's a short read, most people can get it done in about a weekend.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/wc_helmets · 11 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Scales. Particularly major. And practicing in all 12 keys. Even when not playing I'd work on memorizing the notes in each key. Once you have that branch to minor scales, modes, and maybe some pentatonic and altered scales for flavor. Again. All 12 keys.

ii-V-I progressions, again in all 12 keys. Start with simple voicings at first, like playing the bass in your left hand and playing just playing the 3rd and the 7th in the right hand. You can add more fingers once you get comfortable with that.

Honestly, that will keep you busy for years, if your anything like me. You can also just dive in and practice these concepts in your favorite DAW. If you got a section with a V-I in it, try substituting the V with a bII7 and see how it sounds. Like any art, you can learn as much as you want, but you gotta get your hands dirty.

Edit: I'd also get a good Jazz piano book. This one by Mark Levine is a great one. Been going through it for at least 3 years now. I can't play as well as I like, but from these concepts, I can take a lead sheet and work out an arrangement of a song in Ableton.

u/dosta1322 · 11 pointsr/askscience

This may help with some of your questions. I've been interested myself, but haven't bought the book yet. I was told that he explains a lot of the science behind creating the scenes and that he goes on to explain some of the things they had to fudge for a better viewer experience. https://www.amazon.com/Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne-dp-0393351378/dp/0393351378/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&amp;me=&amp;qid=

u/BambooSurfer · 11 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

read, "This Is Your Brain On Music"

http://www.amazon.ca/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525

an interesting read for sure

u/a_bearded_man · 11 pointsr/circlebroke

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4003531/entire-jon-stewart-interview/

I absolutely love this interview. Sadly, people don't take the time to watch things and get the full context. The exchange at 9:30 is pretty funny.

There's a great book that I'm working through right now called Amusing Ourselves to Death which gets into a lot of problems that we see with news media - namely that the ease of information transfer has been a double-edged sword. While we can disseminate more, there are certain things you lose when you transition to new media. In the case of tv - it was that more of the message is transmitted through how things look/soundbites/etc. You don't get good debates - you get a series of soundbites. You don't get topical news - you get whatever draws eyeballs for ads. Etc, etc, etc.

u/InSomeOtherWords · 11 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

So many people seem to have this idea that they're just going to "learn theory." Like that's it.

Like there will be this AHA I NOW KNOW THE MUSICAL THEORY I CAN NOW WRITE THE MUSIC.

But in all seriousness. Yeah you will learn theory. If music is going to be a life long pursuit you will never STOP learning theory. Unless you're not serious about it. Then you might just learn what I IV V means write some pop songs and stop there. I digress..

First thing. Learn to read music. DO NOT READ TAB. Learn all the notes on the fret board. Not like you can count up to it and realize that something is a C. Like you KNOW IT. Point to it and you know what note it is. Start reading music here.

Another good way to learn the notes on the fretboard is to pick 4 triads of different qualities. One major, one minor, one diminished, and one augmented triad and play them in all inversions in all positions on the neck while saying the note names. And then pick 4 new triads the next day. Do not just learn the shapes. This will probably take you 2 hours on your first day if you're as thorough as you should be.

If you don't know what any of that means that's fine for now. Those are some pretty basic concepts that you'll learn pretty soon if you're serious about this.

This guy knows his shit. Learn from him. Take it slow. Don't just watch the video and go "Yeah that makes sense." You need to KNOW IT. Drill the concepts a few hours a day.

You could buy a music text book.

Or get an actual guitar teacher. I'd recommend learning jazz because unlike a lot of rock or pop players they actual know their shit about theory and their instrument. You kinda have to know your shit to play jazz. Either that or classical. But jazz theory is more in line with modern music.

Segway: Buy a Real Book

Start off in there with Autumn Leaves or something else easy.

If you're really beginner-y start here.

While that guy's course is good it really focuses on technique. You learn basically no theory from that guy. Just shapes and tabs. Doesn't even use standard notation. His jazz course is ok. It's on his side bar.

This guy's stuff is good for a beginner in jazz. But a beginner in jazz is not exactly beginner level for some other genres. I think you need a pretty solid level of understanding to understand what he's talking about.

That should get you started..

[Edit] Some people have this disconnect. They think that learning theory is somehow separate from song writing. Learning theory will open so many doors to you and show you why and how things work. So that you can actually understand what you're doing.

If I wanted to build a house I could just jump in and start building a house. I'd probably come across a lot of problems. My first house might suck and have a leaky roof or bad plumbing or something. But I could probably learn a long the way. Maybe after I build a ton of crappy houses I could figure out for myself why things work.

Or.. I could look through the writings of the millions of house builders that came before me and see what they found out works and what doesn't. Then maybe my first house will have some issues and it might not be so easy to pull off but I'd be better off learning from the people who came before me than trying to figure it out myself. By doing this I have just saved myself the time of trying to rediscover the wheel so to speak.

That's what learning theory will do for you.

u/BIRDsnoozer · 11 pointsr/learnart

Not bad not bad. Keep it up.

I don't mean to flame you, I'm just trying to help. I'd suggest building a figure out of 3d shapes.

Practice drawing 3d shapes of all kinds, cones, cylinders, cubes, pyramids, spheres, prisms of all kinds etc, then build a person out of those. That becomes your first sketch, and then over top you can smooth it out to make a body that looks humanlike.

Here's an example of me doing it... There's a very old and good book by Stan Lee and John Buschema that goes into detail on this technique. It's called "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" It helped me a lot as a youngster.

Right now it seems like what you're doing is representational drawing. All the individual parts are drawn to "represent" the things they do, and are recognizable as those things (for instance, the face as a perfectly round circle, the sunglasses as a kind of black W shape, the nose as a &lt; etc) instead of looking realistic.

It just takes practice, so keep it up!

u/pvcalculator · 10 pointsr/india

The theory was that, in the near-distant future after crop failures in Americas, India was the only (one of the few nations) nation to be
sustainable and progress enough to deploy their drones in foreign countries (like how USA does in present day).

The thought process was that, India progressed using their own tech/languages.
Hence, Hindi/Sanskrit script used in Indian tech products.

Source: Watched it 11 times and massive time dump in removing baal ki khaal. I have read Science of interstellar book. Awesome read.
https://www.amazon.com/Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378

u/Montaingebro · 10 pointsr/consulting
u/[deleted] · 10 pointsr/Art

Never be afraid to go further into a piece, or wipe away large sections out of fear of losing what you have (which is great btw). You'll learn so much more that way and it will show in your work. As someone who moved from digital art to painting I totally understand how jarring it can be to make the switch to something so much less forgiving. I'd recommend this book to any artist as it addresses many problems artists come across as artists: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

Apologies for jumping down your throat over a small comment, I just think that's a great book for any artist. Also another great resource for oil painters: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/problem-solving-for-oil-painters-gregg-kreutz/1101890506?ean=9780823040971

u/dornstar18 · 10 pointsr/scifi

She is there, check the links included in the amazon view

u/everypostepic · 10 pointsr/thedivision

And here it is without the referral inside it:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452148279/

u/jippiejee · 10 pointsr/photography

Most compositional arrangements are well-described in The photographer's eye. Hihgly recommended read.

u/jaexlee · 10 pointsr/photography

Bridging the Gap: Classical Art Designed for Photographers

This is a good video that I found through another comment on this sub.

But since you asked for a book, this one is pretty good: The Photographer's Eye

Have fun!

u/usedOnlyInModeration · 10 pointsr/AskFeminists

Peter Singer is amazing. I remember having a 2-week breakdown and existential crisis when I read Animal Liberation. I just didn't know how to handle and accept the mind-blowingly immense suffering happening every second; I couldn't figure out how to go about my life with that fact existing. How could I simply turn my back on that fact, and not fight it every second? How could I possibly forget those animals and go about my life as if it weren't true?

Ultimately I had to make the conscious choice to forget. I could only do what I could do - become vegan, evangelize, be an advocate, protest, boycott, take part in everyday activism. But beyond that, what can I do for the billions of animals suffering unimaginable horrors every second?

There are facts and images seared into my brain that I cannot and never will forget - pigs snouts being sliced off and salt rubbed in the wound, cats being boiled alive in cages, raccoon dogs skinned alive and thrown in a pile of agony, animals caught in unbearable suffering in steel traps, others anally/vaginally/orally electrocuted to death for their furs, pigs boiled alive, chickens trampled and pecked to death in too-small to move cages, cows beaten and prodded to walk on broken legs, the heartbroken wail of a pig or cow whose baby is stolen away, male chicks ground up alive... I have SEEN these things. And it is unbearable.

I think these things should be shown to everybody. How anybody could bite into the flesh of a chicken after that is beyond me.

Edit: for those who may be interested in learning more:

u/mysteriy · 9 pointsr/minimalism

SPOILERS, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, also go see it now.

Reality can be stranger than fiction, sure it looks far fetched, but in a 5 dimensional reality, they were really testing the viewer, to see if you'd just brush it off as stupid, or would embrace it. People tend to just disregard or call out 'bullsh*t' when they don't understand it.

Here's a potential explainer:

"Picture a timeline as an expression of one set of possibilities spawning from any singular moment — a graspable example: start with your moment of birth, and track your life as a collection of moments (faces on that never-ending “you” as observed from the Fourth Dimension) all strewn together. Now, turn once more. Imagine this line as itself one face on an object made up of lines of the like — all of the possible lines of moments/faces that might spring from that initial point. Every conceivable thing that could happen after Point A (your birth) gets its own line, and each of these lines is a face on the Fifth Dimension’s view of “you.”

That, in effect, is what McConaughey sees from his daughter’s bookcase… though his focus on a singular timeline as opposed to all possibilities, and his manipulation thereof, call into question transition into the Sixth and Seventh Dimensions, which are tough eggs to crack (more so, even, than Eight, Nine, and Ten). But luckily, Nolan doesn’t dive too deep beyond a brief hiccup in theoretical consistency here and there. So we can rest our studies here and not worry about anything beyond No. 5… until the sequel, that is."
http://www.bustle.com/articles/47537-what-is-the-fifth-dimension-in-interstellar-how-to-understand-the-films-complicated-physics

This was a very risky move, but definitely a win for me, transformed this movie from a good adventure movie into a spiritual human experience. It would be amazing if our civilisation managed to survive long enough to understand, and actually control five dimensions, our body would need upgrades of course, but we'll be able to do that in the future. Let's just try to survive the next century without killing ourselves, or overpopulating.

There is also a book, released yesterday by Kip Thorne, who was the scientific advisor for the movie, and set the scientific rules for Nolan.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378

u/dc_woods · 9 pointsr/web_design

As a person with no education beyond high school, take all that I say with a grain of salt. I'm a pretty successful web designer and front-end developer, having working with four startups and done a year of freelancing.

It is not uncommon to hear industry peers criticize the education system as it pertains to web design because often the practices you learn are no longer the standard or relevant. I've heard of many stories where designers exit college (with no working experience, obviously) and have an incredibly difficult time finding work for the reasons I listed above.

Education has never been brought up at any of the companies I've worked or those that I've consulted with. I believe the reason for this is that I have a body of work to show along with whatever reputation I've garnered on Dribbble, say.

All this being said, it is entirely possible for you to develop your skills on your own, such as I did, and find work. I'm happy to list all the reading materials that I own that helped me get where I am now. I'll list what I remember but I'll have to go check when I can get a second:

Hardboiled Web Design
HTML5 for Web Designers
CSS3 for Web Designers
The Elements of Content Strategy
Responsive Web Design
Designing for Emotion
Design is a Job
Mobile First
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
The Elements of Typographic Style
Thinking with Type
The Icon Handbook
Don't Make Me Think

If you invest your money in those and actually read them, you will be well on your way. Feel free to ping me. Good luck!

u/Yeargdribble · 9 pointsr/piano

If you haven't worked through this book, I'd recommend it. Afterward you'd be able to open up a fake book and start working on tunes effectively.

You basically want to be able to play your 3-7 voicings (in both positions) for all ii-V-I progressions in every key. Then pick a chart and read it down using that format. Once you can comfortably read it down with 3-7 voicings, now add the melody on top.

This will affect which of the two "inversions" of the 3-7 to use at a given time. Sometimes the melody will be one of these guide tones and sometimes it will be something else requiring you to get pretty good at making that adjustment on the fly.

Once you're decent at that, I'd say start exploring other voicings. Obviously simple block rootless voicings are a good choice. You can get pretty deep in the weeds on voicings on this fantastic Youtube channel (/u/BluesBoy666). The Mark Levine book would also be a good choice once you're at this point.

However, the Mark Harrison book will get you started much more easily and actually flows in a good progressive order including some good ideas for comping patterns (for basic swing and bossa), basic shells and other stuff and introduces the concepts to you systematically. It's a good way to make sure you're not missing any important bit of scaffolding.

Realistically you might not even finish that book in a month, but it's a place to start so that you can actually begin apply the concepts to actual charts and practice them in the context that that would actually be used.

u/def_jeff · 9 pointsr/learnart

I disagree with this answer. You do need to improve on your shading and proportion, but this isn't why your drawing looks flat.

When drawing anything, try to think in terms of it being a 3D form. Check out these images from legendary Disney animator Glen Keane. Something that will help you is to break things down into basic geometric shapes like cylinders (good for people and animals), spheres (basketballs, baseballs, bowling balls) cones, and cubes (mostly architectural structures). Here is a basic example of a cone on top of a cylinder.

Another thing that can help you to start thinking this way is to do some cross contour drawing. Google for examples, but this is what I mean. You don't even have to do two directions. Just draw around the forms, like this.

I don't know what you're into, but a book that may help you is How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way. Some of those old comic book artist had amazing skill in drawing an accurate figure in 3D space all kinds of angles.

Good luck, and remember that your paper is a window into a three dimensional world much like our own. You must sculpt things into existence!

u/mrpoopsalot · 9 pointsr/ArtFundamentals

I have not tried other ones yet. I have been considering Schoolism or Society of Visual Story telling. I have opened and started fidiling with Michael Hamptons figure drawing book, but i felt that i needed to concentrate on boxes a little longer. I wanted to be able to rotate a box freely and make each one look like the one before, just rotated, before i started to try to build more complex shapes like faces and torsos and then rotate them. I have gotten to a point im almost satisified with rotating boxes and cylinders and have moved onto building my own complex shapes, then rotating them. No other courses have the perfect structure that drawabox has (to my knowledge at least). I really liked the structured learning.

I dont know what to say about motivation/perseverance. I see it come up a lot on /r/ArtistLounge as well as here and i never know what to say. I feel like it is a question for /r/selfimprovement or something like that, because it is really more about how you approach life vs. about drawing. Its easy for me because its basically the main thing i enjoy in life and its my main motivation to stay alive lol. All i want to do in this world is be able to create amazing images as naturally as possible and not struggle to accomplish a drawing. I just want it to flow from my mind to my hand and i know that to get there i have to work at it constantly. Good luck and dont let to much negative self talk get involved. Its just a matter of lots of practice and lots of analyzing how you are currently drawing in comparison to where you want to get. I completely struggle with implying form/shadow with a pen, but it gets better every day. Try to take a long view and realize that it will be years and years before you are happy with a drawing and you might not ever be happy because the whole thing is a constant desire to be better and thats where the enjoyment needs to come from.

u/MunkyUTK · 9 pointsr/PS4

There is plenty of lore for The Division if you care to look for it. It's really good stuff too.

u/beesk · 9 pointsr/Games
u/thesoftdistortion · 9 pointsr/edmproduction

Do both at the same time. Even basic keyboard skills speed up your workflow and put a lot if it into context. If you need a book for your Christmas list try this

u/The_Dead_See · 9 pointsr/graphic_design

Making and breaking the grid by Timothy Samara is pretty much the definitive practical reference imo.

And if you want to get a little more into the depth and history, Grid Systems by Brockmann of course.

u/youngguap · 8 pointsr/SonyAlpha

As for settings, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ1-lTg6AoQ

For shooting action shots (like a sporting event), you'll want 1) Focus area: wide 2) Drive mode: continuous shooting fast 3) Focus mode: Continuous AF 4) Lock-on AF: On (that setting is in the menu under the camera icon in section 5

For general photography, it's extremely useful to have the a6000 set up to do back-button focus. To set that up set 1) Pre-AF: Off 2) AF w/ shutter: Off 3) Under custom key settings set the AEL Button to: AF on 4) Focus mode: AF-C, I also like to 5) make the focus area: Center -- this allows you to use the focus and recompose method of taking photos

With back button focus set up, you hold down the AEL button when you want to focus (perhaps using the focus and recompose method to focus), release the AEL button once you've set up your focusing, compose your shot, and you can then take as many photos as you want without your focus changing. THEN, if something starts moving, hold down the AEL button again and keep taking continuous photos and track the subject in the center of your camera (or use Lock-On AF to keep track of the moving subject) -- it'll make more sense once you start taking photos, but back button focus allows you to essentially use AF-S and AF-C at the same time and it saves you valuable time when taking photos

Intelligent auto (the green icon) is a good setting if you're just starting out and need to shoot an event but don't know what you're doing. It chooses everything for you and can get some good shots. But it limits your creative control and the camera's choices aren't always the best choices. I use aperture priority most often, it's a good way to start learning about exposure -- I recommend this book if you're a beginner and don't yet understand the interaction between ISO, aperture, and shutter speed: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1483816559&amp;amp;sr=8-1-fkmr2&amp;amp;keywords=composure+photography+book

u/mafoo · 8 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

I'm assuming you're in high school. If you get a chance, go see your All-state (or All-region) Jazz Band. See how you fare against those guys. Also, chances are you are going to need to know how to read music, have some chart-reading skills, and improvisation chops. For guitar, bass, or drums, they are going to expect you to know jazz fundamentals. Pick up a Real Book, learn some charts and be able to hold your own in a combo.

u/ZombieButch · 8 pointsr/learnart

Folks who are linking to the 'Save Loomis' sites: the Loomis books aren't in the public domain.

Now, at one time, they were extremely difficult to find in print - Disney Studios in California had a standing order with every bookstore on the west coast for any Loomis books that came in - and when you could find them they cost an arm and a leg. For many years, too, the Loomis family withheld reprinting rights to the books, so there was no prospect for a very, very long time of ever seeing new editions. So at that time, "Save Loomis" websites at least had a moral ground to stand on.

Titan Books has, for several years now, been releasing the Loomis books in really lovely, affordable hardbacks. There's no reason to save Loomis any longer; he's been saved. We really ought to be pointing folks to where they can buy the books legally, now, and not to download sites.

For what it's worth, I think his best is Figure Drawing For All It's Worth. If there was only one I could recommend to someone who's new to drawing, though, rather than one I'd keep for myself, it's Fun With a Pencil. Figure Drawing is the gold standard of proportions and anatomy, as far as I'm concerned, but the material in it has been covered similarly by lots of different folks. Fun With A Pencil is geared more towards folks who've never drawn before and is a great book for absolute beginners.

u/Twerty · 8 pointsr/QuotesPorn

Whoops. Good catch, thank you for the gentle correction.

It seems the issue of attribution in regard to this particular piece isn't entirely a new confusion.

The quote is from the prologue of Niel Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.

u/Duggers · 8 pointsr/photography

I can heartily recommend Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. For the technics of your camera your manual is likely very useful.

Whilst I haven't read it myself, I've also heard very good things about The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman. There's another The Photographer's Eye by John Szarkowski that I gather is somewhat different, although this is the version I own myself and is a great book detailing style in photographs, but is probably not what you're looking for.

u/Kenny_Login · 8 pointsr/drums

Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer - Ted Reed
This is still THE book for drummers on all levels.

u/Pink_Squier_Mini · 8 pointsr/jazzguitar

You need to start counting rhythms. You don't need a guitar to do this necessarily. There are a number of books with written out rhythms to practice, such as Louis Bellson's Modern Reading Text in 4/4 For All Instruments, Ted Reed's Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer, and Gary Hess's Encyclopedia of Reading Rhythms. There are numerous ways to practice the rhythms in these books - counting the rhythm while clapping a steady pulse, counting a steady pulse while clapping the rhythm, tapping a steady pulse with your left hand while clapping the rhythm with your right while also counting, and so on. When I say "count" I mean count out loud. Your goal is to learn to keep your place in measures while accurately executing and eventually feeling rhythms.

You can also do these steps with a guitar in your hand. Just pick a chord - maybe one you're trying to work into your repertoire - and play the written rhythm with that chord while you're counting.

This will probably seem awkward and "unmusical" when you first start, but trust me when I tell you this is going to radically improve your rhythmic vocabulary and time feel over the long haul. This is the kind of thing band and orchestra kids learn as a matter of course and most guitarists don't get because we don't learn to read in ensembles.

u/SkysOutThighsOut · 8 pointsr/learnart

You should check out the book 'Art &amp; Fear' by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

From my own perspective I have a pretty similar background. I picked up drawing fairly easily in grade school and kind of lost touch with it and never developed a real solid foundation to my art skills. I'm going back now and starting entirely from square one. It's hard to have that image of your past self's skills get kind of shattered, but once I realized I needed to put in a lot of ground work to get good I started really enjoying everything I was learning.

I still get the apprehension of spending time on a drawing that I might not like in the end but I realize every drawing I make I get a step closer, even if only a tiny one, towards being better able to do what I'm trying to. Try not to draw for the end result. Try to draw because it's something that you enjoy. If you tell yourself you're not going to enjoy it and it's going to be bad, well then you're not going to enjoy it and it's going to be bad! Stop worrying about how good your work should be and just put pencil to paper and learn because you want to.

Hope you find the path you're looking for!

u/CrownStarr · 8 pointsr/piano

Thing is, that sort of thinking doesn't really work too well in jazz - there isn't really "repertoire" in the same sense as in classical music. Some standards are more complex than others, sure, but the difficulty is really what you make of it. In jazz, you generally work from what are called "lead sheets", where all you have is the melody and the chords. Here's one for When I Fall in Love. Pretty simplistic, right? Here's Oscar Peterson playing it. The lead sheet is the basic framework for what he's playing, but all the embellishment and runs and extra chords and everything is just coming from him. So you can't really say whether When I Fall in Love is an "easy" standard or not.

As for how to learn, the single best way is to get a teacher. But if you just want to start dabbling, I would suggest getting some books of transcriptions of famous jazz pianists, just to start getting the feel and sound of it in your mind. Those books will have real performances transcribed note-for-note, so you don't need to know how to read lead sheets or improvise to play them. I would also check out Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book to start learning the theory behind it all, and a Real Book to start practicing with. If you're good at teaching yourself things, the combination of those two books will give you years and years of material.

But I want to re-emphasize that getting some kind of teacher or mentor will help enormously. It's good for classical music, as you know, but jazz is even more like learning a foreign language, because it's improvised. If you just want to dabble for fun, that's fine, but if you get serious about jazz, find someone to guide you, even if it's just an hour a month.

u/kwitcherbichen · 8 pointsr/thedivision

https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279

I have it. It's a unique book companion to the game and rather clever how it operates on multiple levels. First, there is a realistic muddle of survival advice by an unknown but authoritative author. Overlaid on this are several weeks of personal notes scrawled in the margins by the character April Kelleher whose echos and survival pages are found in the game. It fleshes out the subplots involving this character who you haven't met in game. Physical artifacts and clues are provided by this character. Finally there are messages which relate back to the game from the book's fictional author hidden in the text which you can find. April finds or starts you off on some of these and her notes shift from shock to staying alive to scouring the book and the in-game city for the author.

u/Blankman6 · 8 pointsr/thedivision

It is not based on any established Tom Clancy novel or storyline. The Division is an original IP. However, there will be a fictionalized companion book that will coincide with the release of the game: http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1452571152&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=The+division

u/Fuegopants · 8 pointsr/edmproduction

I'm not sure I'd agree. In my case for instance, I didn't have any prior music experience when starting, and learning the way my to emulate the music I loved was not only rewarding, but also educational... where as "use your ears and play around with it" is a much steeper climb with absolutely zero prior experience. 99% of the time I had no idea where to go or what to do.

When you're still at the bottom end of the learning curve, doing practically anything to familiarize yourself with your DAW and music theory is going to be a good step.

Although I will agree that shitty tutorials are indeed frustrating, there's quite a few content producers out there who release quality tutorials. KillParis for instance used to do some awesome tutorials, PeepNTom also do some cool ones.

Really though the turning point for me was this book.

u/brabdnon · 8 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Well, first off let me say, fuck that bitch. Second off let me say that as long as you enjoy what you're doing, enjoy doing it. Don't let anyone steal your joy. But it depends on who you're doing it for: for you or for the fans? I started making music myself about 10 months ago to cope with a recent tragedy. I know only really how to sing. I don't know piano at all. But I bought a DAW and MIDI keyboard and noodled around until I found something that sounded cohesive. I didn't know my scales or what key the song was even in. I just did what felt right. I think they turned out okay despite my lack of knowledge.

I tell you what helped me immensely was this book:
Music Theory for Computer Musicians

I found it to be fairly comprehensive and fairly well written. The chapters are relatively short and build on each other nicely. You can easily get a good grasp on the basics with this book. Now, it's a theory book so it's light on piano technique. But it will help you learn the scales and understand the rules of the harmonics of sound.

Anyway, chin up. Get back at that piano and get some knowledge.

If you're curious about what my early stuff sounded like, feel free to peruse my soundcloud: brabdnon. Starting at the bottom of my playlist is me just fumbling. But I wanted to make something dramatic and sad. And if nothing else, it's not a technical marvel, but I think I hit my feels mark. If you make music striving for that feeling first, you can't go wrong.

Best of Luck.

u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat · 8 pointsr/space

These:

How to Read the Solar System: A Guide to the Stars and Planets by Christ North and Paul Abel.


A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.


A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence Krauss.


Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan.


Foundations of Astrophysics by Barbara Ryden and Bradley Peterson.


Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program by Pat Duggins.


An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything by Chris Hadfield.


You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes: Photographs from the International Space Station by Chris Hadfield.


Space Shuttle: The History of Developing the Space Transportation System by Dennis Jenkins.


Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle, 1971-2010 by Chapline, Hale, Lane, and Lula.


No Downlink: A Dramatic Narrative About the Challenger Accident and Our Time by Claus Jensen.


Voices from the Moon: Apollo Astronauts Describe Their Lunar Experiences by Andrew Chaikin.


A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin.


Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA by Amy Teitel.


Moon Lander: How We Developed the Apollo Lunar Module by Thomas Kelly.


The Scientific Exploration of Venus by Fredric Taylor.


The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe.


Into the Black: The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her by Rowland White and Richard Truly.


An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics by Bradley Carroll and Dale Ostlie.


Rockets, Missiles, and Men in Space by Willy Ley.


Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John Clark.


A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.


Russia in Space by Anatoly Zak.


Rain Of Iron And Ice: The Very Real Threat Of Comet And Asteroid Bombardment by John Lewis.


Mining the Sky: Untold Riches From The Asteroids, Comets, And Planets by John Lewis.


Asteroid Mining: Wealth for the New Space Economy by John Lewis.


Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris.


The Whole Shebang: A State of the Universe Report by Timothy Ferris.


Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandries by Neil deGrasse Tyson.


Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson.


Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson.


The Martian by Andy Weir.


Packing for Mars:The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach.


The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution by Frank White.


Gravitation by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler.


The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne.


Entering Space: An Astronaut’s Oddyssey by Joseph Allen.


International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems by Hopkins, Hopkins, and Isakowitz.


The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene.


How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space by Janna Levin.


This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age by William Burrows.


The Last Man on the Moon by Eugene Cernan.


Failure is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by Gene Kranz.


Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger.

The end

u/ichbineinewhore · 8 pointsr/suggestmeabook
u/shenanigansen · 8 pointsr/comics

If you really want to, you can get way better than me. Go through these:

http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/

and this:

http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819

do these daily:

http://www.quickposes.com/

also do studies daily, from life or from google images. Do work from books, gesture drawing, and studies 2-3 hours per day, for about a year, and you'll find yourself in a very different place from where you were before, I can absolutely guarantee you that.

But, yknow, you have to really like art. :P

u/theburritoman · 8 pointsr/learnart

So, for me, drawing from a live model didn't teach me about anatomy. How could I learn without knowing what was underneath the skin? It wasn't until after I studied anatomy that I could depict the live models better because of that knowledge.

Go buy a couple of anatomy books and look up the skeletal system and muscular system online. Draw the bones and muscles that attach to those bones and study how they affect the body's movement.

this magazine special was what got me started with anatomy.

this book helped me tremendously with anatomy and it still is.

Study these or other books and when you're reading through them, copy the illustrations and try to understand how that relates to the human body. Try to study the text in term of your own body too! Look at your arms and how the muscles and bones move when you're studying that section, for example.

Just don't expect to get this stuff overnight. It takes a long time to really start to grasp it and for you to see the knowledge in your art.

u/wsferbny · 7 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

This is due to the [overtone series](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(music). Basically there are resonant frequencies when you play a pitch. You'll notice in the examples on the Wikipedia page that the first couple overtones are the octave, the fifth, and the fourth. So those intervals tend to share overtones, making them sound better together to our ears.

For example, the first couple of overtones where C4 is our fundamental are C5, G5, and then C6. For G4, the overtones would be G5, D5, and G6. That's an interval of a fifth.

A lot of this is related to the Western tuning system. Most Western music is equally tempered. Basically, when a piano is tuned, you're making a bunch of compromises so that everything sounds good together, even if it's not perfectly in tune. You could tune certain intervals perfectly, but then others would sound really bad, so we compromise.

Another thing about Western music is that we're all about building tension and then relieving it ^justlikesex and you can see this in a lot of common chord progressions. Take your standard cadence, G7 to C, for example. G7 is a fairly unstable chord and it's built so that the third and seventh, B and F, collapse really naturally into C and E, giving us a nice, stable C triad.

Music also operates similarly to comedy in that it's all about delaying and overturning expectations. Like three men walk into a bar. You've heard that before and have some idea of what will follow. But then someone says "the third one ducks" and that's a new one and that's funny, so you laugh. Music works the same one. Let's say we set up the classic I-V-vi-IV chord progression but instead of IV we do something else. That's new, that's interesting, and we like it.

Disclaimer: I'm really sorry if I screwed up some of the overtone series stuff, I have only a vague idea of how it works.

You can read an entire book on why we like the music we do -- check out This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin -- it's a great read!

u/kindall · 7 pointsr/Music

This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin.

u/Quantum_Finger · 7 pointsr/learnart

The hair is flat. Create some depth and volume by working more shading and lighting into the bangs.

Also, the anatomy is slightly off. The eyes are stylized, but their placement and construction is still slightly off. Same with the nose. Flip the canvas horizontally while you work. You will have an easier time seeing mistakes.

Check out this book. I found it to be quite helpful: Figure Drawing

I think your choices of color and subject matter are appealing, and your style is very nice. The bubble gum is a cool touch.

u/dotdoubledot · 7 pointsr/photography

I'm with you. I learned a lot from The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman. There was a bit in there that I did intuitively, but it really opened my eyes.

u/ApolloXR · 7 pointsr/Libertarian

Haha, that's awesome and I think you're probably right.

I can definitely understand the hesitation. There are a lot of reasons that going vegan is hard that often get undervalued by people that have already done it and adapted to the lifestyle.

It's hard to imagine what you would eat if you gave up animal products. You probably have favorite foods you'd never be able to taste again. Food is such a big part of our culture, too, that it's scary to consider self-ostracizing yourself. You'd have to tell grandma you can't eat her special chicken soup from the old country anymore. You wouldn't be able to go in on the bulk buffalo wing buy at the next Super Bowl party.

Then there are concerns about nutrition. How do I get enough B12? Omega 3s? Protein? Is a vegan diet even healthy long-term? Will I be sacrificing athletic performance in the sport I care about?

And finally, it can sound exhausting to have to read every label, remember to take the cheese off every burrito order, plan every lunch outing at work so you'll have something to eat, and suffer all the other small inconveniences required of a vegan living in an omnivorous world.

Fortunately, dealing with all those concerns doesn't have to be done all at once. You can reduce your meat consumption and experiment with vegan food while still eating grandma's chicken soup whenever you visit her. Plus, it's better for your health, the environment, and the animals.

I recommend this book to people who are interested in investigating the issue: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

u/P4li_ndr0m3 · 7 pointsr/vegetarian

I seriously recommend Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran. It's awesome for understanding why we're doing this and how it helps. It's a look at the factory farming industry and is great if you need to debate family members who think you should start eating meat again.

You can get used copies for like $2, too! That's what I did.

u/eff_horses · 7 pointsr/vegetarian

My main reason for going vegetarian was that I was appalled by the conditions today's farm animals endure in order to become food as I learned more and more about them. If you'd like a good primer on that topic, I'd wholeheartedly recommend Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals; it's incredibly well written and goes into good depth on factory farm conditions as well as other topics related to animal agriculture.

And if it feels like too much to switch entirely all at once, you're allowed to do it in steps. Some people can cut it out all at once, but some need more time, and that's totally okay; your goal should be to transition in a way that will help you stick with it for the long term.

u/Erilis000 · 7 pointsr/worldnews

For further reading check out Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer--very interesting read.

u/CrazyWebDev · 7 pointsr/design_critiques

I think it's not bad, I would say the biggest things are around typography.

  1. Add more padding around some of the typography.

  2. On the second image that "intro paragraph" is kind of weird, its two paragraphs I think, but in it's own style? Usually those type of things are one headline sentence which leads into the content.

  3. Fix what is called a "widow" basically one word on the last line of a paragraph.

  4. If you are using InDesign, select your text, go to paragraph styles and uncheck "hyphenate" to remove all the hyphenated words.

  5. Some of your text is just oddly aligned, the yellow box quote, each line starts more and more to the left

  6. Look at the "Working in the industry" page, I would redesign to be left aligned, the "rivers" pattern (white space between words) as we call them in typography looks more like lakes in these pages.

  7. I like the fifth image, but add more padding around the text so it's not to the edge of the bounding box.

  8. Pros &amp; Cons page, I like the title design, nice job here; But the box below again with justified text, not working too well.

  9. On the note of the above, make sure your paragraphs have a clear space between the previous paragraph.

  10. You've got a lot of different font types, and styles going on each page, which is fine, but you should come up with a look and feel, that makes it so if each page were looked at separately (like we are here) someone could say "Yes these pages are from the same magazine."

  11. On the contents page (last screenshot) left align the text, it's generally not a good idea to right align text as it makes it difficult to read. (the numbers can stay right aligned)

    And Finally:

    If you can - try to learn more about grid systems and typography, there are some great books out there that if you have cash or can ask your parents to buy you a couple books, here are some recommendations (even to just look at for inspiration):

    Grid Systems in Graphic Design: A Visual Communication Manual

    Thinking with Type - This one is one of my favorites

    The Typography Idea book

    I hope this helps :) And keep at it!! Definitely better than I was doing in high school!
u/RyvenZ · 7 pointsr/Warframe

This looks like you just looked at a reference image of Ash and drew what you saw. The character looks distorted, as a result, because you really shouldn't draw that way.

You should frame out the body parts, using simple placeholder shapes (mostly ovals) and study other images of the character to get the details. There are parts here where it would seem that the reference was too dark and you just kind of scribbled to show shadow where detail should actually exist.

Even if you are only a hobbyist, you should grab a copy of Figure Drawing for All It's Worth and actually use the principles in that book. It will help even simple sketches to look amazing, if you get it down.

We weren't meant to be copy machines. You'll be a much better artist if you get away from that.

u/artistwithquestions · 7 pointsr/learnart

Last time I tried to give advice on drawings the person got upset and quit reddit, soooo, please don't do that. My suggestion if you're absolutely serious about drawing is to absolutely learn the fundamentals.

Fun With A Pencil: How Everybody Can Easily Learn to Draw https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857687603/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ijZZDbCWDFEAQ

Drawing the Head and Hands https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857680978/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AjZZDb0B3RBPF

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857680986/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OjZZDbW37G79H

Successful Drawing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857687611/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4jZZDb95Z0W96

Creative Illustration https://www.amazon.com/dp/1845769287/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ikZZDbFRJYAJD

And after the basics


Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist (Volume 1) (James Gurney Art) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0740785508/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_alZZDbZW0Y1P4


Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (Volume 2) (James Gurney Art) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0740797719/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_DlZZDb676AWT6



It doesn't matter what medium you use, learning how to draw and understanding what you're doing will help out the most.

u/JoshMLees · 7 pointsr/manga

I'd say your strongest point is your ability to convey action. The leaping on page 16 is particularly well executed. You also actually have a pretty good grasp of perspective drawing with the environments! It could use a little work, but I feel like every artist could do with more practice!!

The main suggestion I could give you is to start drawing from life. I know you are heavily influenced by Japanese comics, but trust me when I say that all professional manga artists are able to draw from life. What I mean is, take a figure drawing class, or at the very least pick up this book, or any other figure drawing book really. It will help you greatly with getting proportions correct, as well as help you with understanding the internal structure of the body. By skipping learning how to draw from life, and learning to draw from looking at Manga, you're really only taking the face value. Like, have you ever used a copy machine to make a copy of a copy? The original page looks crisp and clean, but that first copy has a few spots and scratches, and then the copy of that copy has big black splotches on it, and eventually the text is completely illegible. Not to say that your art is really bad! It's actually pretty decent for your first comics! I just believe that doing some observational studies will help your work greatly!

The next major thing you should work on is the writing. I get that his blindfold is what keeps his demons at bay, but by starting the comic off with the central character punching a guy's body in two, and then ripping another guy's arm off... it makes me not care about the character. I feel like if you would have shown the readers that he was a kind person, by like, helping the elderly, or defending his father or something, then I'd be like, "Why is this sweet kid suddenly a vicious murderer?" But since you didn't I was like, "Is this a violent comic for the sake of drawing a violent comic?" Therefore, when the dad was brought in to be killed, he started talking about how innocent the kid was, which is the exact opposite of my first impression. Also, why did they kill the dad? Why, then, did they let evil demon kid live, only to exile him? Wouldn't killing Kai solve all of their problems?

Anyway, I feel like you have potential, mainly because you were actually able to produce this much work! Do you have any idea how many people say they want to make comics but pale at the sight of how much work it is? You are a hard worker, and I know that you will be able to persevere and evolve into something so much better than you already are! On that note, buy Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It will change your life. I'm being 100% serious here. McCloud is not only the go-to comics theorist, but he was also one of the first professional Americans to see the potential of drawing comics influenced by the Japanese! Once you have devoured this book, because you will want more, buy Making Comics, also by Scott McCloud. While Understanding dissects the medium and explains things you never would have thought about before, Making Comics applies those thoughts into a school-like setting.

tl;dr: It's good, but could be much better. Worship Scott McCloud.

u/Mynt0202 · 7 pointsr/learnHentaiDrawing

This is currently my holy bible. MikeyMM is such a nice YT channel, has a lot of good tutooorials.

Now if you want something more fundamental, i practiced proportions based on this book

It's a good book, not planning on reading it all, but has a lot of illustrations kinda like this one that make everything more easy to comprehend. Not uploading the original pics, cuz maybe it's illegal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

u/echosignal · 7 pointsr/thedivision
u/shocknob · 7 pointsr/edmproduction

Music theory is kind of interactive since you should play the notes and listen while learning scales and chords. So you can use a book but you can also learn most of the stuff online.

This site is great for learning music theory from the ground of. Those a step-by-step tutorials and are just nice to start with:

https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

If you're looking for tips to actually write and compose melodies, this is a more abstract but still nice guide:

http://www.haydockmusic.com/composing_tips/writing_melodies.html

Experimentation is always the key. You need some theory yes, but more importantly you should play your keyboard and listen to the notes/chords and find out what sounds nice.

If I would have to recommend a book, this is piece here is old but still gold:

https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034/

u/harmlessmusic · 7 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers
  • Learn how to NOT RUSH. It is a tendency of every beginner musician I've ever known. The easiest way to force yourself to stay slow is to subdivide in your head (Subdivide AS MANY TIMES as you need to stay slow. You may be physically playing notes slowly, but if you're thinking at the fastest rhythm possible, It will be next to impossible to rush). Use a metronome/click track on the slowest possible setting and play songs you're comfortable with until you can keep a steady beat.

  • Learn about rudiments. These are the building blocks for a lot of different rhythms. I'd highly recommend picking up a good book on rudimental drumming and practice the examples forwards, backwards, and sideways! This book is my number one recommendation for ANYONE serious about learning rhythm.

  • As several people have said, dynamics are incredibly important for percussion. As a quick example, take any rhythmic passage, then practice accenting the downbeats, the upbeats, then alternate, then accent TWO downbeats, two upbeats, three downbeats, three upbeats, etc. Immediately you will get a feel for the importance of dynamics.
u/KoentJ · 7 pointsr/drums

If you can spare the money I most definitely recommend finding a teacher. You will want to start with rudiments (they can be boring, but you'll be glad you did them in the long haul) and while you can pick them up from books, having a teacher giving feedback helps a lot. You don't have to stay with a teacher on the long-term, if you make it clear that you just want a solid base most teachers know what you mean and want.

If you don't have that money, these are three books I highly recommend to anybody who wants to play any percussion instrument:

http://www.amazon.com/Stick-Control-For-Snare-Drummer/dp/1892764040/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

Description: This book is full of rudiments. Like ctrocks said: This book is evil. You will most likely both grow to hate and love it. Hate it for both how boring rudiments can get (to me, at least) and how hard they get. But love it for the results and seeing how all those rudiments advance your playing immensely. I suggest picking this up as soon as possible.



http://www.amazon.com/Accents-Rebounds-For-Snare-Drummer/dp/1892764067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1343162586&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=Accents+and+Rebounds

Description: The 'sequel' to Stick Control. This book adds accents and even more difficult rhythms. I would suggest picking this up at an intermediate level.

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5

Description: Don't let this book fool you. It all starts out really simple. But this is one of those books that really lays down a foundation you will be very grateful for. And when you're getting to a more advanced level, you will see how you can translate a lot of these syncopated rhythms to the entire drumkit. I suggest picking this up as soon as possible.


http://www.amazon.com/4-Way-Coordination-Development-Complete-Independence/dp/0769233708/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

Description: This book is very well named. You will want to grab this book after you got the basics down, imo. You want to work on the independence of your limbs as soon as possible, but not too soon. Yet again: rudiments. But now rudiments that require all limbs.


http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Techniques-For-Modern-Drummer/dp/0757995403

Description: We're starting to get into the bigger leagues with this book. I honestly don't quite know how to describe this book except for the word: challenging. Challenging in a very, very good way. I recommend picking this up once you're starting to get into a more advanced stage.


These books are for the basics, imo and in the opinion of many fellow drummers as far as I know. But don't forget: the books are merely tools. You don't want to be only playing rudiments, you'll go crazy. I tended to go for a trade: every half out of rudiments rewards me with a half our of putting on tracks and rocking out. Resulting in one-hour sessions a day. Hope this helps!

Edit: Feeling bored so added more books and descriptions.

u/iamktothed · 6 pointsr/Design

An Essential Reading List For Designers

Source: www.tomfaulkner.co.uk

All books have been linked to Amazon for review and possible purchase. Remember to support the authors by purchasing their books. If there are any issues with this listing let me know via comments or pm.

Architecture

u/Sannish · 6 pointsr/GradSchool

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte is very good for anyone making figures at some point.

u/humble_braggart · 6 pointsr/Database

I am currently working in a data warehousing and business intelligence role at a bank. Aside from the basics of ETL, SQL and OLAP, I would recommend having at least a basic understanding of financial accounting. I have also found it useful to read The Data Warehousing Toolkit as well as some other Kimball books.

For entry-level work, there are two recommendations of related skill that have served me quite well to get my foot in the door and show added value: Excel and reporting.

Every institution needs reports developed and it amazes me how rare it is to find well-built reports that clearly communicate their intended information. Being able to follow a few simple guidelines for effective layout and design go a long way. Edward Tufte wrote the definitive work regarding this, but I use Stephen Few's work for more up-to-date examples.

Excel has proven itself very useful for quick ad-hoc analysis and manipulations. Also, it is a mainstay application for most financial services companies and being fluent in functions, pivot charts and VBA is quite useful.

u/pier25 · 6 pointsr/edmproduction

The eternal quantity vs quality debate. Here's a quote from Art &amp; Fear:

&gt; The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

&gt; His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an “A”.

&gt; Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from their mistakes—the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

u/Ceofreak · 6 pointsr/photography

Understanding Exposure Probably the most helpful resource I had understanding photography.

u/socalchris · 6 pointsr/Nikon

&gt; 150 shots

Don't you love digital? So much easier than learning by 36 exposures at a time.

I'd work on your composition some. I'm not a huge fan of your final composition, but it is definitely better than the original one. Maybe de-clutter it some, as someone else suggested. If you're trying to get the kid's clothes in the shot to go with the monkey, maybe remove the laundry basket, fold and stack the clothes, and put the monkey on top of that stack.

I'd also consider bumping your ISO setting down, and opening up the aperture for this shot.

If you're looking for book suggestions, try Bryan Peterson's series, particularly Understanding Exposure. It's clear, concise, has a lot of examples, and is less than $20.

Anyways, have fun. Don't take any of our criticism too seriously, it's mostly subjective. Shoot the way you want, and have fun!

u/DrFacemelt · 6 pointsr/ArtFundamentals

You can practice curves or arcs in the same way you practice straight lines. Make lots of them! You goal should be to make fluid, confident strokes from your shoulder. Lots of books go over this including this one from Scott Robertson or this one from Andrew Loomis. Also check out this From Foundation Patreon.

u/StressCavity · 6 pointsr/animation

While your end goal might be cartoons, you will HAVE to learn to draw realistically to some extent. No way would you be able to animate anything in perspective otherwise, understand lighting, or know how to composite complex scenes. There are fundamentals that you must understand that are key to 2D animation, regardless of art style, which should be continuously worked on alongside your stylistic development.

Books:

Simple book on perspective

My favorite anatomy book

A pretty simple book on light (More pictures/examples than in-depth detail)


Overall beginners drawing book

This covers light/shadow and materials decently for beginners

I personally think you should focus on fundamentals alone until you have a decent grasp before looking at animation. But if you want to learn concurrently, this book is pretty well-known in the industry: LINK

There's tons more, but I already think this might be too much to take in all at once. Discover for yourself the rest, it's not good to have everything handed to you with fundamentals, gotta reign it in personally.

u/clamo · 6 pointsr/learnart

ok i got two for you! ive been using these books to teach myself in my free time when i have downtime from my classes! they work great as guides to teach you fundamentals of figure drawing and perspective/ environment drawing.
figure drawing:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;amp;rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS514US514&amp;amp;ion=1&amp;amp;espv=2&amp;amp;ie=UTF-8#q=figure%20drawing%20design%20and%20invention

environments:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;refRID=0AZB9YYFC6AJ5WER0WQY

u/timbojimbo · 6 pointsr/Design

I have compiled a reading list to be read in order just for this question.

I strongly believe that these books will make you better than 90% of designers out there.

Level One

Start with Thinking with Type it is a really good introduction to all things graphic design. It focuses a lot on typography and it is really basic. I

Next is Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type This book takes what you learned in Thinking with Type and allows you to develope it further in a grid based system. Its good, basic, and has exercises for you to do to play with composition.

Third on the list is Graphic Design: The New Basics It will take what you learned in Thinking with Type and Grid Systems and open them up a little. You learn about design elements other than just type like scale, rhythm and contrast. It really good, and has some projects to do.

Level 2

Now You can get into more "advanced" stuff. There are a lot of books that can go here, but Ill recommend some of my favorites. Its not as important to do this section in order.

Grid Systems in Graphic Design is the bible when it comes to grids. Its german and dry as fuck, but it is basically awesome. Its expensive, but worth every single penny.

Elements of Typographic Style Not alot about grids in here, but it tells you every insane crazy thing that typographers do when they massage text.

You can look at other designers work too. Heres a list of designers I like a lot:

Stefan Sagmeister

Paul Rand

Massimo Vignelli

James Victore

Paul Sahre

Wolfgang Weinhart

Paula Scher

Tibor Kalman

Most of these designers also have books out about their life and work.

Get a sketchbook and play around in it. Draw, collage, glue bubblegum wrappers in there. Just make it a diary of your visual life.

You could also get into Visual Theory here:
Norman Bryson has a book on still lifes that awesome
JWT Mitchell's What do pictures want is great

After this, its just a matter of making a lot of really bad shit and eventually its just a little less worse and maybe one day it might be good.

Ive got more, but that should keep you busy for a year or two.

u/goblue10 · 6 pointsr/funny

The physicist Chris Nolan hired actually wrote a book about it.

Tl;Dr: The math works out, but the black hole would've had to be spinning super fast.

u/Megarachi · 6 pointsr/learnart

I assume the book you're talking about is Figure Drawing: Design &amp; Invention?

If so, good book, highly recommend. Explains anatomy and gesture in an informative yet intuitive way.

u/dontblamethehorse · 6 pointsr/TrueFilm

That sounds like the exact opposite of a book I read and thoroughly enjoyed:

http://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

This is the same book that the famous Orwell vs. Huxley comparison comic was based on.

u/ladiesngentlemenplz · 6 pointsr/askphilosophy

The Scharff and Dusek reader has been mentioned, but I'd like to put a plug in for the Kaplan reader as well.

The following are also worth checking out...

Peter Paul Verbeek's What Things Do (this is my "if you only read one book about Phil Tech, read this book" book)

Michel Callon's "The Sociology of an Actor-Network"

Don Ihde's Technology and the Lifeworld

Andy Feenberg's Questioning Technology

Albert Borgman's Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life

Martin Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology"

Lewis Mumford's Technics and Civilization

Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society

Langdon Winner's "Do Artifacts Have Politics" and The Whale and the Reactor

Hans Jonas' "Technology and Responsibility"

Sunstein and Thaler's Nudge

Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death

Nicholas Carr's The Shallows and The Glass Cage

u/a_reverse_giraffe · 6 pointsr/AnalogCommunity

Look up the book “the photographers eye” by Michael Freeman. Its a book focused completely on composition. It has chapters dedicated to each element of composition such as balance, framing, contrast, figure and ground, etc. If photography was a language, then composition would be the grammar. It’s the rules of photography and you can look through portfolios and photo books as much as you want but it won’t matter if you can’t identify the rules being used.

https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

u/tmnz · 6 pointsr/photography

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

Composition is arguably the single most important aspect to photography. If you can't compose a shot then no amount of expensive gear or lighting can make it look good. The above book is great... Not only does it have lots of photo examples, but there is swathes of text to read that really dives into the subject (sometimes a rarity in photography books). Amazon should let you preview some of it. It also goes into the basics of how to take a photo to capture a story or emotion, which is a skill you will develop for your entire photography career.

u/minerva_qw · 6 pointsr/vegan

It was hard, until all of a sudden it was easy. My method? I learned as much as I could about the issues with animal agriculture. At first I continued to eat eggs and dairy (I'd already been a vegetarian for several years), but I'd feel conflicted and guilty afterward. Still, convenience or cravings would keep me coming back. But I kept reading everything I could find on the subject and one day, suddenly, no amount of tastiness or convenience could justify my continuing to support those practices.

Two of the main sources that informed my decision were the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and Colleen Patrick Goudreau's Food for Thought podcast.

Eating Animals is an extremely well-written and comprehensive overview of the ethical, environmental, and health effects of animal agriculture. Food for Thought touches a lot on the "why" of veganism, but where Colleen's work has really been helpful to me is in the "how." She explains, among other things, how to make sure you're properly nourished, how to stave off cravings for old foods, how to respond to questions and confrontations, and how to really take joy and pleasure in your new lifestyle.

As far as specific advice, here are a few tidbits.

  1. Learn to cook. Fake meats are fine when you're just getting started, but you're going to find yourself bored and dissatisfied with your diet really quickly if you continue to rely on them. Experiment with new cuisines and vegetables, don't let yourself get into a food rut.

  2. Research nutrition. Vegan Health is a good place to start. You can be healthy and thrive on a vegan diet, but it does have different strengths and weaknesses than an omnivorous diet. As long as you eat a wide variety of unprocessed fruits and vegetables and get enough calories for your size and level of activity, you should get most of the nutrients you need in abundance. There are some things that you should consider supplementing: B-12 (absolutely essential!), omega-3s (recommended), calcium and vitamin D (better to obtain through diet, but can supplement if needed). Don't even worry about protein.

  3. Don't avoid talking about your veganism, but in general it's better if other people initiate the conversation. Keep any dialogue brief and matter of fact unless people seem genuinely interested in learning more. Many people will become defensive because your behavior is making them examine their own more than they are comfortable with. Talk about your experience and your reasons, and avoid telling other people what they should do. Be happy and eat delicious food, and people will come around in time.

  4. Build a support network. Ask questions and share experiences here or on other vegan forums. Join a vegan MeetUp group in your area. Volunteer with relevant organizations. It can seem intimidating to make different consumption choices than those around you, but do whatever you can to remind yourself that you're not alone and that you are making a difference :-)
u/vitaebella · 6 pointsr/2xCBookClub

Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer

u/shark_to_water · 6 pointsr/veg

My transition into veganism was probably initially generated by a general reevaluation of the habits I'd developed and inherited as a kid growing up. My parents never second-guessed the morality of buying and eating meat, and I didn't either. But eventually I moved out of my parents' home and then in a rather haphazard, lazy normal kind of way set about challenging my beliefs as I matured. One of those beliefs was that buying and eating meat is essentially a non-moral issue.

Reading Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals" was eye opening for me. I became a rather naive sort of vegan after that for a while. A more recent but very distracting spell of interest in ethics has given me the opportunity to refine my beliefs somewhat.

u/Just_Clouds · 6 pointsr/NatureIsFuckingLit

Even ignoring your immediate and inappropriate insult, your post is full of emotional regurgitation of Big Agriculture propaganda and simple marketing campaigns.

You've been sold a commercial you reiterate without realizing it. America is not "Feeding The World™". Since your post was entirely lacking in facts and sources, I'll provide some:

  • 86 percent of the value of U.S. agricultural exports last year went to 20 destinations with low numbers of hungry citizens and human development scores that are medium, high or very high, according to the U.N. Development Program.

  • Only half of one percent of U.S. agricultural exports, calculated according to their value, went to a group of 19 countries that includes Haiti, Yemen and Ethiopia. These are nations with high or very high levels of undernourishment, measured by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

    So no, we are not the World's Breadbasket. Modern factory farming is not sustainable and constitutes at least 10% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US. The only purpose it serves is to stuff the coffers of Big Agri.

    Farm Subsidies are a big part of this. Initially meant as "a temporary solution to deal with an emergency", the majority of these (still active and growing) subsidies go to farmers corporations with net worths of $2 million. That's not to mention the &gt; $130 million spent on lobbying last year from these same companies, companies which already own many local representatives from Agricultural meccas in the mid-west.

    Despite the hard data representing the U.S.'s contribution to combat global hunger, Monsanto claims that feeding the rest of the world is America's "moral imperative", and not only in the interest of their bank accounts and stock options.

    No aspect of factory farming is intended to be humane. The sole purpose is to be as cheap as legally possible, and where possible, change the laws. There's much more data and news articles regarding the scummy practices in local politics, in spraying feces-and-toxin coctails into the air because you can't legally keep it in pools (in some areas). I highly recommend you do some research and come to understand the true motivations of this industry.

    I could go on, but others have done it much better. If anyone's interested in a non-preachy and fact-oriented account of a fantastic author researching what would be best to feed his child, I highly recommend Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.
u/oro_boris · 6 pointsr/nasa

You might be interested in reading

Science of Interstellar

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0393351378/

It discusses in great detail the realistic aspects of the movie.

u/_MUY · 6 pointsr/funny

Stop getting frustrated and start apologizing to those people because you're wrong. The movie's script was built on working equations, not the other way around.

Here, buy Kip's book.

u/LiamGaughan · 6 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Mark Levine Jazz Piano Book!

That, and a teacher (If you're not down with jazz harmony to begin with)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

And of course, Real Book :)

u/organic · 6 pointsr/piano

The Mark Levine books The Jazz Theory Book and The Jazz Piano Book are both good resources.

u/frajen · 6 pointsr/Jazz

When I was younger, the concept of improvisation in music gave me a reason to live. I was 17, I didn't want kids and there was no point to middle-class suburban life. But if I could come home from whatever my job was, even if I hated it, I could sit at my piano and play how I felt... if I could express myself through music, in a way I could never do so in words - then I would be happy.

I wrote about that idea in a college entry essay, and it has never left me, 13 years later I still feel the same way. Granted, I feel a bit more responsible about many things in life, but at the end of the day I still hold on to that belief.

Initially, jazz was the vehicle through which I learned improvisation, so I feel very close to the music, even if I really don't play in a traditional jazz style. Improvisation was the outwards expression of my feelings; before I learned about jazz, I could only read notes on a page to play music, and I was way too shy to talk or even write about how I was truly feeling, let alone share that with other people.

My "life" has essentially revolved around music ever since high school. I've played gigs, gone on tour, recorded/put together an album (doing the artwork, manually putting together the CD jewel cases), taught music theory/composition/performance, organized shows/event calendars, funded bands/projects, ran venues/music spaces, produced music for video games... I work a regular day job nowadays, but my #1 passion is and will always be music, whether I'm performing it or enabling others the opportunity to perform.

***

I took classical piano lessons as a young kid for ~6 years, then I quit. I had a little bit of technical knowledge and form but I never really "enjoyed" the music I was playing.

I played drums in grade school. While in drumline (marching band), another drummer asked me to play some keyboard parts for his band. Like 3-4 chords during a Pink Floyd song ("Wish You Were Here" actually, you can hear the synth towards the latter part of the song), and some bird chirping sounds. For other songs, I would swing a hockey stick around while wearing a hooded coat (kinda like a grim reaper) while the band played some Black Sabbath covers.

Well it turns out that we won a Battle of the Bands in front of a few hundred high schoolers, got some money, and I had my young ego blown up then, going from unknown nerd to "piano player with the hockey stick" - but at least people knew who I was. I even bought a keyboard so we could gig around town (I still have it, this ridiculous thing, even though the screen doesn't work anymore)

As I practiced with the band, I was introduced to the idea of "soloing" - other classically trained musicians might understand the helpless feeling I had when I was told "just jam over this blues" - I had no idea what I was doing. One of the guitarists in my band told me about the blues scale, a set of 6 notes that I could riff endlessly over and somehow they all sounded great to me.

A year later (and another battle of the bands won), I was invited by the same guitarist to hear one of his friend's dad's jazz trio. I was told his dad, a drummer, had once opened a concert for Parliament. I get to hear this trio, and they are playing Miles Davis' "So What" according to my friend. I'm ask my friend, "How are they playing all that, improvising?" And he says "Yeah"

At this point I'm like, "Well let me jump in there, I know the blues scale!" And my friend is like "Nah dude, you can't do that!"

Later that night he plays me this recording of Thelonious Monk "Epistrophy" and is like "this is jazz, man, you can't just play blues scale over it"

My classical ears heard this song and I thought to myself, "This is some bullshit music. Sounds terrible. This guy sold records? I can do this!"

I went home and realized quickly that I had no idea how to actually play "randomly" - my fingers would not allow me to. I needed some sort of direction, short of just riffing up and down the blues scale.

The internet was starting to become a thing at this point, so I jumped online and looked up how to improvise jazz on a hip new search engine called "Google" (lol). With a little digging and the help of Napster, I ended up finding an mp3 of Keith Jarrett "The Koln Concert Part IIc"

I listened to that shit so many times. How could someone just sit down and PLAY that?

The summer after my senior year, I used two websites (Jazz Improvisation Primer and LearnJazzPiano.com) and Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book to learn about jazz and how to improvise. I spent 4-5 hours a day going through the book, listening to music from the websites, reading about music theory, and practicing on my parents' upright.

When I went to undergrad, I sold my drum set and brought the keyboard along. Really glad I chose that path.

On campus, I found other jazz musicians and tried to hang out with them whenever I could; even though I wasn't a music student, I lived in a dorm really close to the music department, and my classes were also relatively close. I ended up going to my first jam sessions my freshman year, and while I struggled to keep up (I was literally pushed off a piano bench once), I found a few kind souls who were willing to be patient with me and let me play with them. Many of them are doing great musically/career-wise now, and my heart warms up SO much whenever I think about them

Anyways, I transcribed solos, played off lead sheets, and listened to jazz all the time that year, trying to practice an hour or two every day or at least every other day. The first tune I ever completely transcribed was Cannonball Adderley "Autumn Leaves" and it took at least half a year, I probably spent a month alone on the first 4 bars of Cannonball's solo

I don't know exactly when it happened, but my girlfriend at the time was really into Prince/Michael Jackson and the summer of my junior year, during an internship in California, I somehow found myself watching the Britney Spears' "Toxic" music video and figuring out how to play it on piano. Sure it was "pop crap" but something about the little string riff caught my attention. That summer I started learning a ton of radio songs and I realized that I could use my jazz transcribing skills to learn almost any rock/pop tune, since the basic harmonies/melodies were generally much simpler than dealing with something like the changes to Coltrane's "Moment's Notice".

I filled up ~200 notebook pages of chord changes and reharmonziations of pop/rock/musical/video game songs I had grown up with, thinking to myself, "Isn't this what all those bebop heads did in the 40s? Take their favorite childhood tunes and turn them inside out?" Around this time, I started playing solo piano gigs, quoting these familiar tunes occasionally, enough to grab an audience, but keeping the whole "cool jazz" feel to them.

When I came back to school I started playing around town a lot, and by the end of undergrad, I finally felt like I could sit down and just play how I felt. I can't pinpoint exactly when this happened, but it was a big turning point in my musical life. I had a friend record me at the on-campus music studios, which became my first album. I decided that I would go "on tour" around the country, playing at venues in college towns/big cities, partly to prove to myself that I could make it as a musician, partly because road trips!!!!!

I could write a book about those 4 months but basically at the end of it all, I had played in ~50 cities, smoked a ton of weed, realized I could "keep up" w/some of the best jazz musicians (playing in New Orleans, LA, and NYC for a week each), and was broke as shit. The money thing scared me. I grew up what I considered to be middle class, but I couldn't stomach having $20 in my bank account with no paycheck in sight. As a musician, playing jazz, I realized how difficult it would be to live comfortably.

At the same time, I knew where I wanted to settle down. I moved 2000 miles, took a corporate day job near San Francisco, and was incredibly lucky to find relatively affordable housing out here (prices were high a decade ago but not as bad as they are now, I think).

Most "new" stuff in my life from that point on (in terms of music) didn't really specifically deal with jazz, although I did play a lot of jazz gigs both solo and with a quartet (clarinet+rhythm section) over the next few years. Got into lots of other kinds of music, started DJing a bit, saved up money from my day job to find other musicians gigs/avenues to play, eventually got into electronic dance music, raves, music production, but anyways. There's a somewhat related post about that here

I stream improvisational piano on Twitch occasionally, and there are definitely touches of jazz, although I would never compare myself favorably to anyone who practices and studies jazz consistently. Over the last 5-6 years, not playing with other jazz musicians has kind of dulled my chops, plus I don't really practice that way anymore anyways... but I'm quite OK with that. I still love sitting down and just playing how I feel, and it's kind of cool in this modern age that people all around the world can listen and enjoy it if they want - good for the ego heh ; )

Music is fucking great. Keep listening, keep playing : )

u/tercerero · 6 pointsr/BabyBumps

I'm getting mine that Darth Vader and Son book.

http://www.amazon.com/Darth-Vader-Star-Wars-Chronicle/dp/145210655X

u/whiterabbit7500 · 6 pointsr/StarWars

For those interested, this is a page from Vader's Little Princess.

There's a version for Luke too, called Darth Vader and Son.

u/HerpDerpenberg · 6 pointsr/thedivision

Have you collected all the echos, incident reports and phone recordings? Have you purchased the supplemental survival guide/short story based around April Kelleher's experience leading up to the events of The Division??

These are all integrations of the story and are painting you a larger picture of how things went down. Subtle things from first wave agent audio recordings, echos, scenarios and background stories leading up to events played out in the game.

u/BlackFox97 · 6 pointsr/hiphopheads

Learn music theory. I've started going through this book recently and it's helping me get the basics down and a lot of stuff is starting to make sense.

Other than that learning the ins and outs of your DAW and the workflow makes everything easier, even if it takes some time and effort.

u/shadfresh · 6 pointsr/electronicmusic

I have a few recommendations for you to get you started:

  1. This book: Music Theory for The Computer Musician , it's a great way to start off if you're unfamiliar with music theory. It gives you the basics and foundation of theory and while showing you how to apply it to various DAWs. It's a fairly easy read and there are quizzes and a CD with examples from the lessons. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

  2. Here are some good subreddits:
    /r/edmproduction/
    /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/
    /r/abletonlive/

  3. As others have mentioned, there are no shortage of resources online. There's tons of Youtube videos and forums where you can find tutorials.

  4. I also recommend listening/reading up on different types of EDM to give yourself a better understanding of what differentiates each genre. For example, check out the "House Music" wiki. Look at the description and try to understand what the "elements" of House music are: Rhythm structure, characteristic sounds, etc.. Do that for the genres you like first, and then venture to others you may not be familiar with.

  5. Lastly, if you're serious about it, stick with it. Just like anything, the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. Also, keep in mind it's not a cheap hobby or easy (time wise). You can do a lot of basic stuff with you Macbook and Logic (or whatever DAW you prefer) to get yourself started. I would hold off buying much hardware until you are comfortable with basics. If anything I would start off with some headphone and speaker monitors. (the links are to what I'm using and recommend to get started).


    I hope at least some of that is helpful...Good luck with everything!
u/Wunjumski · 6 pointsr/edmproduction

This is the best one I have found. Everything is very, very well explained.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034

u/Jongtr · 6 pointsr/musictheory

Listen to as much as you can.

Play as much as you can. I.e., ideally, listen and copy.

Books are OK to learn from, but make sure they are songbooks. The Real Book (Vol.1) in particular is the bible of jazz repertoire. There's years (a lifetime?) of work and learning there.

I really don't recommend any jazz theory books, although there are some good ones out there. Just remember the old jazz masters - everyone's heroes - didn't have jazz theory books, or jazz college courses. They learned on the job. Listening and copying, trial and error.

Improvisation is about (a) learning your instrument thoroughly (chords especially), and (b) amassing plenty of melodic vocabulary. That consists of two kinds of stuff: (1) composed melodies from jazz standards (hence the Real Book); (2) licks from favourite jazz solos (hence all the listening and copying).

Whatever tune you improvise on, you don't need any additional theory knowledge. You need to know how to play the tune (melody and chords - not necessarily both at the same time), and the ways in which jazz musicians typically play around with that material: the kinds of sounds and phrases and embellishments they typically play. The material you need - the "what" - is all in the tune, and what you do with it - the "how" - is in all those jazz recordings.

In particular, you can add passing chromatics pretty much anywhere you like - a lot of jazz theory is about various concepts or systems of chromaticism, but you can use your ear, especially if you've heard enough jazz to know the "accent of the language".

But lastly, the fundamental thing you will really miss if doing all this on your own is the interaction with other musicians. Jazz is a conversation. Soloists improvise against a backing, but that "backing" (rhythm section) is constantly responding to the soloist too. Moreover - as a pianist in a band - you need comping skills, which is about being economical, minimal, behind a soloist. I definitely recommend finding at least one other musician to jam with - a horn player is ideal, but any other instrument would do.

Apologies to those who've seen this guy too many times already, but take a look at some of these videos.

u/qquicksilver · 6 pointsr/reddit.com

This book instructs you to draw disproportionate people for various reasons. I think the people who wrote that book might be a little more successful at their craft than you are at yours.

Or even better

http://howtodealwithjealousy.com/

u/mmm27 · 6 pointsr/IWantToLearn

As my art teacher says: "If you know how to use a pencil, you know how to draw." I'm still a beginner but I've realized that all you have to do to draw well, is just...draw.

Nobody can teach you how to do it but yourself, sure there are people out there that teach you how to draw little things, but ultimately, YOU have to practice as hard as you can!

Just learn the basics (perspective, shading, figure drawing, materials etc.) first, and from there on out, you can learn tips, but the main way to get better after learning the basics is just to practice, which is something I've learned partly from experience and from dozens of tutorials I've used.

ONE HUGE, HUGE, TIP: REMEMBER: YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF. It is really, really good to challenge yourself, and try to do it a majority of the time you spend drawing. HOWEVER, every now and then, revisit your comfort zone and draw something that'll look nice but is still easy to draw. If you're always out of your comfort zone when drawing, you will realize that drawing will quickly get frustratingly boring.

^ I've learned this because for a lot of time when I drew, I felt it was too hard and so I stopped every now and then because I felt I couldn't do anything. That was because I barely ever brought myself back to drawing what I KNEW how to draw and instead only focused on what I didn't. CHALLENGE MAKES YOU BETTER, BUT COMFORT LETS YOU HAVE FUN. Have a little fun sometimes and revisit your comfort zone! :)

Remember that you don't have to be the best drawer in the world, I'm sure there are some artists today that can't draw, but are skilled at digitally remastering their drawings to look better than they could make them, and if you're into this digital work more than traditional drawing, then do what they do and learn to make your drawings better using a computer! This is ultimately your decision.

Draw your favorite characters of shows, draw real life objects, draw people you know or just see on the street. Don't be afraid to whip out your sketchpad and draw like shit in front of people, because EVERYBODY draws like shit when they're starting and if you're quickly sketching, you WILL draw like shit, but it doesn't matter because most people sketch just to practice, just to recognize the contours of objects, the details of some things, etc.

A FEW RESOURCES I USED

How to draw comics the Marvel Way This book doesn't teach much but it's good for the bare essentials of figure drawing and perspective (and comics if you're into that sort of thing).

http://www.drawspace.com/ Some essentials and tips for drawing.

You can use STUMBLEUPON to stumble under drawing or art for tutorials and tips!

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-For-Dummies-Sports-Hobbies/dp/0470618426 Never read the entire thing, but hey, give it a shot if you want to.

*Pretty much ANYTHING you type on Google will be given to you. Ex. Just type in how to draw hands and you'll get a link of 35 tutorials. You can easily find resources if you Google "how to draw __".

WHEW! THAT was a mouthful. (That's what she said.)

Anyway, I've given you as much advice as I can give you. Trust me, I've just begun to master the basics of drawing, but these are the things I've learned so far, and trust me, whatever tutorial you look up will tell you the P word: PRACTICE. That's it. The whole big scheme.

PRACTICE.

There is no way to learn than to

PRACTICE.

Do not try to master it unless you are willing to

PRACTICE.

PRACTICE
PRACTICE
PRACTICE

Dam, that word looks funny now.

Anyway, get out there and learn how to draw and shit! But remember to have fun along the way, don't push yourself to the point of frustration, take breaks and reward yourself a little from time to time with easier drawing projects!

ONE MORE THING: Keep all of your drawings ever since from when you started, and when you're feeling low on motivation, scan through them and compare them to your new drawings, and trust me, if you've been working, you will see a difference, even the slightest one and that'll definitely help you believe that your practicing has been working.




u/intothewoodscomic · 6 pointsr/comicbookart

Love the attention to detail on the costume, as well as the Kirby energy around Mjolnir/background. Colours are spot on, too.

The pose isn’t working for me, though. It lacks dynamism (one of the hallmarks of Kirby’s works) and the silhouette is muddled. The limbs are twisted every which way and there’s no clear line of action of action through the figure.

If you’ve not already read it, How to Draw Comic the Marvel Way is pretty essential. Some of the specifics are a little dated by modern standards, but the fundamental advice around posing and composition still holds true. Every comic artist should have it in their library.

u/IrisHopp · 6 pointsr/learntodraw

In the sidebar you see a link called "Loomis", get his book "Fun With A Pencil". After doing his book, do Perspective Made Easy and How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. (Amazon links)

Going through those books as well as copying comics/cartoon (you do learn from copying masters!), that's your "studying time". Do that half of the time, and the other half of the time, draw your own comics/cartoons. Why? By drawing your own you'll figure out your weak and strong areas, and more importantly, you'll have fun! Having fun makes you stick with it for the long term.

Go for it!

u/OhNoRhino · 6 pointsr/learnart
u/ComixBoox · 6 pointsr/ArtCrit

http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-All-Its-Worth/dp/0857680986 This is the best book on the figure ever written(/drawn) hands down. Loomis is a god among artists and his figure drawing and explanations of figure drawing are unmatched. This book is back in print after being out of print for forever. I have had this book recommended to me by no less than 30 professors and professional artists. Its amazing.

u/aderra · 5 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Get a copy of The Real Book and start learning songs. This isn't a hardcore technique workout but more of a way to A)build repertoire and B)get your hands more familiar with playing jazz changes.

u/pianoboy · 5 pointsr/piano

The word you're probably looking for is "accompaniment". However, you probably don't want to search using this term.

Any popular music that is published is usually arranged for "Piano/Vocal/Guitar", and I don't really know of a standard term for this type of sheet music. For what this looks like, check out any of the popular sheets on http://musicnotes.com. These are arranged so that you can play the song as a piano solo if you want, but if you want to just accompany someone else or play in a band, you would just look at the guitar chords placed above each line of music (e.g. "G", "Cm7", "D", "Bsus4").

The other type of notated music used for accompaniment is called a "lead sheet". This has only the solo line (the tune/melody of the song) and the chords. So it's basically just the top half of what you see in a "piano/vocal/guitar" arrangement.

The other term you'll see is "Fake Book". A Fake book is just a book containing a large number of lead sheets. If you're playing jazz, the most popular book of lead sheets for jazz standards is called "The Real Book".

Finally, on many "guitar tab" sites, you can find just the chords for songs (although there are often lots of errors). Look for versions that say "chords" instead of "tabs". Here's an example

No matter what type of sheet music you're looking at, if you're playing with others, you'll need to learn to play by reading chord symbols instead of notes on a staff. When searching for music, you'd want to include one of these terms: "chords", "tabs", "sheets", "lead sheet", "fake book", "piano". Don't worry too much exactly what type of sheet music you get, even if it's for solo piano; as long as there are chord symbols on it, that's all you need.

Here is a list of links for you to get started:

u/hhtm153 · 5 pointsr/Guitar

If you're into jazz, get yourself a Real Book! It's reasonably basic sheet music, and full of classics.

u/mcantrell · 5 pointsr/KotakuInAction

&gt; Antarctic Press :D my 3rd most frequently purchased comics publisher after Slave Labor Graphics and Dark Horse! mainly just the odd issue of Fred Perry's Gold Digger but mainly their How to Draw Manga books.

Didn't realize they were the How to Draw Manga book guys. Have a ton of them.

I remember back in the day the guy behind "Listening to 11.975Mhz" had a page up on them. He uh... wasn't a fan. He suggested instead an actual book on Figure Drawing / Anatomy -- Jack Hamm's was specifically suggested and a book by Stan Lee on how old school, pre-diversity hire retards Marvel did comicing -- How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.

u/ZaradZapp · 5 pointsr/rupaulsdragrace

I think it's interesting that people make snide little jokes when someone has obviously put their own mark on something, produced it by hand, and actually used a reference for their own work and not completely duplicated that reference pixel for pixel. You are absolutely on the right track here. With your illustrative style I'd check out this book, [How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way] (https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771) By Stan Lee and John Buscema. At $11.00 it's a lot of info on the cheap. I had an artist who I really admired suggest it to me when I was younger and it was a godsend. It's a really good guide to hammer down some basic perspective and anatomy as well as grow the natural lines that I can see in your work. Things like getting those eyes to look in the same place, and blocking out areas of your work to show depth. Very on point with your subject. Great job. Toot.

u/wavv · 5 pointsr/howto

She's not the original artist and the text is lifted as well from the book these images were taken from. It's "How to Draw Comic the Marvel Way"

It's kinda funny I recognize the boob drawings.

u/bronkula · 5 pointsr/sanfrancisco

I was taught to do caricature when I worked in theme parks. I learned a lot from How to Draw the Marvel Way and studying great comic artists like Moebius and classic pen and ink artists like Charles Dana Gibson

u/Bulleta · 5 pointsr/IWantToLearn

The quickest, most reliable way to humanoid character drawing (without previous knowledge in the subject) is to use Andrew Loomis' method. The best book on this subject is Figure Drawing For All It's Worth. You can find "free" copies of it online, if you don't mind that it's a scanned copy from the 1950's.

Pre-rendered landscape art demands that you know enough about perspective, and thus I would also recommend looking at Andrew Loomis' Successful Drawing.

As for putting your skills into use and transferring them into a game, it seems that everything you need is available at Digital Tutors. If you are ready to begin this stage, be sure to have the proper software, and that you know the basics on how to use it.

I can go into much greater detail, and even help you gather resources, but let's make sure you aren't overwhelmed just yet.

u/Gizank · 5 pointsr/Guitar

I've had this book for years and use it all the time.

I'm very interested in this one as recommended by grampageoff up there.

u/accomplicated · 5 pointsr/Beatmatch

Not specific to DJing, but I found This Is Your Brain on Music to be an invaluable resource. A few pages in and I was already a better producer/DJ.

u/schmarschmucks · 5 pointsr/musiccognition

I honestly think that learning some music theory will help. It gives you a deeper understanding of why things sound good when they do, and what things are likely to sound good together. To me, learning theory isn't really learning "someone else's music." Think of music like a language. Learning grammar and syntax won't stop you from making unique and beautiful sentences.
Also, I recommend reading This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levintin. Good luck! :)

u/EverForthright · 5 pointsr/AskWomen

Oof, that's a tough one. I really like Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber, This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin and Whipping Girl by Julia Serano.

u/mcrumb · 5 pointsr/drawing

I'm hoping someone with some experience will chime in. As a fellow beginner, I like the following:

Figure Drawing, Design and Invention

Jack Hamm, Drawing the Head and Figure

But, with that said, the one I've had the most success with is:

Vilppu Drawing Manual. If I could only have one book, that is probably the one I would pick.

u/Comics_Manifest · 5 pointsr/manga

Hey!

That's awesome you want to learn to create manga! As far as learning how to draw manga with video. Mark Crilley's YouTube channel is incredible. But also if you would like to learn how to draw manga I think it's important to study fundamentals of drawing (Mangaka are trained artists who learn their craft not from drawing manga but drawing from life and creating their own style afterwords) so I would suggest also going through a drawing book or two.


Also here are a few other resources that I think will be incredible for you if you want to not only learn how to draw manga but maybe turn that passion into an actual career!


u/tmwrnj · 5 pointsr/Guitar

I'd recommend Jazz Guitar: Complete Edition by Jody Fisher. It covers all the important topics in a fairly straightforward way and comes with a CD of examples and backing tracks. It's aimed at intermediate guitarists, but your experience should be sufficient.

The old standard was Mickey Baker's Jazz Guitar, but I'm not a huge fan. The learning curve is extremely steep and there's not a great deal of theory or explanation. It'd be a really useful companion to lessons with a teacher, but I think that most beginners would really struggle with it.

A good alternative to the Jody Fisher book is A Modern Method For Guitar by William Leavitt. The learning curve is fairly gradual, but it's tough going - everything is written in standard notation and there's no real instruction as such. It seems to be inspired by the Suzuki method. Everything is taught through progressively more demanding examples. You probably won't get stuck on anything, but you will need to do a bit of thinking to figure stuff out for yourself.

If you want to learn jazz theory in depth, I'd strongly recommend Jazzology by Rawlins and Bahha. It's the clearest, most elegant explanation of how everything fits together in jazz. It's not specifically written for guitar, but the theory is universal. The Jody Fisher book covers all the theory that you really need to know, but Jazzology would be a really good supplement if you like to understand things in detail.

In your jazz guitar journey, you'll probably come across The Real Book. It's an essential reference text, containing lead sheets for hundreds of the most popular jazz tunes. It's how most of us learned our repertoire and most of us still have a copy in our gig bag pocket. Today, you have a huge advantage in learning tunes because of the fabulous iReal Pro. It's an app version of The Real Book, but it can also play backing tracks for any tune in any key and at any tempo. It's an absolute boon when you're learning to play solos.

Finally, I'd suggest just listening to a whole bunch of jazz, not just jazz guitar. You should know Joe Pass, Ted Greene and Wes Montgomery, but you should also know Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie.

u/OnaZ · 5 pointsr/piano

Well it sounds like it's time for you to learn a new skill: accompaniment. Just because the melody is written out for you doesn't mean that you have to play it.

Start by playing bass notes in your left hand and two or three note chords in your right hand. Find a fakebook (or some online leadsheets) and figure out how to play from chords. You need to start moving away from printed sheet music and towards understanding how chords and accompaniment work.

If you find a specific song you would like to work on, feel free to post it and I would happy to talk you through how to approach accompaniment.

u/PublicEnemaNumberTwo · 5 pointsr/Guitar

There are a couple of great books by Dan Erlewine, "The Guitar Player Repair Guide" and "How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great".

u/wigs837 · 5 pointsr/Guitar

One of the biggest downsides is your intonation will change especially on a guitar with a trem system. so essentially your guitar will no long play in tune all along the fretboard. your action may also become lower causing fret buzz or possibly notes fretting out on bends.

it's worth it to learn how to take care of your guitar yourself. its going to be your best friend for the rest of your life, take some time and effort and learn the in's and outs of guitar maintenance.

here is a good book to learn from
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/0879309210

u/JacquesBlaireau13 · 5 pointsr/Guitar

Dan Erlewine's book covers this repair, if i recall correctly.

Also, enquire at /r/luthier. This I a fairly common repair and you might find a thread over there that addresses it.

u/spacecadet689 · 5 pointsr/brasil

Aproveitando o assunto, todo mundo deveria ler um livro chamado The Visual Display of Quantitative Information quando o assunto é gráficos e estatísticas.

u/johny5w · 5 pointsr/datascience

This might be what you are looking for, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information By Edward Tufte. The book is a little older, but the principles still stand, and it is considered a pretty seminal work for data visualization.

u/rhinegold · 5 pointsr/LadiesofScience

I really like The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. One of Tufte's principles is that you always want to maximize the data-ink ratio to keep your figures clean, informative, and easy to read.

Personally I use MATLAB for figure generation and Adobe Illustrator to put panels together, annotate, and add transparency.

Another pro tip is that you always, always, always want to work with vector graphics. If a journal requires raster graphics make sure that conversion is literally the last thing you do to your figures.

u/ImaginarySpider · 5 pointsr/dataisbeautiful

I took a class in college based on The Visual Display of Quantatative Information that gave me such an appreciation for data and how it is displayed. This sub helped reignite that when I found it. Not all the post live up to it though.

u/BasicDesignAdvice · 5 pointsr/ArtCrit

READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. i learned the lessons here the hard way. i saw it in another thread recently and man, i would have saved myself a lot of suffering if i had known about it.

and stop trying to be someone else. you do have something to say, you're just afraid to say it.

u/NaiDriftlin · 5 pointsr/nanowrimo

Disregard paranoia. Acquire Art and Fear. Overcome adversity.

If you can find a copy at a library, or get someone to let you borrow it via Kindle, you should read it. It helps artists(which writers are) overcome such fears and conundrums of questioning originality.

Basic fear aside, this is a fairly rare situation, especially in the internet age.

If you need some assurance that you aren't doing it, have someone proof read your work, preferably someone as well read, if not more read than you.

u/0101110010110 · 5 pointsr/cscareerquestions

There are two resources I would recommend you take a look at.

The first is Learning How To Learn by Barbara Oakley. It is a tremendous resource for learning about how your brain works, and it has an entire section devoted to procrastination.

The second is the book Art and Fear. It's focused mainly for artists, but there are many parallels with creating in general. Given your fear of failure, I think it would be a great resource.

u/TheGreatPiata · 5 pointsr/ArtFundamentals

I'm going to piggy back off this post and recommend Art &amp; Fear by by David Bayles and Ted Orland: https://www.amazon.ca/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

It's a short read so it shouldn't take too much time from drawing.

The two things that really stuck out for me were:

  • Students graded by the number of pieces produced created more and better art than students graded on one piece at the end of the class
  • What others think of your art is irrelevant. You are going to make stuff anyways so you might as well ignore everything else and focus on making art

    The other thing that really influenced me was Strip Search from Penny Arcade: https://www.penny-arcade.com/strip-search/episode/artists-assemble

    Mike's advice to almost everyone eliminated was to "draw every day". That really stuck with me and I've done it ever since. Making drawing a part of my daily routine is the only way I've managed to grow as an artist.
u/wi_2 · 5 pointsr/TechnoProduction

Ha, I knew it.

So, yes, we all face this issue in the creative space.
And honestly, it is a curse, it is probably the most damning thing that happens to our ability to work.
This book is all about that https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733
Interesting read if you want to read, but my main point with sharing the book is to let you know how common this issue is.

Now, the solution is, you suck, you need to accept that you suck, and you need to stop caring that you suck.
What you need to focus on is your love for music, your love for sound. That feeling you get when you press the keys using a synth with a cool sound or listen to a cool beat.

The problem really starts there, because while you produce, your love for music will so easily get trumped by the music that you love.
Do not do this, do not compare yourself to others like that.
They are different humans, with different experiences, and different lives, different brains. You will never be like them.

You are your own person, your own brain, your own experiences, and this is where your beauty lies.
People often tell you, when you want to pick up a girl just be yourself.
Well it's the same is with making music, just be yourself.
If what comes out of your head is beep boop beep, then make beep boop beep, do not feel shame for your simplicity, focus on the love of the sounds you choose, focus on the ideas that pop into your head and express them, no matter how primitive they sound to you.
Another link about this exact topic, little more esoteric.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHW1I8T0caI

Trust in your own ability to get better, do not compare yourself to others all the time, again, they are different people.
Don't buy a shirt because it looks cool on some dude, buy a shirt because you like it and it fits you.

In short, you are trying to climb a ladder starting at the top.
It's a very common feeling for all, we all have to go through this, the solution is to accept your suckage and try to improve yourself not by trying to be someone else, but to be a better you.
If that pulls you away from the music you love, let it pull you away.
If you find yourself making classical music or pop songs or punk or whatever instead of techno, let it pull you away. You need to set yourself free creatively, you need to relearn the joy of play.
To box yourself in with a genre or worse, music that you like, is extremely damning, especially if you are not well conscious of your own creativity etc.

Grab your instruments, play around, have fun. Drop some notes, drop some beats, just make music and play. If something does not feel right to you, tweak it until it does, but stay within yourself, trust your own gut, your own inspiration, stop the automatic response to start looking at other work to try and find their solutions.
Do look at other people work to study as you please, you can learn a lot, just do not do that while you are producing your own song.
Don't do so when you are trying to put yourself into your creative/expressive mindset.


Anyways, hope it helps, feel free to hit me up if you feel crappy about stuff. I have suffered this exact issue for years and years, it took me like 10 years to finally start to grasp the issue.

EDIT
more ranting

In more practical terms, I suggest you try to find your creative playful mindset.
If you are bored with a track and not inspired, fuck it, let it die, trying to finish so you can share it, will quickly kill your creative mindset, you need solid awareness of this conscious switch to be able to deal with it.
Do not try and make music like others, make the music that you hear in your head, even if it's just beep boop beep human music, hmm, I like it. You will get better and more expressive as you dig deeper, trust that.
Do not make drum patterns the way they are supposed to be, make drum patterns that sound good to you.
Use your hands and feet as much as you can, record things live using your midi keyboard, tweak after, it does not matter if you can't play piano, the point is to express yourself, using your body to do so is a much shorter road for your mind to fall into that mindset.
If you dance, then dance, do you know this moment while you are dancing and forgot to care you look stupid? That moment when you are just having pure fun and are feeling one with the music, flowing like some ninja or whatever? This is it, this is what you want to dig for.
Dance on your midi keyboard and record it, and tweak it after, with your dance recent midi keyboard dance still fresh in your memory.
Music is language, try and think of it like that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmKyySG6qp8
Listen to you beep boop beep, reply to it, maybe another boop? beep boop beep boop boop boop BAM! Whatever, have fun with it.

For me techno sounds like "yeh, yeh, let go, woohoo,, watch out, wait, wait watch out,, here we GO! yeh yeh yeh" It's primitive, stupidly retarded in a way, and gloriously fantastic.

Classical music is often like "can you hear it? can you? omg it is beatiful... no... no wait!.. it is happening again.. my love where have you gone?.. now I am here alone again.. waiting for you .. alone alone.. forever alone.. .. alone... NO NO NO I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS.. FIGHT.. I will FIGHT!!!.. glory glory!! fight for glory!!"
It is more an emotional rollercoaster ride, which people find is more complex I suppose, fair enough.

EDIT

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Spirit-Robert-Henri/dp/0465002633/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;pd_rd_i=0465002633&amp;amp;pd_rd_r=893TKNMA88H6YMF627F7&amp;amp;pd_rd_w=TcJuv&amp;amp;pd_rd_wg=temwA&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=893TKNMA88H6YMF627F7
This book I also recommend, it's about painting, but the same ideas apply to pretty much any creative endevour

u/amullet77 · 5 pointsr/AskPhotography

This book is amazing at teaching you the basics of photography!

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wFb1xbFH42KRQ

u/designplantgrow · 5 pointsr/Nikon

I would highly recommend you get a copy of the book Understanding Exposure: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509

I have a Nikon D3400 and got a copy of this book to help push me out of auto mode. The book is very well written and explains how to capture the best images. It'd probably be better to have a foundational understanding of how a picture is taken and processed than to try making up for the lack of experience with different lenses and filters.

Is there anywhere you post your images so some of us can check them out?

Good luck and have fun!

u/guiguismall · 5 pointsr/learnart

You won't necessarily draw the internal anatomy every time you draw a person, but you'll definitely have to learn it by drawing it a lot. Look at it like that: when you draw a figure, the only thing you can see is the skin (and later, the clothes). Well, it happens that said skin is wrapped around a complex structure of bones and muscles, and so are the clothes of a characters. Knowing how this structure is built will let you "drap" skin and clothes the proper way, and will give you all the indications you need when it comes to adding light and shadow. As a bonus, being able to "see" the internal structure of a body gives you the ability to manipulate it, exagerate poses, and even create new ones from imagination.

Now as for how to learn it? I see in one of your old comments that you seem to have the books everyone recommends already, but have you tried using them? Grab either Loomis's or Hampton's book, and read them cover to cover while reproducing the drawings, that should be a good start. Alternatively, check out Proko's channel on youtube, he's got some material on figure drawing, too.

As a side note and to answer an older question of yours regarding drawing cars, check out Scott Robertson's book on objects and environments in perspective, or his DVDs on Gnomon Workshop if you're like me and prefer this format (subscription does cost $50 a month though, but Gnomon also has some pretty good figure drawing / anatomy courses. Your call).

u/sjalfurstaralfur · 5 pointsr/learntodraw

Sorry I was probably being unhelpful with that comment. Anyways, one critique I have is to keep in mind the 3D shape of objects. So right now the way you drew the pen, it's "flat" and doesnt have any dimensionality. You should aim to draw a cylinder rather than a rectangle. This is probably the #1 mistake I see beginners do in this sub. See pic. The end goal is to be able to draw a pen from any angle.

To reach that end goal, I recommend you get a beginner's book on perspective, any basic one you find on amazon should be fine. Perspective is like the addition and multiplication of drawing, because everything you will ever see in your life will be in perspective. Then once you finish that, delve into How to Draw by Scott Robertson. It's hard book but if you work through it, you'll be on your way in no time. Don't worry if you just end up drawing a bunch of boxes, because nearly everything can be mapped out into a box shape. Take for example this drawing by Scott Robertson, he uses boxes a lot.

u/mazaer · 5 pointsr/learnart

I strongly recommend Scott Robertson's "How to Draw" book. It is almost entirely dedicated to perspective drawing. It teaches everything from the basics of two and three point perspectives all the way to more complex things such as mirroring curves and even correctly drawing things like staircases in perspective. It's also super cheap for what it offers:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=la_B0034O5O32_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1417522342&amp;amp;sr=1-1

Grab that and work your way through every exercise one-by-one and you'll come out with a firm grasp on perspective drawing. He also has an accompanying website for the book that you can log into that goes through some of the lessons in video format. As he is a teacher (and so is the co-author), they both do a great job of explaining things in the videos.

u/Am_draw · 5 pointsr/learnart

Your friend is sort of right about the pen. It can help do away with the "chicken scratch" method of drawing by forcing you to be more confident with your lines but you should stick with pencil for now.


I'm mostly self-taught as well (although I learned a bit from Watts Atelier until it got to be too expensive) and the sheer amount of information out there can be really overwhelming. I mean, there's so many things to learn: perspective, line weight, figure drawing, portraiture, landscape, etc.


What definitely helped me is realizing that I'm never going to stop improving as an artist. That means that I'm going to have my entire life to hone my skills. Even if you have to unlearn a lot of bad habits, you've still got plenty of time to practice slowly, deliberately and mindfully.


If you understand that you've got your whole life to get better, it's easier to formulate a strategy to get better. You've got to think about this in the long term. That means taking a month to work solely on anatomy, another month to work only on perspective, another month to work on tone and values, while always revisiting the skills that you've already cultivated.


For example, I've laid out my artistic goals 3 months in advance. That means that for the next 3 months, I'm only focusing on anatomy and gesture/figure drawing. My daily schedule this week looks like this:


warmup

1, 2, 5 and 10 minute gesture/figure drawings

study/copy hands from Bridgeman's Constructive Anatomy book

draw 50 hands

spend about 10-15 minutes drawing hands from memory and comparing them to the references I was using earlier

work on something fun


If I have extra time, I'll work on some more anatomy studies but it depends on how busy I am with work/life. After this week is up, I'll move on to arms, then the core, then legs, head, etc, following the same setup I've made. Maybe the next 3 months, I'll move on to perspective drawing but I haven't thought that far ahead yet.


If you're confused about where to start, just pick something that you're the weakest at and start drawing that. It's a grind and you're going to be producing hundreds, if not thousands of drawings but that's the way to get better.


Like I said, if you start thinking in the long term, it gets less overwhelming. I'm gonna link some resources that really helped me out.


Books

Perspective Made Easy

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Fun With a Pencil Actually, anything by Loomis.

How to Draw Kind of a technical book but goes into really great detail about perspective


Youtube Channels

Watts Atelier Highly recommended. Watch his figure drawing videos. Also, if you can spare the cash, join his online school. It's fantastic and very structured course in drawing. Definitely look into this if you have trouble deciding what to learn next.

Proko This guy has great intro videos for figure drawing. I think he learned at Watts Atelier as well.

New Masters Academy They have a ton of great videos about everything. Definitely look into Glen Vilppu's figure drawing series. He's the god of figure drawing.

Alphonso Dunn Really great pen and ink tutorials


Sorry if I overwhelmed you (ironic, considering your original post) but I just wanted to share some stuff that's really helped me develop a schedule and get better. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help you a fellow art student out.


TLDR: You have plenty of time in your life to get better, so make a schedule and stick to it.

u/bolfing · 5 pointsr/graphic_design

Ha, time to shine, Swiss guy over here. Try to think of grids merely as a help to keep your proportions in order – a good grid should provide a stable structure for your layout without constricting you too much (of course there's always a little constriction using a grid but thats part of the fun). I always use grids, mostly 9x9 or 12x12. You can easily set those up in Indesign under Layout &gt; Create Guides &gt; then just type in whatever proportions you desire. You can also add gutter if you want to but it's not always necessary. There's no right or wrong when it comes to grids – if you're a beginner though, you might consider classical grids like those Joseph Müller-Brockmann (here's a very good book) introduced before moving on to create your own ones. I really love grids, they can be a fantastic help – the whole layout just feels right because every element corresponds with the proportions of the page. I always like when you "feel" the grid but don't actually see it.

u/Bebop_Ba-Bailey · 5 pointsr/piano

It's hard to find stuff on Jazz Theory on Google for sure, much less recommendations for music transcription. I really can't think of a good place to start with regards to the songs you should try to transcribe, but there are books I've used that have plenty of suggested reading/listening listed. Hopefully you don't already know about these...

The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine (it can be kind of pricy, here's a link to it on Amazon) which has a whole regimen of listening suggestions in its curriculum, focusing a good amount on jazz harmony, and melodic improvisation.

I learned a lot about jazz chords and voicings from Miracle Voicings by Frank Mantooth. Working through these books will help you understand better how to approach jazz chords, which should help you better conceive of what you're hearing when you try to transcribe them.

EDIT: The book has been republished as Voicings for Jazz Keyboard by Frank Mantooth

u/bringy · 5 pointsr/piano

As others are saying, I think you're going to be hard-pressed to put together a solid audition in six weeks if you don't have any jazz experience. But you've got four years, right? There's no reason you can't go out your sophomore year. If you really want to get into jazz piano, I recommend checking out Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book. Each chapter represents months, if not more, of practice, but you'll have a very strong foundation to build on if you keep with it.

I think going out for choir would actually be a great idea. Singing in harmony with others is one of the most satisfying musical experiences you can have, and it's GREAT ear training. Plus, there's no reason you can't continue playing solo repertoire, right? If you hang out in the music department a bunch, you might even be able to pop in on jam sessions or start a band with some like-minded musicians. Not to mention what's out there if your school is near a major metropolitan area.

u/bigfunky · 5 pointsr/Jazz

IMO, you can't really start tackling theory and go straight to jazz, you really need to understand the basics of music theory before you can move on to advanced jazz harmony. There are a number of theory books our there that explain the basics well, I have a couple of music degrees and a good overall text used in many schools is Tonal Harmony. As far as jazz the best book I've come across in regards to explaining harmony is Mark Levine's The Jazz Piano Book.

Both of these are pretty involved books, they might be a bit much for the casual player. But they are the best I know of.

u/and_of_four · 5 pointsr/piano

Check out The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine.

Jazz is less about learning pieces and more about knowing your theory and being able to improvise. Can you play a 12 bar blues? You can use simple voicings in your left hand using the 3rd and 7th of each chord and use your right hand to improvise. Or you can practice walking a bassline in your left hand while playing chords with your right hand.

I'm not a jazz musician, but I know some jazz theory and can play a little bit, it's not my thing though. Hopefully some jazz pianists will post here with more helpful advice.

u/terrapin1203 · 5 pointsr/Jazz

Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book is considered the standard jazz piano book. Between that and a good teacher you should be set.

u/nicolauz · 5 pointsr/comics

Book that's being sold that these images/story is taken from: http://www.amazon.com/Darth-Vader-Son-Jeffrey-Brown/dp/145210655X

His comic site: (www.jeffreybrowncomics.blogspot.com)[www.jeffreybrowncomics.blogspot.com]

u/dstrauc3 · 5 pointsr/GameDeals

Really great write up. I bought the game and loved the 1-30 progression, minus the same things you mentioned (clunky ui, not great mechanics). The atmosphere, visuals, VA work, and premise all make up for what it lacks to make it worth it. It has such potential to be a phenomenal all time best game ever, but it's just missing something. Like they had an internal divide on what the game should actually be (it should be a pvp game! It should be an immersive open world story game! it should be a tactical shooter!). If they just focused on one aspect and fully fleshed it out, man, what a game it could have been.

That being said, for 10 bucks (which is what I picked it up for), it was a great time. So good, I even bought a physical version of the book you find in the game. It's a good stand alone read even if you haven't played the game.

u/drmctoddenstein · 5 pointsr/thedivision

Do yourself a favor if you're a lore nerd

https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279

It's the survival guide that April Kelleher was writing in and is the same thing that is on the cover of the survival guide pages in the medical wing.

u/Dresta · 5 pointsr/farcry

I was thinking the collapse referred to what was going on in The Division

u/hcghftfjbjkhlugyfjvg · 5 pointsr/edmproduction

Music Theory for Computer Musicians &amp; Dance Music Manual in books. You could use Musictheory.net to learn the basics.

u/dmix · 5 pointsr/opieandanthony

Such original ideas Joe! Rehashing the same luddite old-man ideas from a book that came out 32 yrs ago...just replace "TV" with "Social Media":

https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X/

u/Hojalu · 5 pointsr/politics

And then read Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, which compares the two and analyzes our communication environment..

u/sjmdiablo · 5 pointsr/business

First, this Archer video is my new go-to commentary for this sort of inanity.

Second, I encourage everyone stopping by to comment to pick up and read Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neal Postman. It was written in the mid eighties about the rise of the 24 hour cable news networks but it's critique is even more relevant given the explosion of distractions on the internet.

u/cynognathus · 5 pointsr/AskReddit
u/juggy4805 · 5 pointsr/photography

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1323655305&amp;amp;sr=8-1

I was looking for the same type of book and came across this. There is nothing about hardware specs in the book. I am 1/4 of the way through and have learned a lot about creating art.

u/TheFryingDutchman · 5 pointsr/photography

Learn composition. You have a compact camera so you already have the tool to take interesting photographs. I would start with a book like The Photographer's Eye to start learning about what makes certain photographs compelling and interesting. You can hit the photography section of the local library and just start looking at great photographs. As someone posted here couple weeks ago, "Buy books, not gear."

Later on, you may decide to buy a DSLR, but think carefully about what you need. A camera is a tool, nothing more. A great camera will open up new possibilities, but you still need knowledge and experience to convert those possibilities into good pictures. Since you brought up the classical music analogy, think of the camera like a piano. A grand Steinway can make beautiful music, but it cannot turn a novice into a concert pianist. Only hard work, training, experience, and knowledge can do that.

For inspiration, here is a great war photographer who uses only point-and-shoots.

Good luck and happy shooting!

u/Killboy_Powerhead · 5 pointsr/photography

The Photographer's Eye is a great book to teach you how you should be looking at your subjects for taking photos. You can get the technical details about your camera or lightroom or whatever elsewhere, but this book teaches you what you should be looking for in your frame to begin with.

u/pukotoshana_murkals · 5 pointsr/photography
u/benyqpid · 5 pointsr/vegan

Every time I read something like this, I think of this quote:

&gt; “This isn't animal experimentation, where you an imagine some proportionate good at the other end of the suffering. This is what we feel like eating. Tell me something: Why is taste, the crudest of our sense, exempted from the ethical rules that govern our other sense? If you stop and think about it, it's crazy. Why doesn't a horny person has as strong a claim to raping an animal as a hungry one does to killing and eating it?"

Jonathan Safran Foer

u/TitoTheMidget · 5 pointsr/Christianity

&gt; I guess what I'm trying to ask is, where should we draw the line?

I'm not a vegan (I am a vegetarian though so I guess I'm just a really bad vegan), but I typically dislike this line of inquiry on any subject. We're constantly drawing lines in life. While it's fair to ask where those lines should be drawn, I feel like more often than not this is a rhetorical tool to justify taking no action at all, rather than to really get a sense of where that line is.

I could apply this reasoning to anything - sure, I should recycle, but where do I draw the line? Should I reuse lightly soiled toilet paper? The fact is we don't have the time or the passion to go all-out in everything we do in life, but enough people taking the minimum effective action still adds up to a huge difference. A quote that's always resonated with me is from Jonathan Safran Foer, the author of Eating Animals. Someone posed the "Where do you draw the line?" argument to him in an interview, and he gave a pretty detailed answer, but the snippet that stuck with me was "We have such resistance to being hypocrites, that we would prefer to be fully ignorant and fully forgetful, all the time."

u/RolandSchlopendorf · 4 pointsr/videos

The problem with Crossfire, and all other news shows, is that they pretend to be serious and thoughtful, when in reality they are just partisan hackery for entertainment purposes. At least when you are watching Duck Dynasty, you don't think of it as being of any importance, it is just there for amusement; a show like Crossfire comes with the expectation of honest debate.

Instead of informing you to make you a better citizen, you get non-functional information. Instead of knowing the differences in policy that two candidates have, or what are the causes and consequences of certain events in the world, you become more focused on a politician's personality and sensationalized information. When things like this become "newsworthy", our democratic processes suffer because the news media is the nervous system of a democracy. It's even worse on shows like Crossfire, because the emphasis is on winning, not on etching out a clearer picture of the truth. So instead of asking a politician to explain a claim they made about a substantive policy issue, you get things like swiftboating. We get hung up on the battle between right and left that we forget about discerning right from wrong. And then people who watch things like CNN and Fox News and MSNBC pat themselves on the back, thinking they are doing something to aid in their civic duty, instead of wasting their time with that tripe on reality TV. But cable news is worse than those reality TV shows, because it has the same function (I like to see my guy beat up on the other guy) but the pretension of being important and thoughtful. So who is worse off? The fool or the fool who doesn't know he is a fool?

If you want a good book on why all this is, you should read this

u/SpreadsheetAddict · 4 pointsr/JordanPeterson

Definitely go read Neil Postman - Amusing Ourselves to Death. I read this a decade or so ago (after I first saw this comic) and I still think about it. Just picked up another copy at a thrift store recently. Time for a reread.

u/Zigo · 4 pointsr/photography

I personally enjoy this one when this question comes up. :)

u/Drache · 4 pointsr/photography

This is a really hard one to answer - like why some works of art are worth millions and others are essentially worthless.

I would recommend picking up a book like:
Learning to See Creatively (Peterson) or The Photographer's Eye (Freeman) for a crash course on the design elements that make photos interesting: leading lines, color, depth of field etc.

u/stanthemanchan · 4 pointsr/photography

You should pick up a book if you want to learn more about composition. I highly recommend The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman. http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343

u/thinkjason · 4 pointsr/photography

My first real camera was a Pentax K1000. That brings back a lot of fond memories. I suggest you pick up a copy of Brian Peterson's Understanding Exposure to brush up on the technical bits, and Michael Freeman's The Photographer's Eye to learn a bit about composition.

u/55049305K · 4 pointsr/aww

Although I think it's unrealistic for most people to cut meat out of their diets, I do think it's important that the general population understands what factory farming entails. It's very difficult to find videos about farming that aren't sensationalized in some way, so take this with a grain of salt:
Inside Canada's Factory Farms

People who actually work on these type of farms, if there are inaccuracies in this video, I encourage you to reply and clarify.

A lot of people also praise the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

u/MimiWritesThings · 4 pointsr/vegetarian

Since you said you're a meat lover, I'd encourage you not to rely on substitute meat (fake chicken, sausage, etc.). Even though some of them are good, chances are they're not going to live up to actual meat (at least not at first), you may get disappointed and then ultimately get discouraged and go back to eating meat.

Instead, I'd recommend a gradual process where you stop eating one type of meat at a time, starting with your least favorite and ending with your favorite. This will simultaneously encourage you to keep going (because it will be easier to stick to) and it will also slowly train your mind to start focusing your diet around other types of food! You may also start viewing meat in a different way, and may find that it's actually a little weird-feeling when you eat it.

I'd also recommend learning more about factory farming and where food comes from. I know many people recommend Eating Animals, by the author of Everything is Illuminated (great book). He wrote it when he was about to have a son and wanted to explore the farming business and decide how to raise his son (vegetarian or not). He's a fantastic storyteller, and you'll see it has some amazing reviews :)

Whatever path you take, I congratulate you for having a higher consciousness about your food! Best of luck!

u/slightlyfaded · 4 pointsr/videos

What an amazing video! It's fascinating to see him think about it because he's purely speaking him mind - not worrying how what he says will be perceived by others, and how it fits in society and what not.

As someone else said, a lot of kids don't feel like they have an option, or are tricked into eating meat - and then when you're old enough to decide for yourself, it's a big thing like rejection religion - your whole family may not take it well.

It's great that she just listens to her kid and respects what he says, rather than forcing him to do things. Think kind of thinking should be nourished and sadly so often it's just shut down and the kid is told to go along with what "everyone" does.

I'd also like to plug Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Great book, and he's not preachy about it at all.

http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884/

u/Astrophysicyst · 4 pointsr/videos

&gt; According to rotten tomatoes, Gravity is WAY better than Interstellar.

That is if you go by the professional critics, audience score for Interstellar is 5% higher and on Imdb: Interstellar 8.6, Gravity 7.8. I guess it depends on who you trust more in these matters, the critics or the general audience. You'll see the same thing going on, on Metacritic: Interstellar 74 critic to 8.4 user, Gravity 96 critic to 7.8 user.

Both movies contain scientific inaccuracies, Interstellar more so than Gravity, but to make up for that Interstellar has some really interesting things going on that are grounded in science. Kip Thorne theoretical physicist, Interstellars science adviser has written a book called The Science of Interstellar, I haven't read it myself yet so I can't tell you if it's good or not, but I plan to.

u/sigurdz · 4 pointsr/starcitizen

He's written a book about it. And I'm fairly certain he advised them on 100% of everything that had to do anything with science.

u/rhythm_n_jumps · 4 pointsr/drums

The Art of Bop Dumming by Jon Riley

Progressive Steps to Syncopation by Ted Reed

Jazz Drum Studio by John Pickering

Buy any or all three of these. Perfect place to start. And start listening to a lot of jazz. Good luck, dude. Jazz is great.

u/bradmbak · 4 pointsr/makinghiphop

I've been going through Syncopation for the Modern Drummer to come up with melodies that use syncoption. It has like every permutation of syncopation you could imagine. I think it was written with a jazz drummer in mind, but you can use the ideas for type of music.

u/ChurchofTom · 4 pointsr/Percussionists

Stick control is a great book. another good one for developing Independence in your hands and feet is this one
http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953/ref=sr_1_cc_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1293738221&amp;amp;sr=1-3-catcorr

u/Enrico_Cadilac_Jr · 4 pointsr/drums

Very basic beginner tips:
You're spot on with picking up sticks and a pad first (I should also mention a metronome because drumming is ALL about keeping time, but this is bare basics so for the sake of my bad typing skills and your wallet I'm going to omit it, but know this HAS TO BE YOUR NEXT PURCHASE (also there's dozens of free metronome apps FYI)).

This is all you will need to begin drumming and it shouldn't cost you more than $30. As far as for what kinds/brands, just buy two matching sticks that feel comfortable in your hands and a pad that's 'bouncy'. (Don't worry about wood types or tips for the drum sticks yet, you're still a far ways away from that being a concern)

Now that you have sticks and a pad, the next move is to learn how to hold them. This is going to be hard without any visuals, so bear with me here lol. Hold your right hand forward as if you were to accept a handshake. With your left hand, place the stick in the center your palm so that the blunt end of the stick is facing the ground. Now close your fingers around it to create a fist. Adjust the height of the stick in your fist so that only 1 inch of the blunt end is protruding(sp?) from the bottom of your fist. At this point, it should seem like your holding the drum stick the same way that you might hold a hammer; you're close but there's two more VERY IMPORTANT steps. Next, adjust your thumb so that it rests on the shaft of the stick. (Imagine that with your fist you're trying to now give someone a thumbs-up and that your stick is just a big extension of that thumbs-up, that what this should all look like) Finally, while maintaining this hand position, turn your wrist 90 degrees so that your palm and stick are both facing the ground.
Now repeat with your left hand.

If done correctly, you should be making a 'V' shape with your sticks. As well, if done correctly, you should be able to hold both stick with only your thumb and fore-finger. (Just to cover all bases, your middle, ring and pinky fingers are simply there for minor support, most grip strength and stick control comes from finding the fulcrum (or balancing sweet spot) of the stick and pinching it with your thumb and fore finger)

Confused yet? Good! Just a few more things and I'll feel like I'm really doing you justice here lol:

Just start off at first by trying to get your sticks to hit the pad and bounce back at you. Don't 'bury' them into the pad; make them work for you, not against you. Don't worry about speed, intensity or consistency just yet, it will all come in time.
Obviously, alternate your hands. You'll find that you have a dominant hand (99.99% chance it's your writing hand) but don't forget that, unless you plan on starting a Def Lepard cover band, your going to need both hands, so give them both the appropriate amounts of attention they deserve!

Once you got both hands hitting with equal confidence, just go back and forth with your right and left hand and try to focus on making them both sound, look, and feel as even as possible.

New drummer LPT's:
-Buy a metronome ASAP.
-Forget about speed, it WILL come naturally.
-Buy, download, torrent, steal, GET this book and go through it. It is the golden standard for pre-drumkit drumming. If you master this book, you have mastered the concept of drumming.
-Hold off on a drumkit. They're big and expensive; you'll really want to make sure that you REALLY want to commit to drumming first.
-Finally, YOUTUBE will teach you all this and more for FREE!

Good luck, sorry for the novel but I really hope this helps.

Sources: drumming 12 years, currently professional touring drummer, tried to teach a friend how-to a while ago and he's... not terrible :P

u/RadioRoscoe · 4 pointsr/Android

If you have never referenced the book, then I think that The Visual Display Of Quantitative Information would be right up your alley. Aside from the amazing content, the book is crafted with excellent material and makes a nice coffee table item.

u/schrodinger26 · 4 pointsr/Clemson

I'd recommend reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257

http://www.bdbanalytics.ir/media/1123/storytelling-with-data-cole-nussbaumer-knaflic.pdf

and

https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142

&amp;#x200B;

The graphs don't follow best practices and could use some work to more clearly communicate your goal.

Bar charts should not be center aligned like that, unless 0 on the x axis cuts directly through them (ie if they show positive and negative values simultaneously)

u/Trumpetjock · 4 pointsr/saintpaul

These charts are complete garbage.

The Y axis for the rental costs is half the scale of the one for ownership. The further obfuscate this by having a yearly income on the left and a monthly costs on the right. This is classic misrepresentation of data.

If you read what it actually shows, it has owner monthly income at $6.7k, with monthly costs at $1,500 (22.4% of income), compared to renter income of $2.5k and rents of $850 (35% of income).

The question then becomes whether we are comfortable with that 13% difference in income towards housing for owners vs renters. I would argue that not only should we be comfortable with it, we should be protecting that gap. The smaller that that gap becomes, the less attractive home ownership becomes. If we closed that gap entirely, there would be no economic incentive to buy a home other than pure preference, while renting brings significant additional freedoms of movement.


-edit: Anyone interested in this topic of data manipulation should pick up The Visual Display of Quantitative Data. I promise it is not nearly as dry as it sounds. It's an entertaining, highly informative, and beautifully illustrated book, and is a sacred text to data scientists.

u/chrisvacc · 4 pointsr/datascience

Essential for Data Visualization: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte.

u/notboring · 4 pointsr/AskReddit

This book: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte.

A book about charts and graphs? Buddy, Tufte's made millions and millions of dollars with his books and lectures on this topic. This is an amazing book.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0961392142/ref=sr_1_olp_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1268289826&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;condition=used

u/TauRads · 4 pointsr/piano

The Real Book is what most people that I know use when jamming with other musicians.

u/Cartwheels4Days · 4 pointsr/learntodraw

Hello! Would love good resources for Disney-style art, if you could spare those.


Here are some of the best things I've found for comic art

How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way A classic. Can be bought used for next to nothing. My only gripe is that it moves very fast and superficially

Incredible Comics with Tom Nguyen: He has a really clean style. Communicates a lot with very few lines. Excellent resource.


How to Draw: Heroic Anatomy More advanced resource. Uses a lot more lines and shading.


Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels How to construct the actual comic panels and books


u/RJ_Ramrod · 4 pointsr/ComicWriting

OP you can't learn everything all at once, so you're gonna have to start from the ground up and grind your way toward proficiency in different skills individually

I would strongly recommend setting this particular piece aside for the time being and stop thinking about what else you can do to improve upon it—it's about as good as it's going to get right now

Instead, get your hands on a few big newsprint pads and burn through them, focusing exclusively on your penciling and your ability to recreate 3D forms at will—start with basic geometry and work your way up to putting them together into humanoid shapes and then fleshing them out—this is all about developing a skill called "drawing through the page," where you can look at a blank page and already sort of see how things are going to fit together and what the finished product will look like

Later (much later) you can come back to this page as a reference, and practice telling the same short little sequence in different ways, with different numbers of panels and different layouts, focusing on different things, etc.

You don't need to worry about inking for awhile—but if you really want to, Google for examples of other artists' work, find some of their unfinished pencils, and play around with inking those in various ways to achieve different feelings/emotions/tones/effects

But definitely spend a lot of time scribbling and sketching on that newsprint, because it's the most important investment you can possibly make right now in your future as an artist

edit: also because you asked about resources, this is a fairly old but still excellent primer on everything you're working on learning

But if you're anything at all like me and find it next to impossible to learn things from reading about then in books, seriously consider seeing if you can find a life drawing class you can join—your local community college is a great place to start, as they often give non-students the opportunity to audit classes, and those classes are usually small enough that you can get a decent amount of individual attention from the instructors

u/rhysium · 4 pointsr/Surface

I don't think I'm really qualified to give any advice... I don't have a lot of formal experience (dabbled 1 quarter as an art major and then ended up getting a CS degree, lol) and have been teaching myself very haphazardly and probably have a lot of bad habits. That said, a book that helped me greatly with anatomy is Loomis's "Figure Drawing for All It's Worth". http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-All-Its-Worth/dp/0857680986 and a way to practice it without going to an actual figure drawing session is with a tool like http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/. Concept Cookie http://cgcookie.com/concept/ has some excellent free tutorials, and I really enjoyed watching this recent video by Noah Bradley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQfF-P70V2Q It's part of his "ArtCamp" program, which I am seriously eyeing due to its very reasonable cost, but the summer session is already halfway through. Maybe next time! Here's his recommended art education: https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/dont-go-to-art-school-138c5efd45e9#b9fa


And of course the most critical part is to just practice! Draw a lot even when you feel shitty about it! (....I still need to take this to heart myself)

u/rhinofinger · 4 pointsr/OutOfTheLoop

It's discussed at length in a book called The Science of Interstellar. While it's true that they generated the most detailed and accurate renditions in the process of rendering the black hole in the movie, the version that actually ended up in the movie does take some artistic license, for example by showing a more symmetric event horizon halo than the model predicted, and by coloring the light differently than the model predicted. Great read if you have a moment, lots of beautiful images.

u/hobbes987 · 4 pointsr/askscience

I've got yet another book! "This is your brain on music" by Daniel Levitin

http://www.amazon.ca/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525

u/Karmitage · 4 pointsr/sounddesign

Online Articles
Designing a movie for sound by Randy Thom
The sound of Star Wars by Ben Burt
Plus most other articles on filmsound

Books
Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Yewdall
Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema by David Sonnenschein
This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin Not directly sound design but still very interesting and useful.

Websites
Sound Works Collection
Designing Sound
Film Sound

These are just some of my personal picks but I'm sure there are plenty more resources out there.

u/BoxLion · 4 pointsr/learnart

It does get boring, it's study. It's up to you to learn to have fun with it.

Divide your time between the study and the fun, spend some time doing gesture drawings(they serve as great warmups), then some time doing figure drawing, then move on and draw something for you.
I think the key to it is focusing on what you learn while drawing from life, and learning how that translates to styles you love.

As for resources, I personally believe for character/figure work, a good anatomy book can go a long way. Figure drawing design and invention by Michael Hampton or Classic Human Anatomy by Valerie Winslow are my personal recommendations, but there are plenty of great books out there. The idea is when you get stuck on something then you reference it, and study it; work it out on the side of your drawing, or on a separate sheet/layer, but understand it as best you can before moving on.

Online recommendations, like most people mention, Proko is great, good information, and easy to understand.
For environments and design Feng Zhu's Design Cinema is a goldmine of solid tips.
I've found Kienan Laffarty to have a lot of good general information on all sorts of topics, like color, design, etc.

finally I think watching other artists work in real time(not the 400% sped up timelapses) can be indispensable in understanding how to handle the nuances of creating believable forms, or just how to progress your work from rough to finished, if you go in with the mindset to study what they're doing.

u/troutmix · 4 pointsr/learnart

Ignore the other person.

Get Bridgeman's Life Drawing book, Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy, and Loomis's Figure drawing book.

Go here, here, and here.

Apply the methods of figure drawing within those three books to these figures, starting with construction and then building upon those shapes with more defined anatomical lines, such as bones and muscles.

Also, Michael Hampton's book is pretty awesome, if you want some detailed instruction.

This is from his book, I do believe.

EDIT:

Don't listen to the people saying "use loomis's mannequin". You aren't ready, there are better ways to approach figure drawing, and learnart is full of bad people.

Also, check out Vilppu, I'd say go to him above EVERYONE else. His methods are better than Loomis's by far, especially if you can get the Drawing Manual off the internets.

u/xtracounts · 4 pointsr/AskReddit

This + This

also

http://www.learnjazzstandards.com/

plus listen a bunch

(not a pianist, just fiddle with piano enough to help myself)

u/greensome · 4 pointsr/musictheory

I can highly recommend "The Jazz Piano Book". It covers a lot of ground and is very readable. Best jazz book I ever bought. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151/

u/ghost_of_a_fly · 4 pointsr/piano

The Mark Levine Jazz piano book has been known to be a good one. I"m just starting too and i had the jazz instructor at my university recommend it. here's an amazon link.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0961470151/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;condition=used

u/WhiskeyHeart · 4 pointsr/Gifts

Darth Vader &amp; Son

https://www.amazon.com/Darth-Vader-Son-Jeffrey-Brown/dp/145210655X

As well as other Star War children's books. Calvin &amp; Hobbes might be another good choice.

u/jwhardcastle · 4 pointsr/daddit

Tell me you own this (and some of the others by the same author).

https://www.amazon.com/Darth-Vader-Son-Jeffrey-Brown/dp/145210655X

u/hallgrimg · 4 pointsr/thedivision

There already is a book based in The Division universe that's part diary and part survival guide. You can see pages from it in-game, in the April Kelleher intel.
There's also an art-book, though that one "focuses on the art and making of the game, and includes over 300 images, sketches, and concept art, and in-depth commentary throughout from the artists and creators."

u/tdlsaint69 · 4 pointsr/thedivision

even better than that, it's as if you've found someone's survival book, someone who has lived through all the hell breaking loose... .or did they live... hmmmm

http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1458443404&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=new+york+collapse

u/dr_error · 4 pointsr/edmproduction

Here you go, these are arranged according to their importance:

  1. Basic music-theory knowledge: http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034
  2. A workstation that you feel comfortable with. Most of them has a demo, so grab one and stick with it (you'll find tons of tutorials on each one on Youtube, just learn the basics like writing/exporting midi, assigning effects on audio/midi tracks, rendering).
  3. Grab a free synthesizer and learn basics of using a synth (attack, sustain, waves, oscillators): http://reverb.com/news/synth-basics-101
  4. Compressors: http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/the-beginners-guide-to-compression--audio-953
  5. Equalization: http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/the-basics-of-equalization--audio-16587

    These will get you on track, then you can dive more into complex synthesizers, start buying some loops and manipulate them to be unique, read more about compression (because it's an endless topic), start making collaborations, mixing, mastering (limiters, multi-band compressors and stereo-imaging).
u/boesedicht · 4 pointsr/TechnoProduction

https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034

This book teaches you everything you have to know about the fundamentals of music theory and even how to play the different scales on the piano. The chapters are in a logical order, so you don‘t get overwhelmed. After each chapters you can test your knew knowledge with some excercises.

I‘ve read it twice and i think it is an easy way to learn the basics without spending much money.

u/trelll_music · 4 pointsr/edmproduction

I took advanced music theory all through High School and other than reading the odd bit of notation when I am trying to remix a song, my ears and basic understanding of chords is what I mostly use. I hardly ever use the skills taught to me in that class. I refreshed myself a few years ago with this book, very good:

http://www.amazon.ca/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034

u/Leitmotivdj · 4 pointsr/edmproduction

I am surprised this one hasn't been mentioned yet: Music Theory for Computer Musicians.
https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034

This book is amazing. It takes you step by step to understanding music theory, in a simple way. No complicated sheet music, everything is explained in a simple way for someone like me who never learned music before. It helped me a lot to understand what I was doing on the keyboard and further diversify my use of different scales.

u/DinhDan · 4 pointsr/AskPhotography

Understanding Exposure was probably the most useful book I read when I started shooting:

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0iuBybSA1GPNA

I have an older edition so I'm sure it's even more relevant now.

u/eedna · 4 pointsr/photography

You should check out this book called understanding exposure, it's a really great intro to photography. I took 4 years of photo in high school and still found it to be worthwhile to read.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1541943482&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&amp;amp;keywords=understanding+exposure&amp;amp;dpPl=1&amp;amp;dpID=517WrWTQypL&amp;amp;ref=plSrch

Don't be afraid to buy used gear if youre on a budget, and like others have said don't focus too much on having the newest gear either. People were taking incredible pictures with new cameras 10 years ago. Those cameras take the same pictures today that they did then

u/rnick467 · 4 pointsr/a6000

Although not a website, I would recommend the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. It gives great in-depth information that can be applied to any camera with manual controls. It really helped me to understand how to get great exposure when I was a total newbie to photography.

u/SuperC142 · 4 pointsr/photography

I strongly recommend a book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1607748509/

It's fun and easy to read and you'll know SO MUCH about this sort of thing when you're done. :-)

BTW, a good thing you could do for this photo is wait for a different time of day when the shadows aren't so harsh or during cloud cover.

u/xCentumx · 4 pointsr/comicbookart

First, I want to say that you have a pretty nice finish on this drawing. Your line weights are good, your use of spot blacks could use a little work, but you've got the right idea. I like the fact that you're lines thin out as you go back in perspective, really sells the idea that there is some distance between cyclopse and that cactus in the background.

Also your anatomy is pretty good, though it seems to me more like copying from other comics rather than taking the time to actually learn the muscles/muscle groups.

That being said, there's a lot of construction issues in this piece. I could go through and list off all of them, but really what it comes down to is the understanding of perspective. This is integral to creating a piece that has objects in it that feel 3 dimensional.

Now when I say lack of understanding of perspective, I don't mean that you have no understanding. You seem like you could probably construct some cubes in space, or even a rudimentary street view with a horizon roughly in the middle of the page. But the way to push your work further towards what you see in a an issue of X-men.

To get you where you want to go, I would either suggest Scott Robertson's How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from your Imagination. Or if you'd rather you can search the internet for some tutorials like this Ctrlpaint Tutorial

I wish I had more examples, but it's been a little while since I was looking for this stuff. But it's something that I've practiced almost every day for many years and I've still got plenty of room to learn.

You're definitely headed in the right direction. It looks like you enjoy the work, so hang onto that. I'm not saying to bore yourself to death with technical practice, but take a little bit of your drawing time that you've set aside and practice some perspective and you'll see a huge improvement in your work. And once you feel comfortable, start checking out Proko for stuff about how to translate those perspective skills into bettering your figures (people) that you draw.

Good luck and keep up the good work

♥ Ethan

u/token78 · 4 pointsr/web_design

No, the best way you can learn anything about design principles is through study and hard work. You will never become a successful designer through copying and emulation. Some form of formal study would be ideal.

These are the basic principles of design. But if you want to be a successful designer you will have to build an understanding that goes far beyond those few handfuls of words on a page.

Learn something about the history of design. Be familiar with the work of great designers, and understand why they are successful visual communicators. Also, you will never regret buying this book or watching this movie .

Follow design blogs, design magazines, and design trends. Stay current.

Until you understand why, don't depart from using a core handful of reliable typefaces. Typography matters.

I'm sorry if my comments have seemed harsh, but I have worked hard, and spent many many hours and no small amount of money developing my skills as a designer, through books and formal study both. I'm a designer because I believe that good design matters. I know through personal experience the difference that good design can make to an enterprise or organization.

Consequently I get kind of annoyed at the streams of people who now seem to feel that anybody with a copy of photoshop and basic html knowledge makes for an instant designer.

To answer your question, if you like you can check out some of my work at bofo.com.au. If you're serious, I do wish you luck in professional development as a designer.

u/Hexous · 3 pointsr/AskPhotography

To add to /u/johninbigd, I'd recommend picking up the book Understanding Exposure. I got it a few months ago and can attest that it's a phenomenal aid in understanding exactly how the different manual settings interact and how to utilize them to their fullest.

Understanding Exposure, Fourth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

u/Obi-Wayne · 3 pointsr/photocritique

Honestly, since you're just starting out, I can't recommend this book enough. I think I bought the 2nd edition when I started, and have since given it to friends (and even bought a copy for a good friend when she was starting out). It's fantastic, and will get you shooting in manual mode before you know it.

u/ZRX1200R · 3 pointsr/photography

Understanding Exposure. Priceless book.

Edit: or research "Exposure Triangle"--it's the science for ISO, shutter speed, and aperture...the 3 key ingredients for exposure.

u/nibot2 · 3 pointsr/comics

The only advice you need right now is to improve your draftsmanship. You need to understand anatomy to be able to draw people, no matter what level of detail/realism you wish to achieve. Animators and cartoonists who who draw all varieties of cartoon characters are always masters of drawing the human form. Even drawing characters like Fred Flinstone requires you to understand anatomy, such as the way joints bend, or hands and fingers function. Having a grasp on anatomy will help your story telling, no matter how you choose to exercise (or disregard) the knowledge. The best place to start learning is a very well known book authored by Andrew Loomis: Figure Drawing for What its Worth (this is one of the most well known peices of instructional drawing literature) Buy this book and study. You already have ideas that you want to draw, and thats great, and improving your draftsmanship will help you be able to get your ideas out. In addition to anatomy, You will also need to learn some basics of perspective, to be able to convincingly draw your stage for example, or how to set up characters around the stage and make them appear to all be on the same plane. Scott Robertson has a great book that teaches fundamentals of perspective, worth looking in to How to Draw Good Luck!

u/blauman · 3 pointsr/InternetAMA

There's different types of drawing, design drawing is the skill you need for inventing, engineering and it'll be good for planning other artistic media you want to get involved in (film, books, games).

Feng Zhu, Scott Robertson are awesome.

The best place to learn a skill is from (revered) expert professionals, and these two have worked for worked for Hollywood, and other expensive, high quality, stringent time scale projects, but have decided to teach due to poor teaching of design skills (usually drawing) in many schools.

u/Lorathor6 · 3 pointsr/SS13

Thank you, I appreciate it :)
Well, the only advice I can give you is to never stop drawing. I don't know how "good" your skill is or if you're just at the beginning but for most people that really want to draw the big let-down comes after a short period of time when they can't realize the progress they're making. Most of the people stop drawing when they can't see that they're getting better after some days or weeks. Drawing is a skill that needs alot of time and patience. Other than that it's just rinse and repeat. Draw what you like and just have fun. If you're over the first hill and start liking what you do, everythings going faster and faster. I don't know what art you're into but a good start would be to learn the fundamentals. For character it's anatomy, for environment it would be perspective. Learn to understand lighting, colour, shadow, perspective etc.

If you're not afraid and still really want to learn drawing I recommend How to Draw and How to Render, both from Scott Robertson. Both books are heavily influenced by product- and concept design but give a really nice overview about fundamentals - that's how I started.

I hope that helps :)

u/usethebrush · 3 pointsr/CommercialArt

Perspective is critically important, and in my eyes, the number one area of focus, if you had to pick. However, I would tie learning perspective with a re-evaluation of basic shapes and start thinking about structure and form. Drawing basic shapes in space allows you to construct and build anything you can imagine, realistically and even a cartoon. It's the first thing that people notice is wrong about an image including non-artists, even when they can't place their finger on why it's wrong. Everyone with functioning eyes have great vision. You could say that we are all black belts at seeing things, because it is one of our senses since our birth, and the one that we are always using. So when you're drawing and painting, you are a visual magician. You're using these fundamental tools to fool these people into believing that an image on paper is as deceiving as reality. It's all an illusion. You cannot avoid the importance of perspective. If you aren't practicing it, no cheap tricks will be able to deceive a person into believing what you created.

You learn as early as elementary school about the 2D shapes. The square, the circle and the triangle. You know about their 3D counterparts, the cube, as well as a sphere, cone and a cylinder. In geometry everything is perfectly symmetrical and easy to solve. But when you step out into reality, everything is thrown into disarray, all of these shapes are merged together mechanically and organically, and on top of that, your vision is deceiving you. Very advanced forms of mathematics were created to solve those problems accurately, but we are not interested in that. You'll also realize this when you come across proportion diagrams, and why it does nothing when you are drawing from the model. You will also need to understand what circles look like in perspective[ellipses.] Do you know how to draw an ellipse properly? Do you see what happens to these shapes in space? Learn to draw these basic shapes correctly in space, it requires knowledge of perspective. Would it help you to think of a basic game like Snake? Imagine what it would be like to play that game in 3D. Although we aren't playing a game, we are just observing reality and interpreting it in 2D, that's where perspective falls in. You can use perspective construction thankfully. You can simplify areas into basic shapes. You can measure and draw pipes and cubes, aligning them to their current vanishing points. Until you're finally building whatever you need for your own worlds.

The other fundamentals are critically important as well. But drawing in space with perspective is what you need for your drawings to look structurally correct. Yes, it can be a complex hurdle. It's both easy to understand and difficult to wrap our eyes and brain around. Thankfully there are dozens of great free resources available, and no threat of them going away, any time soon. If you have great reading comprehension, there is a free resource that pretty much covers every single thing you would ever ask about perspective. Otherwise many instructors have done a great job simplifying what you need to understand for your own work. Here are links to two great resources that have emerged more recently.

Mow some lawns, shovel snow, baby sit, beg for money, sell a game, buy these.

u/Garret_AJ · 3 pointsr/conceptart

I don't like to give crits to fix what you have. It's a sketch, and you should think of sketches as disposable. Learn something here and move on. I would say my big crit is they're more organic looking than robotic.

That being said, I recommend you do some study before you try again. When learning to make robots there are two very essential things to learn; Human anatomy, and contemporary mechanical engineering.

Human anatomy: Really dive in to understand how joints actuate with muscles and ligaments. These will help you understand how your robots joints should work as well. It will also work to make your creations more believable.

Here some links:

- https://www.pinterest.com/achinzoo/anatomy/

- https://flabergastertron.tumblr.com/

- https://sketchfab.com/search?q=anatomy&amp;sort_by=-pertinence&amp;type=models

I also recommend this book on Analytical Anatomy: Figure Drawing: Design and Invention

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Mechanical: don't just look at this stuff, you need to understand how things connect. Why did they engineer this or that a certain way. Is it supposed to move? How should it look. Is it supposed to be a conduit for wires? how does that look? Draw these things, build up the muscle memory. They will express themselves when your drawing creatively I promise, but you first have to do the studies.

Here's some links

- https://imgur.com/r/MachinePorn

- https://www.pbase.com/amoxtli/uss_midway

- https://sketchfab.com/search?q=robot&amp;sort_by=-pertinence&amp;type=models

&amp;#x200B;

And here's a fantastic book you should have: How to Draw: By Scott Robertson

I like where you're headed, but I think you can do better. Keep drawing and I hope that was helpful.

u/worldseed · 3 pointsr/learnart

Perspective is something that will help you draw anything. People, buildings, interiors, animals, objects, vehicles etc. Check out Nsio's tutorials on deviantart for some examples and guides on how perspective helps you draw figures from imagination (and life).

As a beginner book, people always suggest Perspective Made Easy. It's cheap and well regarded. How to Draw is more advanced and focuses on vehicles / landscapes, which might not sound useful if you just want to draw figures but (personally) it helped me soooo much in placing complex 3D forms in perspective (which is all the human body is after all).

u/9869604401089358618 · 3 pointsr/Gundam

If you already know how to draw, then try Scott Robertsons books.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Render-fundamentals-shadow-reflectivity/dp/1933492961/ref=la_B0034O5O32_1_2?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1480449825&amp;amp;sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=la_B0034O5O32_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1480449825&amp;amp;sr=1-1

They are not about drawing gundam but about drawing hard objects in general. Which is much more important then learning to draw a single thing as you can transfer the skill to anything.

u/George_Shrinks · 3 pointsr/learnart

&gt; For beginners learning to draw accurately, just focus on the Elements of Art.

I'd actually like to chime in here to give OP another option (not looking to argue about fundamentals haha. We all know how that goes).

Quick backstory:

I studied art for two years and went through pretty much the same training that you described above. I had a wonderful experience, but decided that it wasn't for me. I then decided to pursue Industrial Design, which meant I had to study the fundamentals all over again, only this time they were different.

Just like the elements of art, we still started out with the basics of line, shape and form, but with a much heavier emphasis on accurate perspective. In fact we were taught about the different kinds of perspective and how/why they work from the get go. The equivalent of "value" in Industrial Design was "rendering", only it was much more technical (how to construct shadows in perspective, how light decay and occlusion work, the Fresnel Effect etc.)

Of course this all just sounds like a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo, so let me make a small change to what you said above to summarize what I am trying to say.

&gt;For beginners learning to draw beautifully, just focus on the Elements of Art.

and likewise

&gt;For beginners learning to draw accurately, learn perspective.

I am personally in favor of learning the rules before you break them. Want to paint a pretty cottage? Paint a convincing one first using perspective. Again, this is not the only way to learn. It is just what I would recommend based on my experience. This is, of course /r/learnart and not /r/learntodrawperfectly, so please take all of this with a grain of salt.

"Well gee, thanks a lot Mr. useless design person."

Wait! Don't go, OP! I have some actual, useful advice!

  1. Avoid digital for as long as possible. Nothing beats the muscle memory you will gain from drawing with a real pen/pencil on real paper.
  2. Exercise those muscles every day! Here are some of my favorite exercises: 1- Straight, parallel lines. Keep your wrist as still as possible and draw from your elbow and shoulder. Grip the pen lightly and DON'T rotate the page. 2- Dots connected by lines. Draw lots of dots on the page and then draw nice, straight lines connecting them. You may rotate the page for this one. 3- Lines through a point. Draw a dot on the page and try to draw straight, intersecting lines through the center. Don't rotate the page. This one is tricky. 4- Circles! Just fill the page. Try to do these quickly. "Ghost" the shape of the circle over the page before putting your pen down, and then try to draw the whole thing in 2 or 3 quick gestures. 5- Ellipses! Draw some line segments on the page and then draw some ellipses with those lines acting as the minor axis. 6- Cubes in two point perspective. Draw your horizon line, and then just fill the page (I didn't fill the page here but you get the idea). Try to relax while doing all of these warmups. They might not be very exciting but eventually they can become sort of a calming, zen exercise. Your lines will look horrible at first, but you will get much much better if you just practice.
  3. Listen to everything /u/cajolerisms said above, and if you're up to the challenge, try approaching things from the technical route as well. Once you learn how perspective works you will literally see the world differently. It seems daunting now, but the more you practice, the more it will all make sense and your artwork will become more convincing as a result.
  4. As much as I hate telling people they need to spend money to learn how to improve their drawing/painting, I highly recommend this book. Scott Robertson does a great job of breaking down how perspective works and has some great tips on shortcuts for constructing accurate drawings. Plus, once you get the book, you get access to video lessons that break down all of the topics in the book.

    Remember that every time you put your pencil to paper you are creating something that has never existed. No one has ever seen the things that you will draw. You are a creator, and that is just about the coolest thing to be in the universe. Don't give up, and happy arting!
u/reverendbimmer · 3 pointsr/learnart

How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933492732/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_de0evb12A1TQ6
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933492732/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_de0evb12A1TQ6

Just picked this book up the other day. It's freaking amazingly helpful.

u/J-Wh1zzy · 3 pointsr/learnart

Definitely, not sure what your budget is but there's a book I have called "How to Draw" https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1933492732/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1491345682&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+scott

It goes from A-Z learning to draw and think in 3D. It's an awesome book. I'm currently in art school and I had the pleasure of hearing one of the authors talk about it. After this book there's a second one called "How to Render" which goes through all the dynamics of light.

The thing I really like about these books is that it approaches drawing from an analytical point of view and really gets at the science behind it.

u/Growsintheforest · 3 pointsr/IndustrialDesign

This is an excellent response above, and I'd like to add to this. I'm a senior at Auburn University for ID and I second that you should become familiar with sketching and, if given the opportunity, CAD software.

I've read through Scott Robertsons How to Draw book and it's a good resource for learning how to sketch.

Autodesk will often have free downloads for AutoCAD, Fusion 360, and Inventor for students. I'd recommend getting AutoCAD of the three, but I feel like Fusion is a bit more beginner friendly.

Even if you choose to go into engineering for school, sketching and CAD will help out a lot when you start your classes.

Also, if your high school has any public speaking classes, it wouldn't hurt to look into taking one. At least in my program we have pretty regular presentations, and it really helps to be able to communicate your ideas fluently when presenting a final product/end of the semester project.

Feel free to DM me as well!

u/186394 · 3 pointsr/learnart

Color and Light by James Gurney.
How to Draw by Scott Robertson.
Figure Drawing by Michael Hampton.

And for perspectice specifically, this $12 video series by Marshall Vandruff.

u/black-tie · 3 pointsr/Design

On typography:

u/travio · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

You can always go with the classic

u/aaaalexandredo · 3 pointsr/GraphicDesign
u/dannisbet · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

Without seeing your work, one common thing about design is that we're always looking to create a flow and hierarchy of information so that the viewer can easily figure out what to do next, or pick out the information they need to move on to their next task (whatever that is).

It goes above aesthetics because we need design to do some work.

One of the best ways to help us organize all of that is by using grid systems. You'll find plenty of books on Amazon. Grid Systems in Graphic Design is one of the gold-standards, but it can be a bit pricy if you're still in school. I have Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Design on my bookshelf and it got the job done while I was learning about grids. It's a bit more budget-friendly as well.

u/bearachute · 3 pointsr/Design
  1. Spellcheck
  2. Use a grid, organize your information, make the distinction between content, description of that content, and metadata
  3. Learn about typography and type design history -- the Helvetica you are using is a rough digital replication of the metal cut for small point sizes, not display
  4. Have your website up before you submit anything
  5. Your portfolio should consist of anywhere from 4 to 12 projects targeted exactly for the job/internship you're after -- everything irrelevant should be taken out. It's better to have a lighter portfolio that is completely on point than a heavier portfolio with fluff.
  6. The reason your portfolio is so big, filesize wise, is because you are using software to make it which rasterizes your type, rather than preserving the postscript outlines. This means that not only is it harder to send online, it's going to print like shit. Most people who look at your stuff are going to see it online first, so make sure you have a compressed version that you feel comfortable attaching in an email (&lt;10MB), as well as a print version you can take to clients.
  7. Use the design process to decide how your portfolio will look when printed -- if that's appropriate. How is your work intended to be viewed? Approximate that as best as possible in your portfolio.
  8. If you're not sure which software to use to make all this stuff: get a copy of InDesign and start learning.
u/mandix · 3 pointsr/Design

You should read this book: Brockman's Grid Systems Book know it. learn it. and use it/practice it. Finally post your revisions. I know you have put a lot of work in this, but its hard to read and the design feels weak (ie not something that would make me proud to work there).

I would try to get that book (library, I think there is an online version) and try employing the principles he talks about.

u/smallsiren · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

Josef Müller-Brockmann knows what's up with grids, his book is pretty dope.

u/slykuiper · 3 pointsr/learndesign

Column width is covered very well in Grid Systems in graphic design, it's a very informative read packed with a ton of useful info.

"According to a well-known empirical rule there should be 7 words per line for a text of any length. If we want to have 7-10 words per line, the length of the line can be readily calculated. So as to keep the type area light and open in appearance, we have to determine the leading. "

"To choose a width of column which makes the text pleasant to read is one of the most important typographic problems. The width of the column must be proportioned to the size of the type. Overlong columns are wearying to the eye and also have an adverse psychological effect. Overshort columns can also be disturbing because they interrupt the flow of reading and put the reader off by obliging the eye to change lines too rapidly. Lines which are too short or too long reduce the memorability of what is read because too much energy has to be expended. There is a rule which states that a column is easy to read if it is wide enough to accommodate an average of 10 words per line. If the text is of any length, this rule is of practical help."

The book goes a lot more into it, but that's the gist.

u/evergrace · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

There are some great concepts here!
I feel like the typography could use some more work. For example the H in "The flawed game" isn't centered in the box and some of the font choices could be improved upon.

It should also be noted that I haven't read any of the books!

that being said here are some feedback (personal opinion):
Do some more thurough font-searching or try to incorporate the current fonts more into the design – many of these feels like the text has been just smacked on.

In "A model of horror" you could try and decrease the line-height between "A model" and "Of horror"
I would probably go with another font-pairing on that one aswell.
Perhaps something like Macabre by Dave Coleman could fit here (https://www.futurefonts.xyz/dave-coleman/macabre)
It also feels like the balance is a bit off. It feels like you are trying to utilize whitespace and a minimalist approach, but it feels a bit crowded still. Try and reduce the size of the secondary text (and perhaps chose a more legible font for small type). Maybe even try and make the illustration only the hair?

Again with whitespace and balance, in the "Terms of contention" it feels like the illustration is a bit too large and the cut line is a bit too distracting.
Perhaps try and shrink the illustration and make the line a bit faded. I'd also try and remove the dash closest to the scissor, it feels a bit cramped now.

I would also recommend reading a bit about grids and how to utilize them in your designs. There is a great book called "Grid systems in graphic design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and three dimensional designers".

It has helped me probably more than any book I've read in making balanced and well thought out layouts, especially when it's typographic work.

Then again, this is nitpicking. Sounds like a fun project! Keep it up!

Disclaimer: I am a sucker for Swiss International style and my critique comes from a Swiss International mindset!



Edit: Corrected I'äve to I've

u/fusrodah12 · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

Grid Systems by Josef Muller-Brockmann.

My bible.

u/s8rlink · 3 pointsr/learndesign

the bible IMO is grid systems by Josef Muller Brockton, https://www.amazon.com/Grid-Systems-Graphic-Design-Communication/dp/3721201450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1478318609&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=grid+system+josef

Great editorial design lives in a well crafted grid, read all you can on typography, good type foundations mean a good eye for spacing, paragraphs. Learn composition, color and contrast. IMO editorial design combines almost all design basics into one form of design.

u/madasign · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

I'd say the largest "mistake" I see is not knowing how to use a grid effectively before going without one. Here are a couple of books that helped me figure things out a bit regarding this:

Grid Systems In Graphic Design - Josef-Müller-Brockmann

Thinking With Type - Ellen Lupton

Both great resources for getting started.

u/Logicalnot · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

Grid Systems.
http://www.amazon.com/Systems-Graphic-Systeme-Visuele-Gestaltung/dp/3721201450

Once you'll fully understand the method, you'll be a level 4.

u/mooncrane · 3 pointsr/design_critiques

I think you have a really good grasp of design for an amateur! A bit of advice I have for you is to give your work a little more space to breathe. On the first section of the first page, your vertical spacing is too tight. On the second page, your text gets a little too close to the photographs. Overall, I think you have a strong sense of color, and integrating photographs and type. Your logo needs a little work, and I would also recommend studying grid systems.

u/Poes_Law_in_Action · 3 pointsr/Learnmusic

A fake book is just a book of lead sheets. A lead sheet is the chords and melody of a song with usually little else. They're called fake books because they can be used to fake a tune one does't really know. By and large, the most popular jazz fake book is called the Real Book. There are 3 volumes and 5 editions; it was produced by students at Berklee School of Music in the 70's. That jazz style that is so often in music notation software is based on the Real book's handwritten sheets. It's illegal as the songs are unlicensed, but Hal Leonard has created a 6th edition that is updated and fully licensed. You can get it at amazon. You can find versions of the original at your local seedy music store and online with a bit of searching. There are a whole bunch of others. One really excellent one is the New Real Book published by Sher. The tunes are dead accurate and contain most of the arrangements.

u/byproxy · 3 pointsr/Guitar

Pick yourself up one of these and start playing around with the tunes.

u/Broomoid · 3 pointsr/Bass

I'd probably suggest this one, or maybe this one

In terms of walking bass, the only to get better at it is unfortunately just to keep working at it. Start on a not-too-complicated tune such as Satin Doll, or something else with lots of II-V-I progressions in it, or a 12-bar blues, and work up to more complicated charts.

Here's a "quick and dirty" method to work out some walking bass lines. It's a bit simplistic perhaps, but it will at least get you started, and it does work. Assuming a 4/4 time sig:

ON BARS WHERE THERE ARE TWO CHORDS PER BAR:

Beats 1 &amp; 3: On the beats where the chords fall (1 &amp; 3) play the root (at least at first).
Beats 2 &amp; 4: On the other beats (2 &amp; 4) play an approach note that gets you to the root of the next chord, so a note either a half-step or whole step above the note you want to get to. Use your ear to judge which is best. So if the chord on beat 3 is G7, on beat 2 you could play either A, Ab, F# or F.

ON BARS WHERE THERE IS ONLY ONE CHORD PER BAR:

Beat 1: Play the root (again, at first)
Beat 4: Play an approach note as above, so either a half or whole step above or below, whichever sounds best.
Beats 2 &amp; 3: You have a few options:

a. outline the chord notes. For example root, 3, 5 then, or root, 3, 5 then to your approach note.

b. move by step (don't be afraid of chromatic notes, you'd be surprised how often they work). So going from Dmi7 to G7 you could move up be step playing D, E, F, F#.

c. Try going from the root on the first beat up or down to the 5th on the second beat, then keep going in the same direction to the root an octave above or below on the third, before hitting your approach notes.

d. Do something else entirely.

So a sample bassline for the first 8 bars of Satin Doll might look something like this. Note that in the last bar it moves completely by step while in the three bars before that it uses that root-fifth-root pattern. Obviously that's just one way to do it. When you're new to walking bass and learning a tune don't try and go right through straight away. Get from bar 1 to bar 2, then from 1 to 4, and so on. Build it up in stages, and try different ways to get there. If you can figure out how to get up by step to the next chord, then try moving down by step the next time.

Now, before anyone tells me that I am the awful spawn of satan and I have killed Jazz by explaining things this way and thus downvoting me to the diminished 7th circle of Hell, I know it's a very simple way of explaining it, I also know that walking bass can be a wonderfully nuanced thing with infinite variety. But we've got to start somewhere and the above will work. As with everything, the ear has to be the final judge.

u/MeisterKarl · 3 pointsr/piano

Jazz is a very wide subject. There are some good Real Books you might wanna buy to learn some jazz standards:

The Real Book
http://www.amazon.com/The-Real-Book-Sixth-Edition/dp/0634060384

The Real Book vol. 2 Low Voice
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Vocal-Book-Vol-Voice/dp/1423451236/

u/Marionberry_Bellini · 3 pointsr/jazzguitar

There are a ton of fake books out there, I would suggest buying one called The Real Book Sixth Edition. It's the most popular one to my knowledge and is a great resource. I'd say its a little better for developing harmony than it is melody (since most melody that actually gets played in jazz is soloing), but it's a great tool for familiarizing yourself with jazz standards as well as seeing what kind of chords appear in jazz and how they function

u/Kallistrate · 3 pointsr/learnart

I have a ton of comic art instruction books which I will check when I get the chance, but the closest one off the top of my head is the classic How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way. It's John Buscema and not Jack Kirby, but it might be the closest you'll find to the early Marvel style (if you're going for characters).

u/Myriaderoc · 3 pointsr/gigantic

Step 1: Buy "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671530771/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_pMmeAbVDBX1NP

Step 2: Go to Deviant Art, Twitter, Tumblr, Fur Affinity, CG Society, or other artist hub and look for tutorials. You can also be specific and look for certain species. A search for "frog fighter" might net you results similar to Wu. "Dragon taur" will get you things like Charnok. "Retro female gunner" might result in things like Beckett.

Step 3: Take what you learned in steps 1 and 2 and apply it to works by the most impactful artists you've come across. Download their work, trace, and deconstruct it into simple forms. Learn the foundational shapes and proportions they used. Study the detail and technique. Check out progress or timelapse videos. Remember that this is for learning. Do not post or claim this work as your own, and do not fixate excessively on one artist -- develop your own style.

Also consider doing timed practice sketches imitating things you like. Timed sketches make a HUGE difference if you stick with them. Spend an hour doing 30 second to 10 minute sketches. https://www.quickposes.com/en/gestures/timed and http://www.posemaniacs.com/thirtysecond are good examples.

Step 4: Come up with your own scenes, characters, and environments from scratch. Practice what you learned. It will be bad. You must be a bad artist before you can be a good one. Join an artist community and you might grow a following, or posting art will at least get other artists to let you into their circles. I know I treat other artists (and good commenters) differently than randoms. Some artists create their own characters or adoptables with various features that you can use as creative inspiration. Don't copy -- be inspired.

Step 5: Consider checking out programming for a local art, comic, gaming, or furry convention. These usually attract artists. Some (like me) will run panels trying to help newer artists.

Tools you need: Paper and pencil. Consider a set of pencils at different hardnesses. Stick to greyscale before moving to color. Also consider PC pen tablets with pressure sensitivity, but beware the urge to over use undo and fixate on little details and perfection. Adopt an "on to the next" mentality so you do not burn out.

u/_speezy · 3 pointsr/Earwolf

For those interested in drawing Brock the Marvel way: Here you go

u/combatchuck · 3 pointsr/learntodraw

I realize that this is a quick sketch, but you're asking for critique, so here goes.

You have to learn to draw spheres before you can draw boobs. Work on the basic shapes first. Spheres, cylinders, cubes. Learn to shade them, how light interacts. Then move on to anatomy and what muscles go where, how they attach to the skeleton, and what skin does on top of them. And as much fun as it is to draw a naked lady, that picture already exists. And if you learn shapes, anatomy, and shading, you don't have to draw from a reference if you don't want to.

EDIT: I see a lot of people making good progress using this guy's lessons: http://drawabox.com/ Personally, I can't speak to their effectiveness because I learned most of what I know a long time ago from Stan Lee and John Buscema.

u/ryanoh · 3 pointsr/drawing

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-The-Marvel/dp/0671530771

Seriously, buy that.

What kind of comic art are you interested in? Old school stuff? New stuff? Manga? Ligne claire?

u/soapdealer · 3 pointsr/TrueFilm

I think what Siskel means has more to do with the Silver Age Jack Kirby comics style than what we may think of in contemporary comics.

I think you'd sum up the style by saying there's an extreme emphasis on dramatic, exaggerated angles (including Dutching the camera to achieve this) and a deep frames with a large space between foreground and background achieved through wide angle lenses.

u/Pixel_Jum · 3 pointsr/PixelArt

This is the one I have and I can't recommend it enough.

u/TheSkinja · 3 pointsr/comicbookart
u/test_1234567890 · 3 pointsr/learnHentaiDrawing

Only good anatomy book i know of

&amp;#x200B;

&amp;#x200B;

Always I look at anatomy and proportions first, coloring shading etc... are built from that.

I am new to modding and helping you all, aka teaching, so I will do all I can to assist, and these is the best I can think of.

&amp;#x200B;

Watch the spine, think of the spine, no Rob Liefield!

&amp;#x200B;

https://imgur.com/g9ySVHJ

&amp;#x200B;

With that being said, look at this weeks "challenge" thread for a good penis reference, and her backside is a bit of broken spine syndrome.

&amp;#x200B;

Keep going at it, never give up, draw draw draw!

u/50_imoutos · 3 pointsr/manga

Both of these books are excellent.

1

2

If you can't aford them, here are the PDFs.

u/FootballBat · 3 pointsr/Guitar

Check this out. Dan Erlewine is the the author of the guitar maintenance bible/koran/talmud; this should put you on the right path.

u/guitarnoir · 3 pointsr/Guitar

When I was first starting out, way back in the last century, there were few places to go to learn this type of thing. And those that had the knowledge were usually less then excited at the thought of sharing their knowledge with you, so that you could become their competition.

But times have changed, and we have this Internet thing, and everybody is sharing everything. Maybe it isn't the Info Age, as much as it is the Era of Sharing, and sharing means a lot of crappy stuff gets thrown in the mix.

So choose your trusted sources carefully, and see who their trusted sources are.

For a good primer in guitar electronics, I recommend reading this book. It's dated, but it's basic info is good, and it's free to read in your browser (takes some time to load):

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2154081/Craig-Anderton-Guitar-Electronics-for-Musicians

I'm anticipating another book on guitar electronics from a source who's previous work I like:

https://hazeguitars.com/completeguitarwiring

This is a good video to understand shock hazards associated with play the electric guitar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS_5K5YEYv8&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be

When it comes to other aspects of guitar adjustment, Dan Erlewine has been the go-to source for decades. His books on guitar repair and maintenance are the gold standard. This first book I've linked is more for the guitar repair professional, and might be a bit much. But the second book I've linked should be must-reading for anyone curious about adjusting their guitar to play it's best:

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210

https://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Electric-Guitar-Great/dp/0879309989

Although I haven't actually read any of the books by John Carruthers, I studied under him and on the basis of that experience I would recommend anything he's involved in:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/books-sheet-music-media/alfred-teach-yourself-guitar-repair-and-maintenance-book?src=3soswxxa

There are a bunch of John Carruther's videos on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9C05D39374BFA9B1

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB7631EF18F62E16D

I like this book because it's illustrated so well:

https://www.amazon.com/Players-Guide-Guitar-Maintenance/dp/0879305495

Dan Erlewine is a consultant at the guitar tools and supplies seller Stewart-MacDonald. They are a good resource for not just tools and supplies, but they have educational videos, some of which you can get via email, and some of which can be seen on YouTube:

https://www.stewmac.com/

Many of the boutique pickup makers have blogs on their sites, where they talk about pickup design and characteristics.

Just learning good practices on installing strings on various types of guitars is an important starting place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfK8lQZaq_8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW0d9bBzUao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvTFtHLOQvk

And if you can master the secrets of floating tremolo set-up, you can impress your friends and strike fear into the heart of your enemies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcGmMJnX0M&amp;amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;amp;t=213

There are so many more good sources, but that should give you a start.

u/dude_pirate_roberts · 3 pointsr/hillaryclinton

Galifianakis : We chatted about a book I didn’t expect her to know about. We kind of bonded over this book called “Amusing Ourselves to Death” [by Neil Postman].

Now I feel bonded to the two of them!! I read Amusing Ourselves to Death about 30 years ago! TV IS BAD, IIRC. ;)

u/mrthirsty15 · 3 pointsr/videos

Neil Postman could answer this one. Despite his book [Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business] (https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X) being written in 1985, it's pretty much 100% on point with the direction main stream media has gone over the last few decades.

Essentially television is one of the worst mediums to deliver important information due to it's reliance on imagery and entertainment. It's easier to become distracted as flashy, interesting, images will trump the any verbal/written content. This isn't always true, and when done properly it can still handle serious topics... however, the majority of the people enjoy the headlines and breaking news. Long form discussion is just too boring for modern television, and that's not to say people don't want it, but they're by far in the minority. Additionally, all the visual cues will subtly influence your opinion. Attractiveness and confidence heavily influence credibility.

Podcasts are actually a decent medium for this type of thing, because it removes the reliance on imagery from television. The listener has to actively listen in order to follow the discussion and extract useful information. Written text goes a step further in that it presents the content in a slower pacing and it strips the entire discussion down so it can be judged purely on content.

u/Kit_L · 3 pointsr/books

For anyone who find this sentiment interesting but wants a less immature medium, read Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

u/veldurak · 3 pointsr/DebateaCommunist

I was very recently reading Amusing Ourselves To Death, which is a great book about how the transfer from print to television changes our discourse. It explains how entertainment is put above all else, and the relevent is increasingly lost in a sea of trivial. I'd highly recommend it.

u/jamesrlp83 · 3 pointsr/photography

Have a look at this book, it was pretty useful for me:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Photographers-Eye-Composition-Digital/dp/0240809343

u/neuromonkey · 3 pointsr/photography

There are two books of that title--this creates some confusion. You're probably speaking of the first one?

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-John-Szarkowski/dp/087070527X

u/thavalai · 3 pointsr/photography
u/d3adbor3d2 · 3 pointsr/photography
u/balias · 3 pointsr/photography

Probably the two books that helped me out the most:

Understanding Exposure
and
The Photographer's Eye

u/TonyDarko · 3 pointsr/photography

Dude thanks for the proverb but I asked for book titles. I understand that I need to take more pictures, that wasn't even remotely in question. As an athlete I don't think reading a book on rugby tackling is going to make me the perfect tackler but it'll sure as hell help with the basics and knowing what to look for.

Similarly, if I know little to nothing about exposure, composition, and the basics of photography, continuing to take bad pictures will not help me as much as if I had actually read into these concepts and covered the fundamentals as to what I should be doing/prioritizing when taking a picture.

You don't go and just solve mathematical problems. You learn HOW to solve them (or at least build up a toolbox) then you go and practice solving them and using your tools until you've mastered that process.

And yes, your photography will improve through taking pictures, but to say that it will ONLY get better through photography? That's just incorrect. Reading a manual? I'll learn how to use my gear better. Better knowledge of gear? Better pictures. Knowing how exposure works? I'll know to crank up my shutter speed and change my aperture before I just resort to setting my ISO at 6400 and taking bright enough yet terribly grainy pictures. Knowing how to frame a picture or where to place the subject? That will make my photography more pleasing to the eye.

Going and taking a bunch of pictures will not inevitably make my picture quality as great as if I actually studied photography.

You don't tell someone who makes finger paintings to just keep painting. You show them what great art looks like, and maybe even teach them the basics. You don't say "eh, maybe if you do a couple thousand paintings you'll learn how to paint a beautiful landscape."

Just leave the cookie cutter answers that everyone gives when they don't want to be helpful in your head, and actually answer a question. If you have no answer, keep it to yourself.

The pretentious, non-helpful answers in this sub need to stop. Everybody knows that they need to take more pictures to get better. Help people when they ask questions.

OP- if you're looking for books I decided to look some up:

Understanding Exposure


The Photographer's Eye

These are both seen as great introduction books for beginners. From what I've read, the first will basically help you figure out what type of lighting and exposure settings you would want to get your desired look for a given scenario, whereas the second book will help you develop your creative abilities and understanding what makes a good picture.

Those might help out your photography a teeny bit, and you won't have to take a picture!

u/Jeremy7508 · 3 pointsr/photography

This is hands down the best book I've read that's helped my photography skills. Its not a "camera" book, it's more of a "theory" book. It shows you the different parts of pictures that make photographs interesting.

Michael Freeman - "The Photographer's Eye"

http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1268435456&amp;amp;sr=8-3

u/VIJoe · 3 pointsr/photography

Quasi-newbie myself with a similar rig (d5100):

  • One of the problems you will have the stock (kit) lens is the amount of light that you are going to be able to get indoors. I think the 35 mm 1.8 is a very fun lens for some inside experimentation.

  • My favorite books are Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure; Michael Freeman's The Photographer's Eye; and his The Photographer's Mind. I think the latter two are great introductions to the ideas around composition.
u/awePhotoMan · 3 pointsr/photography

You practice the artistic stuff the same way you practice the technical stuff. First of all, get a good book on the basics of photography (I recommend The Photographer's Eye). This will help you grasp the basics of composition, patterns, framing, contrast etc.

Then you practice. Have weekly assignments - first week you're working on compositions; second week you're working on patterns; third week you're working on perspective and angles... etc.

After a few months, you'll start doing these things subconsciously and you'll start experimenting with new stuff and expanding your artistic toolset.

u/freudjung_deathmatch · 3 pointsr/TrollXChromosomes

I read a neat book not too long ago by Jonathan Safran Foer that talked about meat-eating as a cultural thing. It argued in part that one of the reason some people get so upset by others being vegan/vegetarian is that it is a deviation from the cultural standards they expect. It was a really good read on the topic.

u/lnfinity · 3 pointsr/Bandnames
u/fartbarffart · 3 pointsr/vegan

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Try
Buy

u/Kinsly · 3 pointsr/books

There is a book that goes against Pollan's views that I found interesting to read. The guy just brings up a few points throughout his book about why Pollan is right and wrong.

http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884

u/minnabruna · 3 pointsr/AnimalRights

I am downvoting you. Not because I'm a rabid vegetarian who hates meat eating and criticism, but because your statement is inaccurate. I do eat meat, but only that which is confirmed from sources where the animals are treated humanely (which in turns means less chemicals, hormones and antibiotics are in the meat, as less are needed to prevent the animal from dying). This is more expensive. It is a bit of an inconvenience (I can't buy it at the 24-hour Safeway). As a result, I eat less meat than I used to (a few times a week, but not every day).

however, it is so worth it. For my health but even more so, for the animals (and my conscience).

  • The standard egg chicken in the US spend its entire life in a space smaller than a piece of paper. It will never have enough space to stand and flap its wings. This causes them to peck each other in an attempt to get space, so in order to prevent that they are "beaked," which means cutting off their beaks with a hot knife. The males never make it that far. As they cannot lay eggs, they are killed while very young. Standard methods including grinding them up while still alive or simply throwing them away, also while still alive.

    The standard meat chicken is bred to grow fast and have a large breast. The end result is a chicken that is so top heavy and fast-growing that its weak legs and bones cannot support its weight for very long. Instead, they spend hours sitting. Have you ever been near a chicken farm? You can smell them from far, far away. That smell is the ammonia from their sh*t. They sit in it, getting burns on their legs from their own sh-t, until they are killed. Next time you are in a grocery store, check the cheap chicken - sometimes you can see the burn marks on the plucked ones. The air would suffocate the chickens themselves if powerful fans were not always running. They sometimes get agitated in this environment, so they are kept in near darkness to keep them calm. "Free range" chickens have a small door somewhere where they can theoretically go out. The majority of chickens will never even get close to that door, and there isn't enough room for most of them out there if they could.

    The slaughtering process is equally terrible, but others have done a better job than me describing it and I don't want this to become an essay, so please just click that link. Oh, and the same goes for Turkeys, only there they are bred so disproportionately that they cannot breed, so that is all done through a very fast and very rough insemination process.

    So what about beef? All beef (except veal, which is raised in boxes) is free range. They are too big too keep in sheds. They are, however, kept in feed lots. A feed lot is a place where the cow sh-t is everywhere. This leads to unhealthy meat and co disease. It is small, with too many cows (sometimes up to 100,000) to keep the group from being anything but covered in it. The cows don't like this, they like to be cleaner, to have some room to move, to graze. The latter doesn't matter though because they are fed corn (and hormones to grow even faster). The cows grow faster that way and have fattier meat. They also have serious gastro-intestinal problems as their systems are made for grass, not corn. They get very serious, painful gas and stomach problems that are treated by forcing tubes down their throats to release gas, all without pain killers of course. The corn diet also removes a lot of the cows' abilities to shed bacteria themselves, making our meat unsafer. If the cows were allowed to eat grass for one week before slaughter, they would lose 85% of the e coli in their systems. but they aren't, its cheaper that way.

    Slaughtering cows is also a real problem. By law they must be stunned first, but the rates at which they are killed are so fast, that frequent mistake occur and cows are skinned and butchered alive.

    Pork is even worse, if that's possible. Similar issues exist when it comes to slaughtering pigs. They are crowded in very tight conditions, with so much manure that it become a toxic environmental hazard instead of the fertilizer that is would be in lower concentrations. The pigs themselves almost all suffer from respiratory problems from living in their filth, as do 60% of workers who spend only part of their day in the sheds.

    As for the breeding sows, its worse again. "Modern breeding sows are treated like piglet making machines. Living a continuous cycle of impregnation and birth, the sows each have more than 20 piglets per year. After being impregnated, the sows are confined in small pens or metal gestation crates which are just 2 feet wide. At the end of their 4 month pregnancy, they are transferred to farrowing crates to give birth. The sows barely have room to stand up and lie down, and many suffer from sores on their shoulders. They are denied straw bedding and forced to stand and lie on hard floors. When asked about this, a pork industry representative wrote, "...straw is very expensive and there certainly would not be a supply of straw in the country to supply all the farrowing pens in the U.S." (source)

    In slaughterhouses for all animal types, undercover videos show frequent abuse beyond the process. There are some studies linking daily participation in slaughter to desensitization to pain in others, as well as coverage of the difficult conditions in which workers must operate, but this is an additional problem.

    That si a sleepy, hurt hand very abbreviated and oversimplified version. If you're intersted in learning more and makign an educated decision, {Eating Animals](http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/product-description/0316069884) is a good place to start. Well written, not too long or too preachy.

    It is immoral to knowingly participate in this, not spoiled.
u/lo_dolly_lolita · 3 pointsr/vegan

Welcome! I am so happy you made this decision!!!

If you're interested, do some reading up like Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.

Browse blogs for recipes. My favorites are Oh She Glows and Post Punk Kitchen.

Enjoy the vegan life :D

u/booninvailable · 3 pointsr/makemychoice

What is your moral opposition to eating meat? I ask not in a defensive tone, because I too am a vegetarian (and I have been all my life). I think it should really just boil down to this: we pretty much know that animals are capable of feeling pain. This assumption is codified in laws regarding bestiality and animal cruelty. From a utilitarian perspective, disengaging from the meat-eating society allows you to engage in life in a way that more successfully limits the pain that living things experience on earth.

Another thing to consider is that the meat industry is one of the most environmentally unsound human endeavors ever conceived. The economic model for creating meat-based products is essentially "grow food, harvest that food, transport that food to the real food, have the real food eat the food we already grew, and then harvest the real food." Meat is needlessly expensive in a 21st century economy in which many people could be healthy with a vegetarian diet. This expense is far more than just in a monetary sense, it is a cost which resonates environmentally as well. Think about all the fuels used merely to transport grains or corn to the animals that will eat them. This kind of stuff adds up.

Someone else in these comments recommended that you should consult a nutritionist to see what kinds of things you would be lacking from giving up meat. I just want to let you know that everyone should consult nutritionists, and that people who don't eat meat really don't give up much. A common misconception about vegetarians is that they don't get enough protein. In reality, most meat-eaters are receiving an excess of protein (nothing harmful, but nothing necessary to their diet).

A final thought: I questioned my vegetarianism when I was about 15, as I had grown up with vegetarian parents and for a while it felt as if I was living under someone else's philosophy with no real thought of my own factoring in. I read Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals during this time and it reassured me that vegetarianism wasn't just right, it was right for me. Do some reading before you reach a decision. You want this to be something that's truly yours.

u/techn0scho0lbus · 3 pointsr/vegan
u/Luna_Sandwich · 3 pointsr/vegan

I've read a lot of interviews from butchers that seem like they have to really disconnect from the animal to do their job. In most cases they will hide the animals face before killing it because it's the only way to deal with the guilt of being a literal murderer.

(The book I'm mainly referring to is "Eating Animals" by Johnathan Saffron Foer, which is also coming out as a movie this summer)

u/jamman751 · 3 pointsr/AskReddit

For more information on the animal products industry and advertising, check out Jonathan Foer's Eating Animals.

I haven't eaten chicken since reading it.

u/ebneter · 3 pointsr/scifi

Well, first of all, "Hawkin" (I assume he means Stephen Hawking) didn't create the term "black hole," and it's actually fairly correct, at least in the sense that there's a "rim" (the event horizon) and things can "fall in" to the hole.

But the second paragraph is simply gibberish. There are things called black bodies, and black holes have some relation to them, but certainly not in the simplistic manner described. And black holes are an endpoint of stellar evolution, not the beginning: They* are formed when a massive star undergoes a supernova explosion and the remaining core collapses. About the only true statement in the second paragraph is, "Light bends around all bodies of mass, including stars and planets." In fact, this is a standard prediction of general relativity, first measured during a solar eclipse in 1919.

Kip Thorne, who was the science advisor for Interstellar, wrote a pretty accessible book on black holes if you want more details. He's also written a book on the science behind Interstellar.

* Caveat: This applies to stellar-mass black holes. There are supermassive black holes in the centers of many (most?) galaxies, including our own, and we don't fully understand how they form.

u/nampafh · 3 pointsr/movies

Kip Thorne (executive producer of Interstellar and Astrophysicist) has a book titled "The Science of Interstellar"

Going to read it after watching this movie. Hopefully it's easy to understand for those of us without a strong knowledge of wormholes, blackholes, etc.

Anyone here read it yet? Only one review on amazon.

Here it is on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0393351378/


u/Xanthum1 · 3 pointsr/Guitar

It's not dust. It's the string vibrating against one or more of the frets. Tuning won't help. You need a pro set-up. They will adjust the bridge height, check the nut height, and adjust the curvature of the neck. It's all stuff you could do yourself but you need to read-up first. I use this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1454246945&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=guitar+repair

u/EndlessOcean · 3 pointsr/Luthier

Have a look at Dan Erlewine's book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210

It's the bible. Your library will probably have a copy and it will explain everything in far better detail than anyone else can explain.

u/Mr_TheKid · 3 pointsr/drums

Rudiments, and a metronome are great suggestions.
Id recommend getting going on some sight reading too.


Here are a couple great books I used starting out:
Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer -I still use this one regularly 20 years later. It's a classic.
The Art of Bop Drumming


Here's a great list from Modern Drummer of some other good instructional books. YouTube is great, but don't forget the basics.
https://www.moderndrummer.com/2013/04/25-timeless-drum-books/

u/zeeagle · 3 pointsr/drums

Unfortunately it's not very cash-valuable, especially if you're in the US. Maybe $75-$100 to the right buyer. If you're after a cheap kit, get this cleaned up (Outside with a rag and some Steelo/whatever metal cleaner you can get your hands on) and go to a music shop, and buy a batter and a resonant head, snare wires and a snare stand. Look up how to put on heads and tune a snare drum online, or ask any other drummers you know. It'll be a great beginner snare - much better than what you'd get with a normal budget kit - and honestly, it's not valuable enough to worry about ruining it.

EDIT: Also, for a beginner percussionist, a snare is really all you need to start out. Look into books like Syncopation and Stick Control, they're just big sets of different snare drum exercises to teach you basic stick control.

u/atoms12123 · 3 pointsr/drums
u/notreallyhigh · 3 pointsr/drums

Syncopation and Stick Control are books you will never grow out of and are a must have for any drummer in my opinion. You can use these exercises around the kit as well as implementing feet.

If you want something like drum set notes it very much depends on what genre you are interested in.

u/fornicationist · 3 pointsr/drums

For (3), I'd also say this.

u/jdbrew · 3 pointsr/IWantToLearn

my favorite book was "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer"

It's been probably 10+ years since I bought that book, and I'll still pull it off the shelf and play through pages.

Another really fun thing to do is to go through the Syncopation book and play the quarter note and eighth note pages with just your left hand and kick drum while playing jazz time with your right hand and hi hat

u/dubble_chyn · 3 pointsr/drums

Definitely something used, don’t buy new. You can get a decent used set with stands/cymbals for probably $300-500 that will be fine for a first kit for someone with little-to-no drumming experience. Maybe even cheaper.

Edit: a good book

u/WhackAMoleE · 3 pointsr/cscareerquestions

You don't need to specialize right now. Try to learn as much as you can about everything. Go wide and deep.

If you like automating things, tool development is good. QA automation, continuous integration tools, network configuration tools, etc. Lots of demand for that kind of work.

Data visualization is more cutting edge. Huge piles of data out there but humans can only absorb so much. Involves datamining, UI design.

Have you read this? http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142/ref=la_B000APET3Y_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1410035830&amp;amp;sr=1-1

It's the classic in the field.

Tools development is kind of corporate and very nuts-and-bolts. Data visualization is cutting edge and will be huge in the future, as we try to grapple with all this data we're collecting.

Between the two I'd definitely go with data visualization. Cross-discipline between datamining and UI design. Interesting work.

u/Waiting_for_Merlot · 3 pointsr/gis

Cool. "Know your audience" is important to any map design, and you'll obviously know more about that than me. Like I said, these were just my first impressions.

I don't think the font size for the title is a huge problem.

This has the makings of a slick-looking map. I think the fact that your title text and legend/notes text is the same color as the warehouses is a bad idea. Try this: Close your eyes, then open them. In that first fraction of a second, where do your eyes go? For me, it certainly isn't the data. My eyes immediately drop the the lower left, where the legend and the (hugely over-sized) notes are. Then they jump up to the title. Then down to the compass rose. Only after that do they want to notice the data.

This is off topic, but I suggest you read Edward Tufte's books. This one is my favorite: http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142

His books aren't really about map-making, but how to display and communicate with data. They really got me thinking, and I hope have made me better at making maps. I'm cheap, so I just got them from my local library.


u/the_number_2 · 3 pointsr/Design
u/lookinathesun · 3 pointsr/pics

Great description. I see someone who has seen successes and just as many failures, but still continues on with his life's work. He looks like someone who has seen enough to know when to keep his mouth shut and just observe. This image makes me think and art that does this is worth something.

Struggling with the worth of your art is the price we pay for making art. A good book on the subject (required reading from an old art teacher): https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/Nuinui · 3 pointsr/learnart

I believe you should look at Art &amp; Fear or The Art Spirit

u/HandshakeOfCO · 3 pointsr/ArtistLounge

I remember feeling a lot of these same feelings. There’s a book called Art and Fear... it really helped me. Here’s a link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961454733/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kW30CbH1NBXKJ

u/Altilana · 3 pointsr/infp

Read Art &amp; Fear, a really clear short book that addresses all of the issues in making art, fear of failure, fear of success, inadequacy. You'll struggle with fear for the rest of your life, and it's a great book to come back to over and over.
Here is the Google Doc version, though I still suggest the actual book is better to have on hand.

u/Sunergy · 3 pointsr/learnart

If this kind of thing is helpful to you I highly recommend Art &amp; Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It's a fairly short book, but it deal with the fears that surround getting down and doing the art in a very direct and personal fashion. It really helped me a lot when it came to getting going again.

u/danw1989 · 3 pointsr/Jazz

Classical pianist for 15 years, and I'm going on 3 years as a self-taught jazz pianist. I can honestly say that the book I have used the most is The Jazz Piano Book. Learning modes, memorizing the circle of 5ths, 3-note voicings, left hand voicings (a la Bill Evans and others) are all things included in the book. It will teach you how to interpret lead sheets, taking basic "scale/chord" theory knowledge and applying it to improvisation, and it also will teach you a variety of tricks used by the professionals. Mark Levine, the author, writes in a cohesive, down-to-earth voice (although sometimes a little corny), and it makes it really easy to understand what he's talking about. Other books you may want to look into are A Creative Approach to Jazz Piano Harmony, A Classical Approach To Jazz Piano, and of course, LISTEN TO GREAT PLAYERS! There's a saying in jazz - probably the most true of them all - the textbooks are the records!

Hope this helps get you started.
Remember, knowing the fundamentals is the key to learning the complexities of jazz. Seriously, I can't stress this enough. Always pay attention to your technique, and always play with the best possible sound. And more than anything - enjoy the process of learning. Have fun!

Cheers.

u/AperionProject · 3 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

A few key things will help you:

Practice everyday, at least 30 minutes. Most of us can't afford the time to practice hours and hours a day, but 30 minutes consistently is necessary.

Get a piano teacher to work on improvisation with. This is THE best way to develop yourself.

Although I'm a big proponent of improvisation NOT being exlcusive to jazz (I think a musican should be able to improvise regardless of instrument or genre) there is an excellent book for piano you should definitely have: The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine

Make sure you know all your scales very, very well. Every type of scale - major, minor, modes, diminshed scales, etc. And practice improvising around the circle of 4ths (or 5ths) with a metronome on beats 2 &amp; 4. This will help your rhythm and everything out a great deal.

u/brooklynperson · 3 pointsr/piano

When I was in college, I took jazz piano lessons on the side as an extra elective, even though classical was my main focus for my major. Also, I played in a few different jazz bands on campus, which really helped me to learn. I know your goal is to play solo, but it's much easier when you are starting out to play with a band who can keep time, a bassline, and the chord changes going for you while you ease in.

I've found it hard to learn on my own, and learned more from playing with others, but this book (The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine) is a great resource to start to wrap your mind around the approach.

u/Archaeoptero · 3 pointsr/edmproduction

Sounds like the problem isn't music theory, but applying it to composition.

I can recommend two things. First of all, you have to spend A LOT of time noodling around on an instrument. I'm sorry to say, but while the push may be useful for its purpose, it will not train you to recognize and spontaneously create melodic elements that deviate from simple chord progressions and leads. I learned on a piano, and I spent hours a week just jamming and noodling around to see what worked, what didn't, and how to add different elements like passing chords, dissonance, counterpoint, bass composition, modal improvisation, and so forth. This is just stuff that you naturally pick up after practicing a while. Try something new here and there, and you may find that it works quite nicely.

The second is to study the music of other composers. For this, I can't think of anything better than jazz. Classical music can help too, but it gets a bit more complicated and doesn't apply well to electronic music. Jazz is modern and simple enough to study, but can be musically complex (using those things like passing chords, modes, etc). It teaches one to get out of comfortable poppy chord progressions and melodies.

You might want to try this book http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151. I've heard good things about it.

u/fenderfreak98 · 3 pointsr/piano

well I'm not so sure about specific genres, but if you want to get into Jazz piano then The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine is a great place to start. That along with a fake book, backing tracks (like the ireal app), and actual recordings will get you far. Also, check out r/jazztheory/ if you haven't been there yet.

edit: for what its worth, in my limited opinion bossa nova is more of a rhythmic variant and gospel is more about voicings and specific progressions (I'm not too familiar w/ gospel but do hear minor thirds and block chords alot)

u/ztpiano · 3 pointsr/piano

get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1369855129&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=jazz+piano+book


and a copy of The Real Book.


The Mark Levine book will tell you which songs to practice and how to practice them. If you really want to learn jazz, don't simply imitate it by learning pre-written arrangements on sheet music. Learn to play from a lead sheet and you will have much more fun.

u/MONGEN_beats · 3 pointsr/LofiHipHop

This book is a great resource for jazz theory and piano chords.

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

u/Numidia · 3 pointsr/funny

From the books written by Jeffrey Brown if anyone was curious.

http://www.amazon.com/Darth-Vader-Son-Jeffrey-Brown/dp/145210655X

u/sidebysondheim · 3 pointsr/DetroitRedWings

TIL Jeffrey Brown, who draws/writes these star wars books, is from Grand Rapids and is a big Red Wings fan.

u/kingdomheart · 3 pointsr/Parenting

Funny stuff! More here:
Link

Sadly, the geek in me was disappointed he didn't use blue milk in the breakfast scene.

u/TalkingRaccoon · 3 pointsr/SRSGaming

The Division. I like this game. It's best with friends and doing the main missions in hard.

You can totally do a holy trinity if you want, but the nice thing is you can chose your points and perks at any time. I don't usually care for pvp stuff, I only went in the dark zone once, and never really met any people so I dunno. I'm lvl 15 and play a tanky smart cover/shield build guy with LMG/shotgun/sawn-off.

The shooting feels good and the mods that give you better accuracy and stability actually are noticeable. The cover system is great and I love that moving between cover is just "look at where you want to go and hold A" and you will go there. And that "moving between cover" is a thing the game knows you can do, and thus has perks based upon it (like reduced damage during the move, or increasing damage based on the distance moved)

The side missions are copy paste but that's fine for me. Walking around the city by yourself and exploring to get lootboxes and collectables is fun since the environmental design is amazing

Also iwant to shout out to the book "The Division: New York Collapse" which isn't your typical tie-in novel. It presented as an actual survival guide that the protagonist finds and uses as a diary by writing in the margins. Then she realizes that the fictional author must have known about the virus that hit NY cause of all these clues she finds in the book. So it's an actual urban survival guide on top of reading about this woman's life post-collapse, on top of doing puzzles and figuring out the conspiracy how the author new about the virus. It even has feelies! Remember those! I was able to grab a copy at a local Barnes and Noble since it seems to be sold out online but you can also buy directly from the publishers website

http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-The-Division-Collapse/dp/1452148279#immersive-view_1458063874363

Urban Chaos. This is an older game from '99 featuring a black lady cop. It plays a bit like GTA3 with some Tomb Raider-esque platforming. The story seems bizarre as it opens with a Nosferatu Nostradamus quote about the end of the world. And then in a cutscene some religious zealot assassins try to murder the cop and her partner. Right now I'm just beating up and arresting gangmenbers waiting for the story to take the turn it hinted at in the opening, but it's fun to walk around and talk to people, and explore to find hidden triggerable cutscenes and stat-increasing powerups.

-----

I'm one of those weird people who doesnt "get" streamers. I don't have time to watch someone play a game unscripted. I'd rather play games myself. And if I want to watch a game played I'll watch the preplanned/edited/produced videos like giant bomb or YouTubers like mathas, markiplier, or patrick klepeck where I can set it to 1.5x or skip forward when i get bored. I follow one person on twitch and its my personal friend so I can directly chat to him on steam and comment what he's doing in game. And even then I don't watch with rapt attention since its just not entertaining or enthralling to me. The most I got into his game was watching him play system shock 1 and helping him out with stuff since he was being a baby and complaing about not having waypoints or objective list after completely ignoring the 20 audio logs that told him exactly what to do and where.

u/dooburt · 3 pointsr/thedivision
u/stealthflight23 · 3 pointsr/thedivision

There is a mini art book that came with a special bundle edition and they have a journal , survivalist book out on Amazon that got great reviews.
Tom Clancy The Division New York Collapse

https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1482424240&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=the+division+book

Agreed that the graphics are top notch and there should have been a bigger collectible book

UPDATE: found this
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Tom-Clancys-Division/dp/1783298340/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1482424283&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=the+division+book

u/The__Lemming · 3 pointsr/thedivision

DUDE!

I found this one!

u/GreiBeats · 3 pointsr/makinghiphop

Specific to this, you can study tonal harmony, what constitutes a major and minor scale, including natural, harmonic and melodic minor, and studying the circle of fifths and it's reasoning, including understanding what relative minors are, and how keys relate due to their construction.

https://www.musictheory.net/
google-fu
search related forums

If you'd like to get a foundational understanding of music theory that's friendly to people who aren't classically trained, this is the book I'd recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1467063989&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=music+theory+for+computer+musicians

Alternatively, just watch this video a bunch. He gives you some nice bare bones practical use of the circle of 5ths, that you can apply right now.

u/JamesTheHaxor · 3 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

&gt; BTW, that wiki song structure article is a mess

Agreed. I linked to that wiki article without even really looking. Personally, I like the following books that go into a lot more detail in regards to production and EDM:

u/tmdfarmer · 3 pointsr/musictheory

Thanks. Would an online course suffice?How about something like this: https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-music-theory-berkleex-oharm100x

Regards to books , I'll definitely give that one a check . Not sure if you've come across : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034

Or Hook-theory(http://www.hooktheory.com/)

Would you recommend giving these a shot aswell?

u/clwestbr · 3 pointsr/movies

&gt; I still like Interstellar despite the backlash

Oh fun, I have a book for you! Link to it on Amazon

And yeah, listen to the commentary Lindelof does for the film if you want to feel the urge to gouge your eyes out. The guy is super full of himself and sees his stories as infallible, but I maintain that all the answers were still there. He left very little ambiguous, the most ambiguous thing I saw was "What in god's name was the reasoning for that guy just yanking off his helmet?"

u/xixtoo · 3 pointsr/interstellar

Kip Thorne discussed this a little in The Science of Interstellar. All the effects of the wormhole and blackhole were rendered using scientifically accurate relativistic equations and the wormhole that's portrayed in the movie actually has a very short length to minimize the distortion and reflection of the light coming from the far side of the wormhole, Nolan wanted to avoid confusing the audience. The problem was that traveling through this wormhole was too quick and uninteresting, similar to the wormhole animation you mentioned.

They tried varying the parameters of the wormhole to make traveling through it more interesting, but weren't able to produce anything really fresh and interesting. Longer wormholes looked like a long tunnel whizzing past, which looked too much like things we've seen in movies before. In the end they went with a look that was influenced greatly by General Relativity, but made more abstract and with some artistic license.

u/_PillzHere_ · 3 pointsr/space

You heard wrong. Kip Thorne, one of today's leading theoretical physicists, was intimately involved to ensure the science wasn't inaccurate. Here are some great interviews that discuss this:

u/Silidistani · 3 pointsr/interstellar

&gt; how can 5th dimensional future beings have a hand in their creation if they aren't created yet

You are still not understanding the concept of the block universe with all of spacetime existing simultaneously within the bulk. There is no first time - it all exists simultaneously.

For whatever reason, we humans only experience spacetime in a linear fashion, moving along with entropy (and possibly because of entropy). The "future beings," "Them," are not bound by the same law in this story and can influence and shape other 3D points in the 4D block universe.

There is no "the first time this happened" scenario, since Einstein and all physics since him represents the past and future all existing as one block in our spacetime, we just can't experience, interact with or observe it - we can only observe the now moment along with entropy. There is no reason for Them to have to be from Brand's colony, they are millions if not billions of years more advanced, They could have evolved from any humans anywhere in whatever other galaxy with that much 4D separation from the 4D location (the place and time) of this film.

Go read Kip Thorne's The Science of Interstellar book if you need more on this, or watch Brian Greene's Nova show Fabric of the Cosmos, specifically Episode 2 "The Illusion of Time" - both explain it well.

u/workaccountoftoday · 3 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

There's a book I've been wanting to read but haven't yet: This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

If you've got more free time than me go for it, but I'm extremely interested in studies on the subject. I think music is something bigger than we understand so far and I want to find the answer.

u/CalibanDrive · 3 pointsr/AskScienceDiscussion

I would strongly recommend looking up the book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by the late and inimitable Dr. Oliver Sacks. Also the book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Prof. Daniel J. Levitin

u/andyesandy · 3 pointsr/synthesizers

Not sure the right answer is, would assume it’s oscillator As I think freq of vibrations is the first thing our brain registers. Check this book if you have not already. https://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525

u/themusicgod1 · 3 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Whatever music you grew up listening to[1], your brain will basically wire itself to recognize things about that music as "good". Although vynil can provide quite high audio quality, most of the reason that people still like it years later is that it has a 'warmer' sound, that is, the ways in which the sound is imperfectly played are picked up by the human audio recognition system, and even if you don't realize it, this familiarity makes the music sound better to you. Same goes for 8-bit -- if you grew up in the 80's, you probably were dosed with heaps of the stuff, and adding it to music in the right way, whether 'it' be the static-fuzz percussive sounds, the kinds of filters on simple sin waves that a typical 8-bit sounds system wound up with, these things probably sound 'good' to someone who grew up with them.

[1] This is your brain on music, daniel levitin

u/fanatical · 3 pointsr/ArtCrit

I agree with most that the gesture is definitely lacking a bit.

Gesture is a very fleeting concept though and often when you ask 10 different people how to understand gesture, they'll give you 10 different answers.

If I was you, I'd focus on understanding the body in simpler forms. Building the 8 parts of the body out of boxes for instance or other simple forms like cylinders. If you can find a good book about construction, like Michael Hampton's Figure drawing design and invention https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819 you can get a good idea of how the rythms of the body works. There are lots of ways the parts of the body twist, turn and balance on top of each other and that creates a natural rythm that when thrown makes things look very stuff. (The ribcage is angled back a bit, the hips are angled forward etc). These natural rythms are almost imperceptible before we're introduced to them , but they do so much to loosen up and make poses feel more natural.

Understanding the body in simpler forms and seeing the rythms more clearly certainly helped me a lot with understanding gesture (which is a very loose term).

u/phife · 3 pointsr/learnart

I use to want to be a comic book artist when I was a teenager. Then I realized how much I hate redrawing things in small panels. A lot of artists I know started off wanting to be comic book artists. Anyways I think these are the fundamentals you should know, although someone who is an actual comic book artist would probably know better than me.

Anatomy - Gotta get those muscles and bones right, this includes proportions. Don't be Rob Liefeld and hide your feet. Get a good book like Human Anatomy for Artists. Or one of these http://www.anatomytools.com/male-figures-c6.php

Gesture - Those nice muscles will look all stiff if you can't get the gesture right. The gesture is the big movement or line of action in the figure. Everything has a gesture. Personally I like this book the best http://ryanwoodwardart.com/store/

Value - How light and shadow create form. How to simplify your values so they read nicely.

Object/Construction Drawing - You'll be drawing a lot of stuff from your head. You'll need to be able to construct your drawings using simple shapes. Something like this http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/924/Drawing-the-Female-Portrait#.U9XNmPldV8E or this http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/323/#.U9XNw_ldV8E or this http://www.amazon.ca/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819 will be helpful. I'm just going to lump in perspective as part of this. It should be a given that you learn perspective when doing object/construction drawing techniques.

Composition - All that work and knowledge doesn't amount to much unless it makes a nice picture.

Storytelling - This is specifically for comic book artists, and the least I know about. But I can tell you that Frank Miller was awesome not because he could draw so well but because his panels really told the story in an interesting and cinematic way.

There's other stuff, but I'm assuming you want to be a penciller, so I think things like color won't be as important.

u/TheArmandoV · 3 pointsr/learnart

I recommend this book.

This is one of the best anatomy books I've ever owned. This mixed with loomis is the ultimate combo for figure studies and construction. :)

u/p1zawL · 3 pointsr/figuredrawing

Please bear in mind, that the fundamental skills of good drawing are universal and when you learn a consistent approach in how to draw the human form well, it doesn't matter what the size, shape, or skin colour of your model is. That's one of the reassuring things about human anatomy: despite differences between individuals, you can learn to find consistencies in structure that will always be there.

Having said that, allow me to share with you my 3 favourite life drawing books, each of which include references for models of various ethnicities.

A book you definitely want to check out is Sarah Simblet's "Anatomy for the Artist" Her drawings are immaculate, but what I really like is that the photos are if equally high quality.

Another example of high quality work is Henry Yan's Figure Drawing Techniques and Tips. These images will blow your mind, he has total mastery of charcoal. This book includes a good range of young and old models, male and female, white, black, and asian.

You might also like Michael Hampton's "Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. Probably the best book I know for showing a progressive approach to skill building using geometry and the best examples of gesture drawings.

Even though I'm white, I share your frustration. I'm always trying to find resources for drawing different ethnicities and find that they are lacking. The books I've recommended are the best I've found yet.

u/sinemetu1 · 3 pointsr/Guitar

For jazz get a Real Book.

u/elastic_autumn · 2 pointsr/interstellar

More things make sense than you'd first believe. I've been reading Kip Thorne's book The Science of Interstellar and it's really great at breaking down the events and science in the movie, explaining what is absolutely true, what is more speculation based on true science etc.

u/Kealion · 2 pointsr/space

I wouldn’t say microscopic, but significantly smaller than a small black hole. Surprisingly, and please Reddit, don’t hang me for citing a Hollywood movie in a discussion about astrophysics, the movie Interstellar is a fantastic example of what happens when you’re close to a SMBH. Kip Thorne was the science/physics advisor for the film and does a great job keeping the physics true to science. If you’re able, read The Science of Interstellar. It’s amazingly written and Thorne is so so so good at explaining complex ideas in simple language. Also pictures.

u/SardonicTRex · 2 pointsr/Physics
u/doughishere · 2 pointsr/sciencefiction

Not Science Fiction but if you want to know the science behind interstellar read errr.....The Science of Intestellar by Kip Thorne.

u/ProbeIke · 2 pointsr/movies

Alright, after reading part of The Science of Interstellar apparently it's because the fifth dimension is very much compressed compared to the lower dimensions.

I'm going to type this all up, a summary of the chapter about bulk space. Gimme a few minutes.

Explanation

So, first, gravity. Gravity in our regular universe decreases by the inverse square law, and you can visualize this by drawing lines out (see diagram on the left) outwards from any body with gravity, let's say the sun.

Now, if I am at distance r, the number of tendex lines over a certain area at that distance will give me the strength of gravity. This means in three dimensions, it correlates to the increase in surface area of a sphere. So, let's say at 1 meter from an object the gravity is 4πr (r in this case is 1) m/s^2. At 2 meters, it would be 4π4, or 16π, since 2^2 = r^2.

Now, since gravity can transcend dimensions, this means that gravity would also propagate in higher dimensional space. This means instead of the surface area, the strength of gravity will fade based on the change in volume of the sphere. (Integrating surface area) which would be 4/3πr^3. This means gravity would run by an inverse cube law, which means it would be incredibly weak and the planets would fly off.

So how in interstellar can people traverse meaningful distances in the 4th dimension, but not fuck up the rest of physics? Well that results in the ante-de-sitter warp of the bulk. So let's assume we go back to Romilly's paper universe, where our universe is two dimensions (paper thin) and the "bulk" or hyperspace is three dimensional. We can't have gravity escape away from the paper, so we instead only allow it to escape an infinitesimally small amount by having the amount of traversable space in the bulk decrease with its distance from our universe.

Here is a diagram of how this works. The lines are tendex lines of gravity, and the out-back direction is the direction of hyperspace. Our universe (or "brane") is the orange plane. This basically prevents the volume of the sphere being significant and prevents it from dispersing gravity.

This also presents another possibility - that the space in the bulk between Gargantua and Earth is much smaller than the distance in real space, although this is technically not a wormhole.

The distance would shrink by a factor of a few trillion, changing the distance between Coop and Earth from billions of light years to only tens of millions of miles (1 AU)

The "confining branes" 1.5cm from our universe are at the distance necessary to allow for gravity to not screw up, but allows for space to accomplish meaningful actions outside of our brane. (This is where the tesseract was located)

Therefore once the tesseract collapsed, Coop had already travelled the distance back to earth due to the excessive time dilation he had already experienced around the black hole. As a fun thought experiment, ante-de-sitter warping is actually one of the theories used to unify string theory and it's 11 dimensions and the escape of gravity as a way to account for dark energy repulsing the universe. (Gravity forces could be leaking into our universe from the bulk, and it's only noticeable on very large scales such as galaxy clusters)

tl;dr Space inside the tesseract was smaller than regular space because physics, and this with the time dilation meant Cooper was already home by the time the tesseract collapsed. Hyperbeings just needed to push him in the right direction.

Also the pictures are from a later chapter of the book that my sister got me for Christmas. Thanks Karen!

u/-TheDoctor · 2 pointsr/videos

&gt; The biggest problem in the movie is crossing the event horizon, and violating causality dumb ass.

I think your problem here is that you are referring to relativity as it exists in the third dimension. But we aren't talking about the third dimension, we are talking about the fifth. When he goes into the black hole he is actually entering the fifth dimension and thus the theory of relativity changes. It was explained pretty well that humans from the far distant future created that fifth dimensional construct for Cooper to view his daughters bedroom, thus inspiring her to solve the equation.

&gt; Bullshit. No scientist will claim a kid's library exists at the center of a black hole. Getting even close to the event horizon would rip your body and ship to pieces due to tidal forces.

Did I ever mention the inside of it? No. On screen and the way it's rendered is what I was talking about. The way gravity works around it, and the way it effects time dilation are incredibly well represented. As for the library thing, see my first answer. That bedroom (not library. did you even watch the movie?) wasn't technically even IN the black hole.

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/astrophysics-interstellar-black-hole/

Also, your assumption that the ship would be ripped apart is completely unfounded. The truth is no one KNOWS exactly what would happen if you ever made it into a black hole because no one has ever done it. And the ship actually was ripped apart in the movie. The most popular theory for what would happen in a black hole if you were to try and enter one is that to the outside observer you would appear to have simply frozen in place at the cusp of the event horizon, where as in reality you are actually being stretched infinitely due to the massive changes in gravity the closer you get to the center. This is called spaghettification. HOWEVER, it is also theorized that IF you were going fast enough you could reach the center of said black hole before this happened.

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/snot/what_is_a_black_hole_and_what_would_happen_if_you_fell_into_one.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1iJXOUMJpg


&gt; Wrong. You obviously know nothing about physics. For commenting on something you know nothing about in such a condescending manner

That's mature. And I'm supposed to be the condescending one. That's a bold claim to make without providing any sources. I'm just supposed to believe you are correct when you're just spewing nonsense? Throughout this whole argument you have done nothing to justify or back up your claims. It's just "I'm right and you're wrong because relativity". That's like arguing with a religious extremist. I'm right, you're wrong. why? because god.

Science is about being open to new ideas and learning new things and questioning the unknown. There is no room in science for the stubborn narcissism you are currently spewing in my face. This argument is asinine and you are clearly not open to another person's perspective on the matter, so it's over.

If you're going to call someone out on their knowledge of a particular subject it might be prudent to prove to that person you actually have some semblance of knowledge on said subject yourself. Something you are clearly unable to do.

Allow me to introduce you to a book written by the lead scientific adviser and executive producer of the movie Kip Thorne, a well known theoretical physicist. http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378

Might be something you wanna read.

u/TheePony · 2 pointsr/movies

I recommend you read The Science Behind Interstellar book as well, it goes into much greater detail of Kip Thorne's research than the choppy documentary did.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378

u/BergenCountyJC · 2 pointsr/interstellar

http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378

Kip Thorne was part of the production team for making sure the science presented in the film was as close to reality as possible.

u/Theopholus · 2 pointsr/interstellar

Consider this. We can move anywhere in the three dimensions. We are three dimensional creatures, which are restrained in the 4th dimension. We can move forward and backward, up and down, provided the technology we can physically go anywhere in the 3D universe. But we can't do that with time.

Time isn't not real, it's just not well understood. It's a singular direction.

Another helpful way of thinking is, ironically, in black holes. Most people think that a black hole is a strong gravitational thing that is so strong that light can't escape. But that's just a layman's explanation. In fact, a black hole is spacetime that is warped so much that there is only one direction to go - inward. Well, much like a light beam in a black hole, time only goes one direction for us. Heck, new research seems to think we could be living inside a black hole!

Check out a couple resources: The youtube channel PBS Spacetime. Also, Kip Thorne's The Science of Interstellar if you're interested in knowing more.

u/OGdrizzle · 2 pointsr/AskScienceDiscussion

"An elegant universe" by Brian Greene is a good read. It leans more towards string/superstring theory. "The science of interstellar" also touches on some concepts related to quantum mechanics.

I know that you asked for books but "PBS Spacetime" is a YouTube channel that does a great job explaining quantum mechanics. "Veritasium" is another great channel with a few videos explaining phenomena as well. I posted links below. Physics is dope. Happy hunting!

An elegant universe:
https://www.amazon.com/Elegant-Universe-Superstrings-Dimensions-Ultimate/dp/039333810X

The science of interstellar:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393351378/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1502885214&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&amp;amp;keywords=the+physics+of+interstellar&amp;amp;dpPl=1&amp;amp;dpID=41Ii8OmMy0L&amp;amp;ref=plSrch

PBS Spacetime:
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC7_gcs09iThXybpVgjHZ_7g

Veritasium:
https://m.youtube.com/user/1veritasium

u/Canvaverbalist · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

&gt; Rhythm comes built into your body. You have a heart beat and if you close your eyes in a quiet room you can feel and hear the blood pumping in your ears. Your body is designed to be rhythmic.

Complementary reading:

(WARNING: I'm not an expert on anything, this is me trying to push an idea that I like upon which I've done no serious research at all, approach with skepticism and caution!)

I remember reading in The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger (which I don't have anymore and can't go back to) how the synchronicity of our neurons firing played a major role into creating this layer of self-vs-the-world feeling essential in creating a sense of consciousness in the human brain, to the point that a slight delay could have been at the source of some sorts of schizophrenia like feeling totally disconnected with the world or at the opposite of the spectrum a feeling of being only one with our external stimulus. (I found this, but haven't read it yet to ensure of it's content: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4423156/ )

So it's not just the rhythm of our hearts, it's actually the brain connecting everything at the same time (the lights from that apple hitting your eye, the breeze of the wind, you arm moving, your sense of balance - bref, bringing all your senses into one self contained experience) and keeping this sensation as a regular and predictive "tempo" is also essential.

Music plays with and satisfy that sensation. "My arm will take that glass - yep, it did, I have control over it" and "The snare is gonna hit really soon - yep it did, I'm still in contr-- wait what's that sound? This is interesting I didn't predict that! I bet it will be there again... yep there it is!"

Please! Feel free to correct me or add to it, I find this is a fascinating subject.

COMPLEMENTARY READING: "This Is Your Brain on Music" by Daniel Levitin, https://www.amazon.ca/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525

u/ChanceParticles · 2 pointsr/musictheory

http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525

Daniel Levitin - This is your Brain on Music

Great book. Guessing it would be right up your alley.

u/pianocheetah · 2 pointsr/piano

Not disagreeing with ya - looking forward to that source :)

I thiiiink my source was http://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525 but it might have been some other brain book. I think I've been through about 4 in the last 2 years. They are (annoyingly) not loaded with details. The brain is still a pretty serious mystery. But new techniques for study have been found very recently. One that makes the brain transparent! Oh yeah! http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/03/19/flying-through-inner-space/ Also subscribe to http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/25/fridays-elk-a-newsletter-for-those-who-like-their-science-by-email/ - It's always interesting.

So I'm hoping that science will have the brain all figured out before I croak.

u/KFBass · 2 pointsr/self

Read the book "This is your brain on music"

EDIT: sent that too fast. Here is the link to amazon

Great book. I think it might be right up your alley.

u/steamwhistler · 2 pointsr/askscience

I'm definitely not qualified to answer your question myself, but I've been wanting to learn more about this subject as well and I was recommended this book by a few people. I think both of us would find it very informative!

Amazon link

u/memyselfandennui · 2 pointsr/OkCupid

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession Sound engineer turned neuroscientist talks about brains and music. Dude basically has my dream career.

u/Brianomatic · 2 pointsr/Guitar

This is your brain on music. The idea that when something musical surprises us, you know you might let out a little snicker and think "wow that's really good" or "interesting I wouldn't have done that but I like it" is like an inside joke we can appreciate. I can't help but think of that all the time now. Also the fact that we are programmed from a very early age to interpret and appreciate music. Just a great book in my opinion.

u/UpHereInMy-r-Trees · 2 pointsr/Music

I'm too dumb to explain it myself, but I've read this book twice and it could help you too... ["This Is Your Brain on Music"] (https://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Music-Obsession/dp/0452288525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1495052092&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=your+brain+on+music)

u/Draxonn · 2 pointsr/adventism

Music absolutely affects our mind, but that doesn't make it evil. The interactions are very complex and we are only beginning to understand them. If you're interested in this, I recommend these two books to begin:

This Is Your Brain on Music

Musicophilia

u/will42 · 2 pointsr/Music

There's an interesting book on the subject, written by Daniel J. Levitin. It's called:

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of A Human Obsession


Oliver Sacks has an excellent book on the subject as well:

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

u/ggasca · 2 pointsr/indieheads

Currently reading This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin. It's fascinating.

u/BrockHardcastle · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

Both this book by Levitin, and this book by Sacks address it. Both are great reads. Side note: I believe the Levitin book came out before the Sacks book. Sacks wrote a glowing blurb in Levitin's book, and then Sacks wrote a book on nearly the same thing. I found it weird.

u/ZedsBread · 2 pointsr/Psychonaut

Hmmm. I mean basically, music is organized sound. Nobody's really sure why, but for some reason there are certain frequencies that we associate with positive and negative emotions, and certain frequencies that we deem "unpleasant-sounding".

I'm not super knowledgeable on music theory actually. I just know what sounds good and what doesn't. You should read up on the Pentatonic Scale, the Pythagorean theory of music, and also this wonderful book I'm reading.

u/eerock · 2 pointsr/musictheory

Another upvote for Musimathics (both volumes actually). I'm an engineer as well, and the wealth of mathematical foundations of music is all there. But it's maybe not as accessible.

As may have been mentioned before, take a look at a recent book 'for the masses' called This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession.

u/Noah_JK · 2 pointsr/Art

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention is a great figure drawing book used in a lot of formal training.

u/mthead911 · 2 pointsr/ArtistLounge

Hey, man! You're stuff looks good, keep it up! And honestly color blindness isn't an issue. Just make your style saturated colors.

So, I do notice things that I once did when I was in high school that you also do with your drawings.

First, lets talk about equipment. You said you use a Wacom Bamboo tablet, and Sketchbook 6 pro. While a bamboo tablet is excellent for beginning drawings, if you want to improve noticeably, my suggestion is getting an Intuos Wacom tablet. The smallest size goes for about $80 bucks, and it is more dynamic than a Bamboo tablet. Secondly, I used, what I am assuming you have, is Corel Sketchpad 6 pro? If you can, try to get Corel Painter X3. It's a much better program. Now, this might be hard, since it is a $500 dollar program, so I would suggest getting an "extra-legal" copy on the website with a cool looking galleon ship on it.

But I also believe this: you should stop exclusively using the tablet from here on out, until you're in a professional setting. Why you would do this is because you want to train yourself classically first. A lot of artists use tablets as crutches, or just started out using a tablet, but you want to draw with a pencil first (or even better, a pen, so you can't erase, and this will train you to be faster, and be better at line quality). And draw a lot with it. I essentially go to Starbucks with a sketchbook, a fountain pen, and a ball-point pen, and draw people walking in, for 3 to 4 hours. And draw people who are leaving, that way, you have to remember what they look like from your head. This helps you conceptualize what a person looks like. Once you're comfortable with pen and pencil, then you can start doing a lot of tablet drawings again.

Gesturally, your drawings look pretty good, but structurally, your drawings could use improvement. You want to start drawing with 3D shapes so you can get an idea of perspective with your drawings. Also, and what I think is the most important to you, this is the ONLY way to get better at shading! Shading a person is hard. Shading a box is easy! Now imaging making a person into a bunch of boxes. Now, your brain has something to comprehend with shading. My bible is this book: http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1395995139&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=figure+drawing+by+michael+hampton I carry it with me wherever I go. It will show you the best ways to draw bones, then muscles on top of bones, and skin on top of muscles. Can't draw skin without knowing what's underneath, and can't draw muscles without knowing what's under that. https://www.vilppustore.com/Storefront.htm#!/~/product/category=7091955&amp;amp;id=30369340 This book helps with clothing.

All of this is a jumbled mess of writing (why I am an animation major, and not an english major) so if you need to know anything else, just reply to this comment. And I've been academically drawing for 5 years, so, I barely, but confidently, know what I'm talking about. :)

u/Firez_hn · 2 pointsr/learnart

I misread this thread title but paradoxically now I think that my misreading was still relevant: Get through an art book.

I've been slowly going through "Drawing the Head and Hands" by Loomis and "Figure Drawing - Design and Invention" by Hampton.

No matter how "blocked" you may be, with a book you only need to pick your pen and tablet/paper and start replicating its drawings and doing its exercises.

Not everything you draw has to be a final/perfectly rendered piece. In my case I would say that I only upload to my dA and Pixiv page a tenth of what I actually draw.

u/ParanoidAndroid67 · 2 pointsr/learnart

Yea.. his videos are really helpful. Sorry for not linking them before. Here...

Vilppu

Michael Hampton and his blog

And some resources :
Character Designs

Kevin Chen's Notes on Figure Studies

more Kevin Chen

If you can't afford them, you know what to do right ? Use the internet :)

u/ae7c · 2 pointsr/learnart

Some good advice from the previous commenter but I'd like to recommend Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. He does a great job of simplifying the major muscle groups and tends to take a much more practical approach to figure drawing. Life drawing from an actual model is always gonna be the best way to supplement your anatomy studies as well. It looks like you're on the right track for the most part though; there's definitely room for improvement but that'll come with time and practice.

Edit: You should also focus more on value before jumping into color. Taking on both at the same time tends to lead to unnecessary headaches and you'll have a much easier time understanding color once you've figured out how light and value work.

u/Alacor_FX · 2 pointsr/FFBraveExvius

There's a book I read to help me learn anatomy a bit (I'm a 3D Artist), but it focuses on figure drawing. It could probably help out your anatomy and posing and you might be able to pick up some tricks about shading in there as well, but the focus is more on anatomy and form. There's even a section at the end that covers drapery (cloth) as well. Here's a link if you want to check it out:

https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819

u/nordoceltic · 2 pointsr/IDAP

A nice firm attempt! Its promise that will time and effort you can become good at this. Next time go at it with more aggressive darks and just have fun with the medium. Charcoal will make rich deep blacks. Consider using a charcoal stick or even vine charcoal for larger shapes. Its a common early mistake to be too light.

While you have a nice sense of shape and are drawing some of hatching around the form, but the torso lacks the sense of anatomy even a very "soft" woman would have.

If I would error, its better to over define form and anatomy and soften everything out than to try and add form to something that doesn't have it.

http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819 I also heartily recommend this book to anybody serious about figure drawing. Mind you the book is targeted at the intermediate artist, which is really, figures are an intermediate to master level subject.

The reason is, even from direct reference, drawing people requires one to "construct" the figure so they can create the needed sense of presence and form a real person has. That book is probably one of the best I have on the topic (and I have like 30)

For subject matter in the future I would focus on working with reference that has a figure from head to toe so you can work in over all proportions. The REALLY rough and dirty is that a human is 7.5 "heads" tall, the crotch is near the 1/2 way point of the whole figure, and the hands should roughly match the size from chin to eyebrows. Elbows should match bottoms of the rips and wrists fall at the crotch when standing.

That and have at it. "Beating your head against the wall" aka doing a LOT of practice is the only way to improve. Thus don't overly invest in any one drawing, and make sure you have fun. Art is all about enjoying the journey not the end result.

u/bort_studios · 2 pointsr/gamedev

I used this book to learn it

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Sculpting-Mudbox-Essential-Techniques-ebook/dp/B009W4F39I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1498971630&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=mudbox

... but I will say that I am not an artist, and Mudbox is so intuitive, I learned more from studying books on anatomy, uh, I think, this one

https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1498971661&amp;amp;sr=8-4&amp;amp;keywords=drawing+anatomy

To prove it, check out this character I've got going:

https://odplot.tumblr.com/post/162498753586/beginnings-of-a-new-character

Again, this is like the fifth thing I've modeled, but mudbox is really just that intuitive. The thing that really made me decent at doing models like this is when I studied muscles and did some drawing. In the software I only use smooth, grab, pinch, flatten, foamy, wax, scape, fill, knife, and amplify, and those seem to do the job. The trick is learning that, for hanging clothing, the best thing to do is to do foamy, smooth out one side of the bluge, and then pinch to desired tightness ... but you won't know that until you need to do clothing in the first place. Best thing is to just figure out your method to overcome obstacles like that as you come across them, and the best way to do that is to play around wit the tools enough to understand what they all can bring to the table.

u/Kareem_Jordan · 2 pointsr/blender

The arms look a little off. A great book for learning human anatomy is Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. It's referenced a lot by sculptors (and in clay sculptors)

u/Gramnaster · 2 pointsr/LearnConceptArt

I think it's a bit difficult and unfair for me to comment based on one painting alone. Do you have any sketches (line drawing, preferably) of this painting, or anything that showcase what you can do so far? Almost everyone will suggest we start designing anything in line sketches, especially if learning, so I'm interested to see what you got :D

Edit: Since you're looking for advice on how to start, I'll just say a few things that might be able to help you start.

(1) Drawing, imo, is the very foundation of all art. I think before you start painting, you should start drawing first! Here are a few links that may help you start with drawing:

  • Art Fundamentals (Free, and pretty good)
  • Foundation Group (Paid, but pretty good)
  • Ctrl+Paint (Free and Paid. Both are pretty good)

    (2) I suggest you follow an art school's course outline so you can progress pretty well. Feng Zhu Design School has an outline that they use for their students to learn how to do concept art in 1 year (16 hours per day). You can also download a detailed version of what they offer in their course, then you can have an idea on what each component means.

  • FZD Course Outline

    (3) There are also a few books that would be really useful to you when learning how to draw and render. These are supposedly the best on the internet (I only have two, the first two books in the list) Here they are:

  • How to Draw
  • How to Render
  • Figure Drawing
  • Color and Light
  • Imaginative Realism

    I think those are all I have for you now. I'm not in any way a professional artist (I'm currently studying Industrial Design), but I think the above things I've mentioned should prove useful to you. If you have any questions, you can send me a PM :D Work hard and practise every day!
u/nanyin · 2 pointsr/ArtCrit

Definitely don't worry about talent. Art is mostly practice and using the right resources.

You could try proko, Ctrl+paint's traditional drawing videos, and r/artfundamentals

If human figures are what you're interested in there are books by Loomis/Hogarth you could try, but I really like Michael Hampton's figure drawing: design and invention

u/InneValent · 2 pointsr/drawing

I'm a big fan of construction beneath design. Look at the body in shapes and cylinders and build the anatomy over that, it's so effective when inventing characters and with enough practice, will guarantee you proper proportions as well.

Check out the book written by my instructor: here

I used to always carry Loomis, Hogarth and Bridgemen with me where I went, After buying this book -- this is only one I carry. It's amazing.

I'm also very fond of gestural drawing before laying down any real construction or solid lines. Defining the flow of the body will guarantee beautiful flow.

For more examples, check out his website

u/Jet_Nebula · 2 pointsr/blender

I would suggest that you take a look at something called "Planes of the head", being able to clearly distinguish shape and form in sculptures are important in order to place different landmarks, and keep a consistant quality of the sculpt. I would recommend looking up Stan Prokopenkos youtube-channel about this, as he is very good at showing how the anatomy works, and what common mistakes are. Even if Prokopenko is drwaing, the theory of how the major and minor planes do not change.

I would also like to suggest Michael Hamtpons book "Design and Invention" as it has very good shapes for 3D-work.

It's very nice to see sculpting here, keep it up! :)

u/Kriss-Kringle · 2 pointsr/DCcomics

You need to pick up an anatomy book because right now you're inventing muscles and applying too many shadows until the whole drawing becomes visual noise and it doesn't read clearly.

First off, I'd recommend you study Figure drawing for all it's worth by Andrew Loomis. You can probably find a PDF of it online for free and it's not overly complicated for a kid to understand. Then, if you feel you want to stick with drawing in the long run convince your parents to invest in these books:

Atlas of human anatomy for the artist

Human anatomy for artists : The elements of form

Classic human anatomy: The artist's guide to form, function, and movement

Figure drawing: Design and invention

How to draw: Drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination

How to render: The fundamentals of light, shadow and reflectivity

Color and light: A guide for the realist painter

u/EntropyArchiver · 2 pointsr/SketchDaily

Only 5~ months ago did I decide to get serious about improving my art in my free time. For most of my life I only doodled occasionally. So I thought I would describe my plan of action with books and resources that I will likely be using. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My process will be basics of construction-&gt; perspective -&gt; figure drawing -&gt; digital art and rendering. Approximately 45% will be improving, 45% will be doing what I want for fun and 10% will be a daily sketch(this subreddit) that takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to complete. for fun I will be doing anything from digital to water color.

Construction and perspective: First I am starting my art journey by completing draw a box . Next I will go through Marshall Vandruff's Linear Perspective Videos and Perspective Made Easy simultaneously while referencing with how to draw by Scott Robertson. Briefly I will gloss at Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain or keys to drawing pulling ideas of where I might find weakness.

Figure drawing: Once those are finished, I will begin my figure drawing phase. I will move onto free proko subsided with loomis books such as this, other photo references sites like http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en and Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. I will also reference Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist and maybe more depending on my budget.

digital art and rendering: For the final stage of my journey, I will venture into ctrlpaint. Simultaneously I will be reading How to Render, Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist and Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

After that.... I don't know. We will see were I am in a year.

u/McRodo · 2 pointsr/drawing

Alright CC time. So by now you probably know you need to work on your anatomy, and really I can't give you pointers on what to correct because unfortunately Anatomy is something you have to practice A LOT. My advice for this is drawing from life or pictures of men, never try to copy other drawings or use other art references for studying Anatomy... only do that when you're trying to study a style you really dig.

The arm is too big for the guy with the knife, just his shoulder alone is almost as big as his head. The muscles look weird and this is probably from a very common mistake that happens when you start to draw anatomy, you kinda memorize where lines go from other drawing and art you saw. Like.... oh well I remember in Dragonball Z when Goku would flex his arm he would have the biceps as a square here, the lines to show his shoulder muscles here and voila there's a buffed arm. In reality there's a flow of lines that follow muscles in anatomy, just look at medical illustrations of what a body looks like without skin and only muscle tissue, it's basically all lines that start together, fan out and then meet again somewhere else. Also perspective changes how muscles look A LOT, a line that might be concave in a muscle area from the front might actually look convex when the man is looking away from you. When you start to understand the major muscle groups it'll become much clearer how to position lines to convey muscle tissue.

Hands are tricky, any artists will tell you that. Even some professional artists absolutely hate hands (coughRobLiefeldcough), but the good news is that whereas body anatomy is impossible to observe without a model or reference because you can just look down at your body and try to draw that, you'll only really see one perspective and that's no good. You can always just raise your hand to your face and turn it around and you can draw your hand from any angle... do that... do that a lot.

As for the stiffness of the figures, that's something that happens when you're trying to convert poses from your head to the paper without actually having a reference to work with. There are two things you can do to help here... use guidelines to draw, most artists I know use them and it has nothing to do with skill, you know when you do your little stickman skeleton to get proportions right before you draw in the muscle shapes. If you ever see an artist just nail the pose of a character in one try chances are it's because he's drawn that same pose a ton of times. You should be doing stuff like posing in front of a mirror and taking pictures or going to google images and searching for models to use, like for that monster you can just google "man crouching" and find a pose you like. This will make it so that poses you draw have a more organic feel and not so stiff.

Now, my advice would be that you practice the things that you did wrong in this drawing like arm proportion towards the body, poses, hands and all that stuff and you re-draw this concept in the future. The biggest mistake an aspiring artist makes is trying to better their art through correction, specially when not all the concepts within their knowledge, sometimes you need to scrap it all and begin anew.

Good luck and I hope this helped!

PS: This is a really good book to understand the basic shapes of anatomy

u/AllisZero · 2 pointsr/AnimeSketch

&gt;Reference things and add in my own inspiration that leads to understanding the idea?

This right here is exactly what I meant by "reinventing the wheel", right? So a little bit of fun history - during the Renaissance, a nice fellow by the name of Leonardo DaVinci got frustrated with his painting and how they wouldn't "come out the way he liked it". So he started to observe the world and figured out many of the rules that let us depict a three-dimensional world in the two dimensions of a canvas/paper/Photoshop file. Things like perspective didn't have may written rules before then, so he had to come up with those rules. I'm loosely paraphrasing here, but that's the gist of it.

Modern artists such as ourselves don't have to go through the trial-and-error method of the classics, we have much easier ways of doing that:

Dynamic Figure Drawing - I like this book but it's a bit more advanced. He doesn't explain much about what he's doing and how the basics work. Avoid for now.

Figure Drawing - Design and Invention - Good book. Also a bit advanced.

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth - Now this I have a PDF on Dropbox for whenever I need it. You can buy the book on Amazon, but this is the original from the 1930s. The copyright expired on it, so they can be shared.

Fun with a Pencil Same deal. Most of Loomis' books are available for free online. If you want to draw faces, start here. His method is essentially &gt;The&lt; go-to method for correctly doing faces of today.

I took those off a post I made last week for someone else, but it's about the same thing. If you view any of the books on anatomy for artists, for example, the authors are very good at building the body in its basic shapes and teaching you how to draw not only based on what you see, but what you know something should look like.

You can always do drawing classes, I think they're a good way to start, but they're not necessary. What you would get out of them is a personal sort of coach that will oversee what you're doing and try to steer you in the right direction and give you pointers on where you need to improve. Obviously, though, most art teachers will teach you realism (which I strongly recommend you start with to strengthen your basics). However, being self-taught myself I can't speak from experience on how much help a class could be.

Mentality wise you need to understand that, in the long run, having strong understanding of the basic rules of drawing, of drawing people especially, will save you much frustration in the future. And like I said before, if you're good at visualizing things and translating them onto paper, it's already a huge part of your work being done for you. This is a bit humorous but I think it's very accurate. If you can avoid steps 1-3, I think you'll be on the right track!

u/FaceSmashedHammer · 2 pointsr/learnanimation

Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for all it's worth
has some excellent breakdown of drawing the figure in perspective.

Michael Hampton [Figure Drawing: Design and Invention] (http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Invention-Michael-Hampton/dp/0615272819) demonstrates an excellent constructive approach to anatomy of the human figure.

Preston Blairs Cartoon Animation isn't so much a book on figure drawing or anatomy, but a book on the process of drawing for animation. While a lot of the work might be outdated, the process can be an indispensable foundation for artists.

u/jaeger_meister · 2 pointsr/drums

Yeah, the particular album with Oscar Peterson isn't the best for study - as you won't be able to listen to what an experienced jazz drummer would do in those situations - but it is a great practice tool since drumless jazz recordings are so rare. In particular I love "Pennies from Heaven", it's a great mid-tempo swing to jam along with. And if you can work up to up-tempo swing, "I want to be Happy" is a serious workout. 7 minutes of 250 bpm spang-a-lang to really build those chops.

Oh, and if you haven't yet, invest in a copy of the real book and encourage your friends to as well. You can flip to almost any random page and have a great jam sesh. And with a little rehearsal you can gig those tunes as well. Not the most avant-garde stuff, but you've got to start somewhere :) Now go give that ride a good spank for me. Happy jazzing!

u/carrypikring · 2 pointsr/Bass

I think this is what's meant:

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Fake-Books-Leonard/dp/0634060384

It's a book full of literally hundreds of 'standards' and songs for around ~20 dollars. I am also starting to learn some jazz, and it's one of the most helpful things I've found. What I like to do is find versions of the songs on YouTube, and listen to how the bass player fits in their line with the other parts, and try to play along -- even if it's just the root notes from the chord diagrams!

The history of the book is fascinating, too - Adam Neely has an interesting vid on YouTube.

Have fun!

u/valier_l · 2 pointsr/explainlikeimfive

You say you play an instrument so I'll work under the assumption you have a basic understanding of chords/chord professions.

There are many different types of "jazz" music and ensembles- big band, Dixieland, Latin fusion, etc. but based on your question I'm guessing you're asking more about small combo-improv-heavy Jazz.

The basic idea is that you have a chord progression and typically a melody is played once or twice, then followed by improv solos. These solos work within and around that same chord progression.

A good way to get started is to pick a song you like, find the chord progression, and start practicing the notes on repeat. Don't try to play in tempo, just go through each chord and play the scale. Then start over and do the same thing but do scale in thirds instead. Then do arpeggios. Then start to embellish a little. Another great learning technique is to listen to pros solo on a song you like, then try to mimic their licks.

If you're looking for a good place to find chord progressions for pretty much every jazz standard, get yourself a [Real Book](The Real Book: Sixth Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0634060384/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sI1oxbFVNBDBW)

Fair warning: improv has a VERY long learning curve. You'll probably suck at first. That's okay.

u/cbg · 2 pointsr/Guitar

Get a Real Book. There isn't anything in the way of explanation or instruction, but you'll learn many tunes and you'll begin to see common progressions (e.g., ii-V-I) and modulations (e.g., between relative minor and major) quickly. Also, you'll expand your chord vocabulary substantially if you master the many alterations and interesting extended chords that show up in there. Substitutions are a little harder to see w/o direction, I think, and sometimes aren't included in the charts.

u/asm2750 · 2 pointsr/worldnews

No, unfortunately. Google gave me this as the first link when I searched for it: https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

u/tronj · 2 pointsr/politics

Amusing ourselves to death.

Worthwhile read discussing the medium of communication and why television isn't good for communicating complex ideas.

https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

u/jimmyharbrah · 2 pointsr/politics

You may not see this, but I completely agree with you. As an information medium, television is built for propaganda. This is a great read on the subject.

Democracy was far better off when we read our news and opinions.

The internet, in my estimation, is a good alternative source for information--at least for the time being. However, there is some concern about bias due to the fact that information consumers tend to only consume information that confirms--rather than challenges--their viewpoints.

u/BeautifulNectarine · 2 pointsr/politics

Folks lost their critical thinking ability when they switched from reading (active thinking) to vegging out in front of the TV (brain shut-off).

https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

I watched it happen to my parents.

u/ElGuapo50 · 2 pointsr/television

Thirty years ago, now-deceased NYU Professor Neil Postman wrote a book entitled "Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business". In it he argues--amongst other things--that people eventually will not be able to distinguish what is supposed to be serious and informative as opposed to what is supposed to be entertaining. A fascinating read. He was way ahead of his time.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business https://www.amazon.com/dp/014303653X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_Pjy2wb7X111T9

u/HegPeg · 2 pointsr/books

I'm in the same boat in that I haven't read 1984, but I felt BNW had some very strong points.

I won't argue against BNW being weak as a story/plot (setting aside social commentary). It was not particularly engaging but there were a few things that I don't think get mentioned as much as they should. The first being the cyclical symbolism and nature of religion. I felt that this was something that more people should take away from the book. That a religion is something that should change with the times.

I also agree with Huxley in that irrelevance and entertainment would drive us from truth and knowledge. I think if you read BNW you should read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death. It also gives a strong argument about today and how we are losing any real knowledge to trivial knowledge.

I think I will go read 1984 now....

u/iwishiwaswise · 2 pointsr/news

This is very similar to the prologue to "Amusing Ourselves to Death". You should read it. http://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

u/sleepybandit · 2 pointsr/videos

How the hell...

No, not really. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. I just read a chapter this morning where he argues that political discourse has significantly changed in our culture, so that how a candidate "plays" on screen is the criteria for selection.

He believes that TV, at it's core, is a machine for entertainment and not information transfer. In his view, the sitcom is not problematic since it is unashamedly entertainment. It is the news shows (or "serious" TV) which should trouble us, since it disguises itself as informative but ultimately is for entertainment just as much as a sitcom.

u/ducedo · 2 pointsr/photography

Don't limit yourself to photography, there are many amazing painters. Thinking about it, maybe you should x-post to /r/art and similar subreddits.

In terms of books I've done a lot of research but found very little. A common recommendation for photographers is The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman which goes through all kind of lines, contrast, balance, etc. Other books I'm eyeing are Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts and Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre. Unfortunately I haven't read any of them yet so I can't comment on the quality.

If you are really serious about it, consider getting a list of most recommended art / photography universities. Then use their websites to find courses and contact teachers personally, asking for (book) recommendations. Begin with one person at each university if they happen to forward your message since you don't want to come across as spam. Some universities even publish course literature on their website. I'd love to hear the responses if you go through with it.

u/whatboobiegondo · 2 pointsr/photography

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240809343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_8KNAxbY1X968F

u/shemademedoit · 2 pointsr/Music

In terms of constructive criticism, I must say that these photos are rather lacking..both composition and evocatively. I'd suggest you do some reading of The Photographer's Eye to improve your skills given that you have wonderful cameras that you are using.

https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343

u/Mr_B_86 · 2 pointsr/photography
  1. For storage of everything and ease of access I use google photo but for good work, linking and community I think flickr is better, it displays the metadata of your photos too.

  2. Lightroom classic CC, it is a monthly payment with photoshop but it is really cheap.
  3. No idea
  4. No idea
  5. https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343
u/heart0less · 2 pointsr/Filmmakers

'Photographer's Eye' by Michael Freeman.

Even though it's mainly focused on photography, the composition rules stay the same.

u/mullingitover · 2 pointsr/photography

&gt; What exactly makes a good picture?

Composition. You can have perfect focus and exposure, as you do in these shots, but if you don't have composition the shots will be forgettable. I recommend reading The Photographer's Eye.

u/parkerpyne · 2 pointsr/photography

&gt;Where can I go from here on an extremely constricted time schedule?

It's not going to be doable when time is of the essence.

I think you need to more carefully compose your shots. Most of those are shot at or near the minimum depth-of-field your lens will afford you but in all of them, there is way too much going on in the background none of which contributes in a good way. Ideally, an image has an element that leads your eye into the frame until it finds the main subject.

The eye then begins wandering around and the eye's path may follow very different routes. It might be zig-zagging through it or swirling around the center in an elliptic fashion but ultimately the eye should be led out of the image again. In traditional paintings, particularly in portraiture, you often find somewhere in the background something as obvious as a door or a window that serves as that exit.

Mind you, achieving the above is hard even for a very good painter but it's harder in photography because you have to make do with what you have in the scene and you can't freely rearrange or add items as you see fit. Somewhere I read about the five-seconds rule: Look through your viewfinder and when you think you are ready to take the shot, look for another five seconds to see if there are any obvious flaws in your composition or things that could be improved. Pay particular attention to the background where the most obvious blunders tend to occur.

If you are interested and have the patience, there is quite a bit of literature out there that strives to make you a better photographer. I often hear The Photographer's Eye getting recommended. I have no first-hand experience with it myself but I have no reason to believe that it isn't excellent. And looking at the preview, it seems to be dealing with all the right topics.

Something that I am currently reading (and I am sure the members of this subreddit are already getting tired of hearing me mention it again) is Pictorial Composition which only talks about composition in paintings. From what I have read so far I can tell it's going to be very tough to apply this to photography but at the very least it will make you aware of the many aspects that make a great a image.

u/acts541 · 2 pointsr/photography

I'm in the process of reading Micheal Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye". It is completely fascinating, especially if you don't already know a ton about composition.

u/TheInternator · 2 pointsr/VideoEditing

You're welcome. I'm glad I was a bit of help.

Honestly, I'd probably go with a photography composition book if I were to pick one, however, I learned from many places. The one thing that every book on composition will tell you is that you can't really learn it by reading the book. What you can learn is the rules. Then you have to practice a lot! I would recommend finding subs that deal with photo critiques. I learned video composition through photography. I basically read everything I could get my hands on about composition (magizines, web articles and a few books) and then I spent an enormous amount of time looking at popular work and practicing with my own pictures. Eventually something clicked and I had my own idea (although not perfect) of what looked good.

The problem is that no one can just say, "These are the composition rules," and then you're set. It's a feeling you develop over time. You have to work at it.

You can learn the rules anywhere. Google is full of resources. The problem is when you learn one of these rules for the first time, it's hard to keep your own head, your own opinion and for a while it can be difficult to really know for yourself what you find beautiful. Is the rule working? Is this really beautiful? After you practice a rule to death, you'll start to get your eye back for what's good. You'll start to feel moments when you can break the rule outright, cheat just a bit or hot damn that rule was spot on.

If you're really into getting a book, I enjoyed this one, however, to each his own. I read every damn thing I could get my hands on and we all learn in different ways. Most of what I have learned has come from shooting shitty video and then trying to edit it. During every edit I've ever done, I've taken notes on what shots I've missed. I've also googled "Sexy BRoll" a lot.

I think the number one key isn't just blind practice but practice and critique. It helps a huge amount to look at pictures you took a month ago. You're more removed, you can see the comp better. Practice, practice practice. Never turn off your viewfinder, meaning look at everything in life as if you've got a viewfinder stuck to your eye. When watching TV, look at all the shots. Look at what they use for different reactions, different cuts. Practice ;)

PS edit: I started worse than you dude. I taught myself. I'm no master at this but I have worked my way up to some amazing jobs using video. Don't give up, fight for it and practice.

u/LCTR_ · 2 pointsr/pics

Nice, I love that ur supportive of her interests :) If she's new to photography then you might want to consider buying her a book about the real heart of photography - composition

I like this book - https://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Eye-Composition-Design-Digital/dp/0240809343/

Through all the high priced lenses, cameras and other gear - if you've trained your eye to see pleasing images that skill transfers into every photo u ever take :)

u/ProfShea · 2 pointsr/photocritique

You mentioned you just started, so you're going to take so many crappy photos. But, that's part of the fun.

I bought this book years ago. I don't think of it as particularly good or insightful, but it just describes how to think about composing photos. You should seek a similar book out at your local library. Post more to photocritique as well!

u/screamingbrain · 2 pointsr/photography

Books on composition. Start with this, move on to this and this, and when you feel you're ready for more advanced stuff get this.

The world is full of people who spend thousands of dollars and years of their lives taking technically perfect photos of their cat. Don't end up like them.

u/albatroxx · 2 pointsr/Art

Well, yeah, but everywhere else is more expensive. If you think about it, an 8.5x11 full color book 100 pages long for 25 dollars isn't that bad. Personally I would stick with the soft cover because bringing the price up to 35 dollars is a pretty big jump in price. I think they might give discounts to places like Amazon so it would cost a little bit less than that.

Some comparisons:

30 dollars being sold for 20, 200 pages, same size

25 dollars being sold for 17, 225 pages, about the same size, B+W

Expose series(You can look through the entire book on that page)

The expose series is probably the closest to the sort of book we would be looking for, but it is done by professional artists so it would be moderately more expensive, but 70 dollars instead of 25 is a huge jump. I think it wouldn't be too bad, but I would also get at least a second and third opinion.

u/Xenocerebral · 2 pointsr/photography

The Photographer's Eye by Michael Freeman

I havn't read many photography books but this one made a lot of sense to me, especially about the dynamics in the frame.

u/Alstjbin · 2 pointsr/photocritique

The building on the left balances the picture. For one it frames the scene. Especially because it's relatively bland and uninteresting it guides the eyes back into the picture. Besides that, it is a similar facade as the beautifully lit building on the right. This gives the picture both symmetry and contrast as visual elements.

The image does adhere to the rule of thirds since all the lines are filled with interesting elements. Perhaps you've had trouble applying the rule of thirds because you've focused too much on the crossing points of the lines. The reason these four points are the most interesting ones for the rule of thirds, is because items on those points adhere to the rule twice.

If you want more background information on composition, I can recommend this book.

For myself, whenever I'm learning a new photography skill I do the following: As soon as I have taken the shot I'm after, I take at least five more where I play around with whatever element I'm practicing with. So for composition, I would take the shot I want. Then go look for alternative angles, other elements to in- or exclude, maybe a different foreground or background, whatever options are available at the time. After a while I start seeing the options beforehand and will be ready to incorporate it and move on to the next element to work on.

u/sendtojapan · 2 pointsr/japanlife

I can't comment on /u/tokyohoon's book, but I quite liked this one. Maybe /u/zerototeacher will show up and properly edumacate us.

u/Blueberryslurpypouch · 2 pointsr/vegan

I read Eating Animals about a month ago. Really awesome and eye opening, even after having been vegan for a while

u/lakedonkey · 2 pointsr/vegan

The only book I've read on the issue is Eating Animals, but I don't remember the ratio of facts vs storytelling.

I mostly read up on these issues online, on different animal rights sites. As long as they provide the sources to their claims, it doesn't have to be a (big) problem that the site has an agenda of its own. I think Vegan Outreach has some good info, and they have good advice regarding how to present the knowledge you have too. (How to be an effective animal advocate.)

As for the "humane meat" part, you might want to listen to someone like Gary Franscione to get some idea of what the philosophical arguments are: Do we have to find instances of suffering on "humane farms" to say that they are indeed not humane? Or is it sufficient to point that the animals are all eventually sent to slaughter? (Ie. isn't it immoral and inhumane to kill someone, ending their lives against their own will, regardless of how good their lives was up until that point?)

u/landoindisguise · 2 pointsr/answers

OK, so I want to preface this by saying that I'm not an expert. I'm also not a vegetarian. However, I did just this morning finish reading this book to see if it would change my view on meat, and it did. There are some flaws with it, but it was still enough that I'm going to try to avoid factory-farmed meat from now on.

&gt;Do pigs at the slaughterhouse know what's going on?

So to answer your question...in THEORY, no, they don't. Most slaughterhouses have the live pigs outside and they get let in one by one through a non-transparent door, beyond which they are stunned and then killed.

In REALITY, however, it's not at all uncommon for this process to work imperfectly. The pigs are not always stunned effectively or killed quickly. Just this morning at the end of the book I was reading interviews with slaughterhouse workers and one talked about his time working as the guy who killed the pigs, and how many of them were conscious when he killed them, or in some cases mutilated and then killed them by doing things like ripping out an eye or cutting off their nose. At this point they're obviously inside a slaughterhouse and the smell of pig blood is all around, so yes some of them definitely do know what's up.

&gt;Has there been any reports of sows somehow seeking to sacrifice themselves, being first in line, to save their young?

Heh...no, but not for the reason you think. Most factory-farmed animals have been very genetically fucked with, and in some cases they're literally not even capable of reproduction (this is true of most factory-farmed turkeys, i.e. 100% of the turkey you eat, for example). I think it's less true of pigs, but pigs - like most animals - are still slaughtered quite young (usually around 6 months) because that's the way it's most profitable. For that reason, the pigs we eat don't get to do things like "have offspring."

The offspring are produced by specific breeding sows, which spend most of their lives in gestation crates like this. These pigs do get to live a lot longer, but they only keep their "young" for around 20 days of nursing before the piglets are taken away and it's back to the gestation crate for the next artificial insemination and pregnancy.

So, no, there are no reports of sows cutting the line to try to save their young.

&gt;whether or not I should think twice before having that delicious BBQ pork.

You absolutely should. That doesn't mean don't eat pork, as there ARE some places that do things more ethically, letting the pigs outside to walk around and stuff (for example). But they are few and far between, and they take work to find (and of course the meat costs more). If you're buying the grocery store stuff, there's pretty much a 100% chance that your meat was factory farmed, which means you're eating a sixth-month-old fattened up, genetically altered pig that's been pumped full of antibiotics to compensate for the fact that it has spent its entire life inside a giant, shit-covered warehouse. It almost certainly lived a short and fairly nightmarish life, and its death may or may not have been quick and painless, depending on how lucky it got at the slaughterhouse.

u/ThatSpencerGuy · 2 pointsr/changemyview

The internet is a very good place to go for people who are very worried about what other people believe. It's not so good at changing anyone's behavior, since you can't observe others' behavior through a computer. But you sure can tell people they are wrong and demand that they agree.

That means that the vegans you're encountering online aren't representative of all vegans. They're just the vegans who are very worried about what they and other people believe. By definition, that's not going to be a very humble subset of vegans.

Most vegans change other people's minds far away from the internet. They do it by simply purchasing, preparing, and eating vegan food, and when asked why they eat that way, explaining their position simply and without judgement.

&gt; I also can't mention to anyone I know that I'm eating vegan because of the obvious social consequences.

I don't know if that's true. I don't think many people experience social consequences for their diet alone. Here's what I do if I don't want to talk about my reasons for being vegetarian, but someone asks me. I say, "Oh, you know--the usual reasons." If they press, I say, "Animal rights, environmental impact, that kind of thing." And I always go out of my way to explain that I "just ate less meat" for a while before becoming a full vegetarian. And also make sure I compliment others' omnivorous meals so people know I'm not judging anything as personal as their diet.

There's a wonderful book called Eating Animals whose author, I think, takes a very reasonable and humble approach to the ethics of eating meat.

u/trailermotel · 2 pointsr/vegan

Not OP, but I can tell you that all of those dishes are super easy to "veganify." Start buying different veggie burger patties, check out Beyond Meat products (they make burgers, ground beef, and chicken type meat currently - honestly I've been meat free for so long that it's all a little too meaty for me, but I wish the Beyond brand had been available when I first stopped eating meat). There are a ton of other veggie patties out there. Check out your nearest vegan restaurant if there are any around you. If you're a milk drinker, I honestly prefer plant-based milk, pea milk, oat milk, almond, flax, soy... all so good. When my husband first went vegan we went and bought a whole bunch of different plant-based kinds of milk to do a taste test b/c he's very picky about the creamer in his coffee. He ended up choosing the pea milk - it's got a good creamy feel to it in coffee. Chao Cheese is delicious (a lot of vegan cheeses aren't so great but that one is).

Easy snacks: almond butter and banana, or avocado and hummus sandwiches, soup and bread is easy, something about coconut oil on toast tastes EXACTLY like butter to me, but there are vegan butters available that mimic the real thing very well also... there's a lot of vegan junk food out there like chips, Oreos, cookies, and ice-cream too to get that fix. Ben and Jerry's dairy-free ice cream is unreal. I didn't even know it was vegan when I used to eat it as a vegetarian.

Vegan cooking blogs:

[Minimalist Baker] (https://minimalistbaker.com/) - she has a good shepherds pie.

[Hot for Food] (https://www.hotforfoodblog.com/welcome) has a lot of good comfort food

[Thug Kitchen] (https://www.thugkitchen.com/)

[Here's a list of the Top 50 vegan food blogs] (https://www.culinarynutrition.com/top-50-vegan-blogs/)

Reading ["Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer] (https://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884) was really instrumental in helping me make the shift as well. Foer is a fiction author who went vegan irl and the book is autobiographical of his decision making, so it's very approachable and not guilt-trippy at all.

Welcome to the right side of history! Also, I didn't feel different at all going from meat-eater to vegetarian, when I went from vegetarian to vegan, however, I felt a world of difference in terms of improved mood and energy and getting to poop like three times a day ha.

And, like someone else said, you don't have to do it all at once. Maybe try cutting out one animal group at a time. If I had to do it over, I would start with dairy, then chicken, fish, pork, beef... Dairy is really just awful in terms of cruelty and health impact.

Okay now I'm rambling. Take care!

Edit: formatting wall of text.

u/KalopsianDystopia · 2 pointsr/vegan

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer might interest you. Almost seven years old now, but still interesting.

Maybe you would like something written by the animal rights philosopher Tom Regan. His Empty Cages are a great read, and he has written a very readable introduction to moral philosophy on ~150 pages: Animal Rights, Human Wrongs

u/opinionrabbit · 2 pointsr/vegetarian

Welcome and congrats on your decision!

Here are my tips on getting started:
There is a great plant-based diet you might be interested in, it's called "The Starch Solution by Dr. McDougall":
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/shopping/books/starch-solution/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_7rrkG3xYk

1.1) Learning new recipes
It takes a few weeks to learn new recipes and get to know new products.
Also, there is quite a bit of misinformation in the area of nutrition.
It will take a while until you see "through the fog". Just hang in there :)
http://www.chooseveg.com/switchnditch (get their free guide on the homepage!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmnPM6QzDTw
https://www.youtube.com/user/thevegancorner
https://www.youtube.com/user/hotforfoodblog
veg restaurants: http://www.happycow.net

1.2) Doing your research (health, ethics, environment)
No worries, 3 documentaries and books and you are fine :)
http://www.forksoverknives.com/the-film/
http://www.cowspiracy.com/
http://www.nationearth.com/earthlings-1/ (graphic)
Watch these with your husband, if possible, so that he is part of your journey and understands the basics.

http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884
https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/shopping/books/starch-solution/
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Dogs-Pigs-Wear-Cows/dp/1573245054/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1457183607&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=why+we+love+dogs+eat+pigs+and+wear+cows
Also has a great TEDx talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0VrZPBskpg
(I am not affiliated with amazon, btw)

2) Really, no need to worry about protein
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/vegan-sources-of-protein/
http://www.forksoverknives.com/slaying-protein-myth/
http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/protein/
You can enter your meals into http://www.cronometer.com just to be safe.

And finally some basic help on getting started:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2k4NHjAP84
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htf5eCgyt5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o9uzH_vrXA

That will keep you busy for a month or two, but it will also get you over the hump :)
Let me know if you got any questions or need help.
Good luck!

u/bethyweasley · 2 pointsr/vegan

the book is great as well! you might check out his other book eating animals which explains why he doesnt.

u/ewwquote · 2 pointsr/vegan

There's an excellent chapter in Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals that's all about fish and other seafood.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316069884/

u/GetOffMyLawn_ · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

If you're feeling brave you can try reading his 1994 book on black holes and time warps. I suspect that the book he wrote about the science of Interstellar is more approachable.

u/OpinionGenerator · 2 pointsr/books

&gt;I mean, if Nolan brothers, who aren't scientists, could come up with a such a mind-beding sci-fi thing

They used a scientist as a consultant who did most of the 'heavy-lifting.' In fact, he even wrote a book specifically to be used as a companion piece.

u/PrancingPeach · 2 pointsr/interstellar

I can't really answer that. The movie might just be inconsistent with itself or Nolan may have departed from what Thorne intended in showing that scene. The handshake always felt like an extreme stretch to me anyway.

It's pretty clear what Thorne had intended, though, from his book. Cooper is scooped out of the black hole into "the bulk" (hyperspace) by the tesseract. See page 255 or so. The Amazon link looks like it has some of these pages available for viewing:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378

u/mrstinton · 2 pointsr/askscience

All brightness in that image is the accretion disk - light emitted by the part of the disk on the opposite side of the black hole is bent around it by gravitational lensing, causing the image above and below the black hole. It is a minimally aesthetically tweaked depiction based on an accurate computer model, yes.

e: got the book in front of me, here's some pages showing the lensing.

u/Trigger757 · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

I cant tell you what recording software is right for you, cheapguitars link is a good place to start off looking. Id also check out kvr.com for hosts and plugins, they have as comprehensive a list of audio software as any you will find online, and their forums are a great learning resource.

As for music theory, id recomend this book if you have any interest in doing more than just record electronically.

u/Melephant13 · 2 pointsr/GiftIdeas

Ideas for you:

u/Dweller · 2 pointsr/AskPhotography

Start here:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. I find this book very helpful for people breaking into photography to learn the hows and whys of shutter, aperture and ISO.

u/TwoWheeledTraveler · 2 pointsr/motorcycle

First, (and I'm probably old and crusty enough that my advice will sound like it - I learned to shoot on film back when...) don't worry about the editing. Learn to use your camera. Learn what the controls are and how they affect the image you take. Learn to compose an image well, and how to get what you want in the image to come out that way. THEN you can learn / worry about editing. Way too many people think that the magic of "good" photography is in Photoshop or Lightroom, when really it's in knowing how to use your tools (i.e. the camera). I've shot for automotive and motorsports stuff for a good while now, and while I'm ok, there are guys out there who can out-shoot me with a potato phone camera because they really know what they're doing.

&amp;#x200B;

Get yourself a copy of Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson and learn what he has to teach. Once you learn how to use the camera and how to compose a good photograph you'll be taking awesome shots of your bike.

u/csis_agent0xB16B00B5 · 2 pointsr/Beginning_Photography

I still like Bryan Peterson's, Understanding Exposure.

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509

I have the third edition.

DarkTable, Huggin, and GIMP are free. Learning curve can be steep but they do more than just getting the job done.

https://www.darktable.org/

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

https://www.gimp.org/

u/chulgor · 2 pointsr/Nikon

On the other hand, millions of unenhanced humans somehow managed to learn how to use film cameras with, at most, a light meter. I suspect you'll do fine. A good photography book wouldn't hurt.

u/shlotchky · 2 pointsr/SonyAlpha

I found this comment over in the main photography subreddit.

In particular, the first 2 youtube videos were extremely helpful for me. They were long, but worth it to watch the entire thing. The Sam Abell one in particular is great since he will show a sequence of his photograph attempts leading up to some of his more famous work. For me this helped me understand what are the minutiae that can make a photo great.

These videos are on the compositional/artistic side. For the more technical side of things, I have been learning a lot from the book Understanding Exposure.

u/DickieJoJo · 2 pointsr/Beginning_Photography

This book is absolute money: Understanding Exposure

u/Mun-Mun · 2 pointsr/photography

If your wife loves books I recommend this bookhttps://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509 it really gets down the basics, has lots of examples and it's all in a complete package. The thing about trying to learn stuff online is sometimes people online may not explain it as well

Also there is a Sony Alpha subreddit /r/sonyalpha

u/kinginthenorth78 · 2 pointsr/Beginning_Photography

My first DSLR was a Nikon D3100 and I remember finding it so intimidating I was almost afraid to hold it or pick it up. I've definitely been there! You have a fun adventure ahead of you, so enjoy it! Get a good book or do some youtubing to understand your camera. I recommend both of these:

  1. https://www.amazon.com/Tony-Northrups-DSLR-Book-Photography/dp/0988263408

  2. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1492692662&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=understanding+exposure

    Before even diving into them though, I'd check out some web articles or youtube videos on your specific camera, but also on the exposure triangle so you have an idea of the basics of photography in general, and you can build from there. Your camera has a lot of bells and whistles, but the most important thing is learning aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Everything else is icing. Have fun!
u/patrickbyrd · 2 pointsr/pics

Close. I locked the auto exposure when aiming at the floor. (I said shadows before because I did not aim it at the light but looking at the floor there is a large reflection that helped to average out the exposure.) Then yes I recomposed the image and clicked the shutter.

A very accessible book that has a lot of these very useful hacks is.... https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=understanding+exposure&amp;qid=1570121194&amp;s=gateway&amp;sr=8-2

u/Tauralis · 2 pointsr/learnart

As far as I know, rotating objects in space involves drawing an ellipse at foundation of your initial object, then setting another vanishing point according to the desired angle, and draw a new grid around the ellipse for your object, but from your new vanishing point, so that the lines of the grid would be tangent to the ellipse.


Sorry I can't go into detail, it is really hard for me to explain this, my English is rather bad at explaining such intricate topics. I would recommend reading "How to draw" by Scott Robertson, where he provides a more indepth look into perspective.


https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732

u/DrDougExeter · 2 pointsr/learnart

I can definitely help you with this.


How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination

This is the best book on perspective you can buy. Perspective is the number one thing you need to have a grasp on if you want to draw, especially from imagination. Practice this until it clicks for you.

For setting up scenes I recommend Andrew Loomis books, Creative Illustration in particular. Loomis has several books out and they're all amazing. Many artists have learned to draw from Loomis.

Burne Hogarth is another master of the craft and you can learn a lot about musculature and anatomy from his books. These are generally a step up from Loomis so you could move on to these once you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals to take your work to the next level. Dynamic Anatomy, Dynamic Figure Drawing, Drawing the Human Head.

For people and anatomy, Proko (http://www.proko.com/library/) has good free youtube videos. He uses a lot of Loomis and Hogarth methods (which are pretty much the standard) and presents them in a way that is easy to digest. He's constantly updating his channel and adding new videos.

If you can only get a few books, I would get the How to Draw perspective book first, then go through the Proko material, then move onto the Loomis and Hogarth stuff. These learning materials will take you pretty much as far as you want to go.

Also I highly recommend sticking to traditional materials (pencil and paper) while you're learning. Once you have the fundamentals down then you can move on to digital. You're going to make things much easier on yourself if you stick with traditional while you nail these fundamentals down.

u/strppngynglad · 2 pointsr/drawing

I'd recommend this book for learning perspective of things like this to OP

u/Brendan_Fraser · 2 pointsr/learntodraw

Practice practice practice.

Start from the beginning and just keep doing it. The more time you put in the better you get. Success doesn't happen over night. Check out the book "How To Draw" to learn perspective drawing which will teach you form and shapes correctly. Also check out https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals

u/Mizzazz · 2 pointsr/katawashoujo

I don't really have the time to do a fully fledged critique right now, but the most prominent issue to me is your line work. It's very chicken-scratchy and not confident. The quality of line is what separates okay artists from great artists, and you will be able to sketch a LOT quicker once you get better at it.

This reddit has some great resources and lessons

It's by a guy who did lessons with a well known artist at CDA (Concept Design Academy), this guy is a freaking genius and I can only hope to even scratch the surface of his ability!

The owner of this sub also recommends this book - Which I'm sure you can get in a more illegitimate manner, but it's fantastic and a must-have for any budding artist.

I want to recommend this to /u/Anagram-Daine, too, if he's here at all.

As a final note, this video on line weights is great, too.

Line weight can really help establish forms in your work without needing to add value, and being able to think in 3D forms can help a lot. The idea behind this is that you simplify everything you see into primitive shapes, such as boxes, spheres, cylinders and cones. All of these shapes can be warped, distorted and bent to form anything you can possibly think of, so being able to know these shapes and how light would pass over them will give you the ability to draw ANYTHING, should you know what it looks like.

Have fun!

u/Choppa790 · 2 pointsr/ArtistLounge
u/Hewkho · 2 pointsr/ArtBuddy
u/erikb42 · 2 pointsr/web_design

To be good at design in general, there's a few things you need to know.

  1. Basic 2d design and color theory: Elements of Colors + Interaction of Color

  2. Art and Deisgn history: Meggs' History of Graphic Design + Janson's History of Art

  3. Basics in grid systems and typography: Grid Systems

    Basically, there is no shortcut. You need to study the history and understand why things work or don't. A bit of psychology never hurt anyone either, even just a 101 class should be enough to get you started. Lastly, just remember this one thing, it will be the most important part in your career...CONCEPT IS KING. I cannot stress this enough, make sure everything you do has a big idea behind it. Something that lets you organize everything under it. I don't care how much UX/UI thought you have, how many ad units and SEO whatevers you did, without a great idea, its total shit and just fluff.
u/kamolahy · 2 pointsr/JobFair

Good questions. Let me take them one by one.

I'll first say that the portfolio is the only truly important thing. When I first came out to NYC to work, I interviewed at 17 different companies/startups/studios. Not a single one even looked at or asked about the school I went to. We just talked at length about my projects. That being said, I think design school is important. Design is complicated. There's a lot to learn. I know people who swear by just going it your own way and not going to school. Those people don't see what they don't do well. They struggle with the fine details. They think their work is fine, but they haven't figured out why it could be better.

Design school taught me a lot. It taught me how to think differently. How to get thick skin and take critique. How to work with grids. How to manage type. All of these skills don't come from hard and fast rules. They come from ethereal concepts that you have to learn. They're much easily learned through someone who can mentor you. You can figure it out on your own, but it will take longer. The cap on your ability to grow in the industry will fall short. I've even interviewed people who had some nice work, but when I discussed with them their process or their theory, they didn't know what they were talking about. They learned how to copy good work, but not how to generate their own creative output.

If you want practice here's what I would do.

  1. Sketch. Even if you aren't good at it. I'm still not. Lot's of designers aren't. Sketching is about a quick method of generating ideas.

  2. Read and write. Design is about communication, not visuals. Visuals are important, but if they don't say anything, no one cares. Great designers often tend to be great writers/readers. Don't just read about design. Read about architecture. Read about theater. Read Science Fiction. Just read.

  3. Take pictures. Learn to frame a shot. learn how to compose something beautiful.

  4. Fill your well. Your greatest resource in design will be culture. Learn about things. Experience a full life. If your creative inspiration comes from a design website, you're doing it partially wrong (those things have their value, but they are a simple tool, not a means to good solutions). Dig deep into different things and become broadly experienced.

  5. Play with the software. If you're sketching, try the software too. Learn Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. This leads to my next thing.

  6. Find good work and copy it. Literally. Don't copy to give to a client. Just copy in the privacy of your own studio space. You learn to play the guitar by first playing songs by bands you love. Do the same with design. Copy their work and try to learn their techniques.

    Regarding whether I practice, I do. Side projects are a big part of what we do. Client work is always constrained by their needs. Side projects are a good way to push your creativity. Working with constraints is good and important, but balance it with side projects. Design an app. Make a children's book. Do whatever it is that seems interesting to you.

    I still struggle with whether my work is good or not. You'll never get over expecting more than you can deliver. If you like the challenge of that and can live with yourself, you'll be a good designer. A good part of knowing what's good is learning to see. Study masters. Find out what makes good work tick. This is a hard question for sure. This is part of why I tell people to go do design school.

    Design books I recommend... this is hard. A few to get started...

    Steal Like an Artist is good for a newly creative

    The Creative Habit is amazing for people who think creativity is magic... it demystifies that notion and explains how Creativity is about practice and routine. Very smart book.

    DeBono's Thinking Course is heavy reading but very good in learning how to think creatively. It's a must, in my opinion.

    Grid Systems is bland but essential. Learn it. By one of the great masters.

    Art &amp; Visual Perception is also mega heavy, but will teach you how to understand how good creative work is composed and why it works. Very interesting if you can take it.

    A Smile in the Mind is a great book that shows how wit and messaging in design makes for powerful and memorable work. It's a good primer on how designers work concept into their visuals. It's about discovery and the bliss that comes from that (that's why our honey bottles were so successful... discovery is everything).

    Also check out www.designersandbooks.com. It's a long running list of great books that are recommended by designers much more skilled than I am. These are the greats.

    Hope this all helps.
u/adonutforeveryone · 2 pointsr/webdev

You don't have to copy or mimic. Learn basic graphic design structure taught in schools. The most basic system imho, is the Swiss Grid System.

https://nicolamurphy17.wordpress.com/visual-literacy-2/research/the-swiss-grid-system/

It is based on readability and graphic structure. It shares a lot of it's core to current CSS grid libraries today. Looking back at graphic design as a base is very valuable as it is visible and pretty explicit in it's representation.

I originally came from graphic design in 1989. I taught myself HTML and CSS in 1995 after doing manual layout, poster art, etc. That led to flash and actionscript (won awards, featured in taschen books, k10k, etc.) This then led to more multimedia and interactive work, Stewart Little screensaver in flash, Time Warner road runner broadband experiences for their "new high speed internet" launch using SMIL, actionscript, and some early J's work... Flash begins to die and JQuery starts up...and then the dot com crash.

I leave the web world to return to school for architecture. I end up with a master's degree from a top school doing theoretical architecture and using lots of computation, python, to analyze environments and the placement of large scale media and interactivity (a ton of work for large scale LED in Time Square, sports arenas, etc). At the same time I teach myself Django, sql alchemy, flask, and all of the other python dev tools. I use this for data aggregation and presentation. And now, I have tackled Dart, Vuejs, Angular Dart, Flutter, and finding new ways to use the as tools to keep pushing forward.

With all of that, my initial education in pre digital graphic design principles has been as important as anything else; to quickly visualize a design and it's technical structure is an incredibly valuable asset across creative fields. So...learn some basic graphic design layout principles and use that to attempt to understand design from a structural standpoint...how would you construct what you see. The Swiss Grid System is a nice basic foundation that almost all grid systems today are inspired from, if they know it or not.

A good book on the topic

u/wanahmadfiras · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

Random people on Reddit will be the most transparent.XD
I have asked the designers, they seemed okay but who knows what's inside?

I do consider to take a short course or at least a proper online course. Right now, I'm learning digital print production using EFI products.

If you can suggest some good online courses?

Some books that I have studied properly:

  1. https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Reference-Specification-Book/dp/1592538517

  2. https://www.amazon.com/Grid-Systems-Graphic-Design-Communication/dp/3721201450

  3. https://www.amazon.com/Layout-Essentials-Design-Principles-Using/dp/1592537073

  4. https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Brand-Identity-Essential-Branding/dp/1118099206

    If anyone can recommend books specifically for print design, that would be great.:)
u/watsonsm · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

Check out Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Mülller-Brockmann

u/jessek · 2 pointsr/Frontend

Well, the most important books that I read when learning design were:

u/-Brightraven · 2 pointsr/Logo_Critique

I think it might be helpful to start from the beginning and learn the principles and hierarchies behind the bells and whistles of Adobe CC.

u/stalklikejason · 2 pointsr/Design

Buy this, then read the shit out of it and try again.

u/Kopah · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

Surface Book 2 has changed the way I work the most.

😗 😂

...but more seriously, the book that I found most helpful was probably Grid Systems:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/3721201450/

u/ChuckEye · 2 pointsr/Guitar

Yes, they've got both the lead line (melody) and the chords above them. They're really the industry standard for jazz — you'll see them on any music stand for a gigging combo. 6th Edition is probably the best place for you to start. (A given song might look like this.)

u/jbachman · 2 pointsr/makinghiphop

Get a Real Book and find progressions in there. Use them directly or let it inspire you to create lines of your own. You can also find a lot of jazz lead sheets online.

u/zhemao · 2 pointsr/CasualConversation
u/redderritter · 2 pointsr/piano

Get a copy of the Real Book and look up what the songs should sound like on youtube, then play them. http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384

u/scippie · 2 pointsr/piano

Several years ago, I was in your same position. I finished my classical training and wanted to learn to play exactly this same kind of music I had been hearing in my head for years. Sadly enough, it's not as easy as it sounds...

You already have a basic understanding of music. This is really the basics. When you are going to play jazz, you need to know a lot more: chords, scales, chord progressions, chord substitutions, fillers, rhythm (and playing out of rhythm while having an inner rhythm), ear training, ...

You can't learn that from sheet music or even books about jazz. Find a teacher! He will most likely talk about The Real Book that is filled with this kind of music. You will first learn to play exactly what's on the sheet, but then the important stuff starts, knowing how to change the sheet so that it becomes your own jazz piece with improvisation and things like that. It will take years to get there, believe me. But it's absolutely worth it.

Good luck with it! Don't waste your time (cos that's what you will do) and find a teacher!

u/stanley_bobanley · 2 pointsr/guitarlessons

Get The Real Book and work on the easy-to-read stuff.

Most tunes don't stick to a single key, but many do feature an A section in a single key at least. So you could work on reading in the easier keys of C, G and F major at first, and just sticking to the parts you can read. A byproduct of this will be your increasing awareness of where the white keys are on your fretboard, which is a phenomenal skill to develop.

As you grow increasingly comfortable reading, you can add keys with up to 4 sharps and flats (D, Bb, A, Eb, E, Ab). Many of the tunes in the Real Book are in F, Bb, Eb and Ab (and their respective relative minors) so you'll have a ton of options here =)

u/Xnense · 2 pointsr/piano

I live on the pacific coast so I can’t help with the teacher part but I have just started jazz piano about a six months ago after playing piano for a year, I feel that you should first familiarize yourself with piano in any way you can before moving into jazz and paying for lessons, once you’re experienced you should buy the sixth edition of the real book and learn how to read jazz standards. These are songs that are in the book (400+ songs) are classics that pretty much all experienced jazz musicians can pick up on and can play along to. It’ll only have the melody on the chords to go along with it, you should learn the melody and play it the way you feel is best and play around with it and then harmonize it with the chords. Once you get familiar with this you should try your best to solo over it along with the chords, you might sound like ass but you’ll have to practice to get an ear for soloing, eventually you’ll get better and pick up and learn techniques. One of my favorite jazz pianist YouTubers made a great video that gives a list of some of the easier jazz standards that are mostly in the real book, they are great for gaining a foundation in jazz. It’s important that you know how to play all types of chords to best play jazz standards, if you’re interested message me and I’ll send you directions for a good exercise for this. Lastly when learning jazz standards it’s best to listen to the song and the chord changes a lot first to get a feel for the song, learning the vocals also helps with expression. Once you get a foothold for all of these basics then you should look for a teacher, I suggest taking a few months before that.

u/DinkyThePornstar · 2 pointsr/Beginner_Art

The best bit of advice I can give is to go out and buy a sketchbook. If you want to focus on anime/manga inspired drawing, a medium grit medium weight paper sketchbook offers a durable surface that is perfect for practicing. As you improve and, should you so choose, incorporate inks, you can move to a smoother, medium weight paper, to prolong the life of your pens (especially if you like the brush tips).

There isn't really a "best" paper to use, and spiral notebooks are the preferred media for artists who are bored in class, but for the times when you are free of distractions and can sit down to draw, I'd recommend an artist sketchbook. Do some browsing online, find a reasonably priced sketchbook, then go to art stores or even places like Staples that offer art supplies. Open the books, feel the paper, make sure you like the quality of hue, grit, and weight before you buy. And don't be suckered in by the more expensive books and papers. Some papers are much heavier and are used for different projects. You don't, for example, need a heavy, high grit, expensive paper meant for watercolors, if you plan on doing pencil drawings and ink pens.

If you have any questions on pencils, pens, inks, markers, or any other materials, ask away.

As for the drawings themselves, there are a lot of resources available online for free. Or, if you are the kind of learner who benefits most from having a book to read from, How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way is a resource I can recommend. It's good for beginners and practiced hands alike, and has a lot of overlap with manga style drawing.

Keep at it, don't get discouraged, and make sure you don't forget to pay attention in class from time to time.

u/spacesoulboi · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Here you can read up on it

u/TheMaskedHamster · 2 pointsr/funny

Keep working on it. You have a sense for humor and timing that is deserving of the effort to refine not only it, but your art as well.

Some books that may interest you:

  • Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards - This is handy as an inspiring introduction to the mental perspective of art, ie how to draw what you see and not what you think you see.

  • How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema - There are hundreds of lousy books with instructions on how to draw cartoon characters. This isn't one of them. This is a breakdown of how comic art is formed, from the elements of illustration to the basics of composition, all packaged in a format to be enticing to novice artists who happen to be comic fans.

  • Perspective! for Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea - A straightforward guide on how to represent perspective in illustration, with lots of supplementary explanation and art, in an amusing comic format.

u/ThePain · 2 pointsr/learnart

A good starting point that I and a lot of my friends used for getting in to art was "How to Draw the Marvel Way"

It's comic book artwork, but it includes the fundamentals and gives you something fun to draw as well as a firm starting point to launch into more lifelike drawings.

u/billydelicious · 2 pointsr/GraphicDesign

This was a great place to start for me when I was a kid: "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way" http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-The-Marvel/dp/0671530771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1409077196&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=learn+to+draw+the+marvel+way

There's just a ton of great info about perspective, composition, communication, balance. Sure it's more about illustration but most of the lessons apply to graphic design in general. Also, knowing how to draw will really give you a leg up in the industry - it's a very valuable skill set to have.

u/Brikar99 · 2 pointsr/comicbooks

If you haven't already, you should check out [How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way by Stan Lee] (https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Comics-Marvel-Way/dp/0671530771/). It really helped me out a lot when I was younger, and has a lot of great lessons on the basics of drawing superheroes, backgrounds and storytelling.

u/evilanimator1138 · 2 pointsr/animation
u/Redfoxyboy · 2 pointsr/comicbooks

I would read How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. It's a really great learning tool

u/SpicerJones · 2 pointsr/Marvel

Hey dude - I am also teaching myself - its tough work but stick with it.

Pick up a copy of “How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way” - it will become your bible.

How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671530771/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2akBCbP1Z9ANJ

u/mckickass · 2 pointsr/Art

Mark Kistler's Draw Squad for $.23 from amazon

It is aimed at kids, but it is a great start for fundamentals of drawing. After that, i'd pick up How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way

It has one of the best explanations for perspective that i have found

Edit: I suck at links

u/kagamaru · 2 pointsr/drawing

When I was in high school we didn’t have art classes. I bought a book called Drawing Comics the Marvel Way and my world was never the same. It is a great primer for drawing the figure without being too academic. Check it out

u/mattwandcow · 2 pointsr/learnart

I'll be the 3rd person to recommend Understanding comics. It is required reading.

The big thing is practice. Practice. Practice. Then go practice. I've been working kinda on comics for a while and sometimes, I can churn out a panel like nobodies buisness. The pose aligns just right and its super easy. Other times, a single panel takes me hours, because I keep finding I'm doing it wrong.

But you know what? the next time I do a scene like that, I do it a bit faster. I rarely go online to find references. Instead, I stand up from my pen and paper, and make whatever stupid pose I'm trying to draw and mentally take inventory of where all my limbs are, how my body looks and feels. A mirror may help.

In regards to asking the artist, a quick google claims that
&gt;This book has includes an extensive interview with creator Masashi Kishimoto, step-by-step details on the process of creating a Naruto illustration, 20 pages of notes from the author about each image in the book and a beautiful double-sided poster!

That might be worth checking out.

&gt;About how many drafts would you guys predict that it took that whole comic, and what sorts of panels would you all say take more drafts to perfect than others?

That's a really hard thing to guess, because of what goes into the comic. there are 3 steps in my mind that might count as 'drafts.' 1st, the overarching story. The script to that was probably passed through a few editing hands before any art got started. It really depends on the project on how much script you should have. I've been focusing on just the next strip on my current stuff. I have notebooks with outlines for twenty odd chapters for other stories that can't see the light of day until i finish rewriting them.

(I saw a comment here recommending to find scripts and try drawing the first few pages, then compare work. I'm so gonna do that!)

2nd. the page itself. Panel layout, camera angles, action poses, there is SO MUCH that goes into each page, I can't do it justice. A lot of good books have been suggested, so check out those. Duck into a bookstore and see what they have. I have fond memories of draw comics the marvel way! and I love How to make webcomics

I do end up drawing and redrawing the pencils several times, before I ink it.

3rd, you'd be surprised how much rewriting can go into every line of dialogue. For me at least. I write what I want to say, then I remove every word I can get away with, then I have to cram it inside of a bubble. Sometimes, writing a sentence takes longer then drawing a panel!

Closing remarks: I have 2 final pieces of advice: 1st: Invent your own process. Figure out how you want to do it. Each of us is shaped by our environment, by our upbringing, by the books we've read, by the artists we admire. And then, none of us have exactly the same tools. Make a process that works for you. (Start making. And then, when you're comfortable, experiment! I recently bought a calligraphy dip pen and have been using that for my inking. For so long, I had thought it an outdated piece of technology, but now I love it so much! but you don't need one. I did a lot of comics with paper and a ball point pen. They weren't pretty, but they were mine.)

Finally, (because I doubt you're even reading this far down!) practice does not necessarily equal practice. All the anatomy lessons, perspective practice, the realistic images, those are good fundamentals. I wish I had them. But if you want to learn to make comics, come up with a story, not too long of one, and draw it. Play with what you can do. Learn to tell a story. And, ya know, you'l get to a point where you need a cool city scene, and all that perspective practice flows into the panel. Or you'll want to emphasize how beautiful your villainess is, and your anatomy floods down your pen. Everything you learn is a tool in your toolbox and the fundamentals are very useful, although they don't seem to be, they are part of the path.

TLDR: Confucius say: Make some comics. They you will know how to make them. Also, read books.


u/SolidSquid · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Check if you can do it at other schools. Otherwise there's a lot of tutorials around, check youtube and conceptart.org

edit: Oh, and the Andrew Loomis books have been getting re-released, well worth a look along with Bridgeman's stuff (think both are still available online too, they were out of print for years and there was a whole movement to try and get them re-printed, or at least preserve them)

http://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-All-Its-Worth/dp/0857680986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1319139330&amp;amp;sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Hands-Andrew-Loomis/dp/0857680978/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1319139330&amp;amp;sr=8-2

Also, look into gesture drawing and do it in places like cafes and pubs, just drawing the people around you. Free life drawing classes :p

u/DocUnissis · 2 pointsr/learnart

This book does a fairly good job at explaining how to make pictures look like they're "in motion" but assumes you already have a pretty good grasp of drawing the human form.

This book will, with practice, get you that grasp.

u/linksoep · 2 pointsr/learnart

Start with gesture drawing. Watch Proko and Reiq first, to see what it's all about, then go to Quickposes. Do the 30 second timed gestures until you've reached level 1. Concentrate on the line of action. Don't get stuck on details. It will be impossible to do at first, but your skills will increase rapidly. Your hand will loosen up, and you will find something of a personal style. After that, read Andrew Loomis. It will be a revelation.

u/ICBanMI · 2 pointsr/learnart

Figure Drawing for All it's Worth has some good info on the subject. If you google it, you can find the pdf for free online.

u/encyclopediapocrypha · 2 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

Hey, Retlih!
How awesome that you're looking to start drawing! You've gotten some good advice in the thread already(taking your time, especially) but in the event that you're looking to learn more, I've got some great books to suggest you work through.

Andrew Loomis - Figure Drawing for All Its Worth

Bridgman - Complete Guide to Drawing from Life

While they may seem very human anatomy-focused(and in a way, they are), they also describe some great general principles and advice to start your journey down pencil road. They also heavily emphasize looking - no, I mean really looking - at things in everyday life and doing your outmost to depict them, which is a great exercise of the hand, the eye and the mind. (practicing this will make you much better over time, but it will take time, much, MUCH more than a month. I'm a concept artist by trade, and I have never met a person even half-decent at drawing who wasn't already a few years or decades into drawing)

If you're serious about this, do avoid focusing too heavily on making and sharing - be it facebook or instagram - pretty portraits of celebrities or dogs or cats or fruit, or you'll be forever trapped in mediocre-pencil-portrait-land where praise comes easy and you'll always feel like an impostor and/or artistically handicapped charlatan. Learn to draw for yourself and in your own pace, making sure not to rush through the process. Think of how you would train your muscles; don't immediately go and try to pull an airliner with your teeth, start with the core and work from there - let it take time, and find ways to make the journey enjoyable.

u/lncubl · 2 pointsr/learntodraw

To tag do u/(inserttheirnamehere) and the human body is a lot to learn I’ve been doing a ton of study here lately and I would suggest Andrew loomis’s figure drawing for all its worth https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-All-Its-Worth/dp/0857680986 and also I have had some success with using Skillshare and taking figure drawing classes on there for starting out.

u/egypturnash · 2 pointsr/illustrator

Ah, thanks, I've fixed the link. Which is a great start; grab the book he refers to and start doing his exercises based on drawing out of it, or freeze-frame classic WB and MGM cartoons and draw off of those the same way.

Also take some life drawing classes! Apply what you learn about construction from John K to drawing humans; it's possible to get to a point where you can get down the essentials of a pose in less than 30 seconds and reconstruct a lot of it from basic drawing principles later on. If you can find a life drawing teacher who works out of the Glen Vilppu curriculum that would be great, his methods are pretty well-loved among teachers of life drawing for animation, and will equip you with some serious skillz.

James Gurney's books on drawing are also pretty awesome and inspirational, he approaches the problem of drawing stuff out of his head in a much more realistic way.

I am also a fan of Bridgeman's Constrictive Anatomy and Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, both of these could be found (along with the Preston Blair animation books) in the library of every single person I knew in animation school.

If you can afford it, consider taking some art classes, online or off. A degree in art is stupidly over-expensive, but having the obligation of A Class that you are Paying For can be a good kick in the ass to draw draw draw draw. I don't have any recommendations for those offhand, my schooling was back in 1995 at a place that no longer exists.

In general: if there is art you like, try ripping it off! Don't just trace it though, reconstruct it from first principles using basic construction methods, and think about why and how the artist applied their stylizations.

ALSO. Carry a sketchbook. Draw in it. Change your habits: instead of taking out your phone to check Twitter or Reddit or whatever, take out your sketchbook and draw something. Maybe something in view, maybe something out of your head. It doesn't matter what, just keep working at it. And ask yourself what's wrong with drawings after you do them; try to not make the same mistakes twice.

Also here is a serious PRO TIP that I picked up from my time in animation: put that mechanical pencil you probably use to write and draw with away, grab a wooden #2 pencil and hold it so that the side of the point touches the paper, instead of the very tip. This will force you to draw with your arm rather than your wrist, which will (a) result in much more fluid strokes once you get the hang of it (b) make it far easier to do your initial rough blocking in of shapes lightly, then switch to the tip of the point to nail things down, and (c) vastly reduce the risk of being visited by the Carpal Tunnel Fairy.

The biggest thing is to DRAW. Make it the thing you do when you're bored. If you don't have any ideas for things to draw, draw some cubes. Or draw your hand, hands are HARD to draw and also super expressive, and almost everyone has one available to use as a model. Put it in some pose and reduce it to boxes/tubes/whatever, then build detail, keep doing until you have to do something else, or get an actual idea for a thing you wanna draw.

The second biggest thing is to CRIT YOURSELF, and get others at about the same level as you to crit you. Let go of your ego; if people say your drawing is terrible that doesn't mean anything about you, it just means you have things to learn. Listen to what they say and try to not make the same mistakes again. Yes, I know I said that already. It's important. Tell your ego to sit down and shut up.

Hope that helps!

u/PopsicleMainframe · 2 pointsr/zootopia

Even master artists feel like they don't know what they're doing. The more you learn, the more you realize is left to learn. There is no point where you go from someone who can't draw to someone who can. It's just something you keep getting better at the more you practice and study. Copying from reference is a great place to start, keep at it. and don't be afraid to ask for critique if you really get stuck.

Just do what you can now, and as you improve it will get more fun and less frustrating.

If you want some resources, here's some youtube channels that have helped me:


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5dyu9y0EV0cSvGtbBtHw_w

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQTqWAaSzhAKRanOpes1nA

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvM8sIthAK1KOQ4nq5mYCTw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwJheV30gHVOjBps2DU7k9A

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCno-YPZ8BiLrN0Wbl8qICFA

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGRhqYssT6IGPYOnZBFYKw

https://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV

And also some books:

https://www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-All-Its-Worth/dp/0857680986

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Realist-Painter-Gurney/dp/0740797719

https://www.amazon.com/Framed-Ink-Drawing-Composition-Storytellers/dp/1933492953

https://www.amazon.com/Animators-Survival-Kit-Principles-Classical/dp/086547897X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=ZNC6E0ET0QNFQAPH01WB

https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Comics-Invisible-Scott-McCloud/dp/006097625X

You could also check out http://drawabox.com/ and https://www.ctrlpaint.com/ which both offer a more ridged lesson by lesson approach to learning to draw.

u/jjackrabbitt · 2 pointsr/Marvel

You have an eye for detail! Study anatomy, it will really breathe life into your work. I recommend Andrew Loomis' book on figure drawing. You can also get an ebook of it on Google Play for dirt cheap.

u/ItIsaMostElusiveFish · 2 pointsr/gifs

The illustration is from Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, if anyone's interested.

u/Scoo · 2 pointsr/ProCreate

Totally worth purchasing:
Figure Drawing for All It's Worth https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857680986/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7tnODbS3A9XZ1

u/spitnik11 · 2 pointsr/ArtCrit

Alright bro rather than critique your work I'm going to directly answer your question on how to improve. I got two pieces of advice for you based on what I see.

First off, and it may sound a little vague but ask yourself honesty what do you want out of art? You say you tend to draw on and off in short burst, so do you really enjoy it? What do you see yourself creating if you possessed the required skills to do so? Try to find an answer to that question so you have a direction to work towards.

Secondly, "realism" in arts, to quote Wikipedia "is the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements" in other words to not add your own style to a drawing and capture purely what you see. Its really just life drawing, and I'm not exaggerating when I say you cannot become a competent or confident artist without learning, appreciating, and devoting time to mastering it. Realism is not a genera of art its the foundation, drawing as an art form has no shortcuts, that boring stuff an art teacher tries to make us do in art class such as drawing straight lines towards a horizon, or drawing a mannequin over and over aren't options that an artist can opt out of if he so chooses, like any science it's the basic background you require to frame your thinking and let creativity flow naturally through the canvas. If a musician doesn't know his scales how can he concentrate on giving the performance? Forget drawing freehand if you cant properly life draw. A human cannot be learned in sections, if we focus on things like eyes, the head, and hair, every other part will lack definition and consideration resulting in them fading into the background, the whole body must be considered. A regular adult male body is measured in about 8 heads in length starting from the actual head and moving down dividing the body into sections ending at the feet. If you study these landmarks along with the more specific ones than life drawing will become simplified and much more enjoyable.

I'm not leading you astray here, this is the hard truth about drawing, we all started for a reason but sooner or later we gotta decide how far are we gonna take this and how exactly we get there. If you really want to get serous about drawing, learn anatomy, learn perspective, and never focus on development a style, just concentrate on drawing and the style will occur. Start here for anatomy, because when it comes to anatomy Loomis is the authority and we are his students, he has many good books but this is probably his most popular. Though all of his books should be considered as they go into more detail on specific body parts such as hands and the head.
Then go here, it really is perspective made easy and is should probably be read first as a good understanding of perspective is required to properly frame drawing. Almost all of these books have PDFs that can downloaded for free since they were out of print at one point but were put back up for sale. If Loomis isn't your style you can check out this list, most of these have free PDFs as well which can simply be google searched.

But know that there is no foolproof formula to make you a great artist from books or even other great artist, its simply the courage to stand on ones own two feet and seek out enlightenment. I'm no art genius, all of this wisdom is from my personal experiences and lots of books. I just recognized your path as similar to mine and wanted to give some honest advice.

you have potential and its your choice if you want to see how far can you take it.



u/Potbat · 2 pointsr/SketchDaily

I think your figures great. I like the way your draw their expressions.

I've only been drawing for a short while but I found the book ['Figure Drawing for All it's Worth'] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Figure-Drawing-All-its-Worth/dp/0857680986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1453510308&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=andrew+loomis) to be really helpful. It's all about anatomy, drawing figures in proportion, perspective and shadows/planes. It's a bit pricey but I thought it was worth it.

I hope this helps.

u/Kishq · 2 pointsr/wow

Really nice work. Just a little tip tho. Try to pick up the Loomis anatomy books. This will help you with sculpting faces. You are really missing some major planes in there. Which makes it a less bit realistic then what i think you were going for.

Loomis really helped me learning to sculpt faces and build proper anatomy. It's a subject we artist will probably never master but it is something that helps us improve our work for the audience.

Proof: http://imgur.com/fjPU3oc

Book recommendation:

Figure Drawing For All It's Worth

Drawing The Head And Hands

Sorry if this was unwanted advice!

u/BraveConeDog · 2 pointsr/comicbooks

Thanks for all your feedback, I really appreciate it!

As an aside, and as one comic-creator-doing-it-for-the-love-of-it to another, if you're looking to improve your artistic skills, I've recently picked up a few Andrew Loomis books to read, including Figure Drawing For All It's Worth. I'm not sure if you're looking to improve in a specific area, or just overall, but that book seems to be pretty good for figure drawing pointers. And furthermore, in the same vein, I highly recommend studying anatomy--knowing exactly what's underneath the skin and how it moves does absolute wonders for improving the look of figures on the page.

Also, you don't have to be ridiculously proficient at drawing or anything to make successful comics. If you look at a book like Persepolis, the drawings are very simplistic, yet distinct. Nothing is highly rendered or incredibly detailed, but that in no way makes it any less successful than, say, an Alex Ross-illustrated book. It's all in what you're trying to do with the story you want to tell.

u/PXB_art · 2 pointsr/comicbooks

Great work. As others mentioned, the next step is getting her some anatomy art books Andrew Loomis' Drawing the Head and Hands and Figure Drawing for All It's Worth are great ones I've used myself and found very valuable. The best thing a budding comics illustrator can do is draw from life and not just from other comics/cartoons, that way their own style develops organically. Thanks for sharing!

u/mariox19 · 2 pointsr/books

I'm going to guess any answer will be controversial, but you could try Dan Erlewine's book. Erlewine is affiliated with Stewart-MacDonald.

u/gtani · 2 pointsr/Bass

You have to figure out if the B's nut slot is too deep, there's a formula for the hgight of each string at 1st fret, which is something like the space between fret and string is 1/2 string diameter. That's the guitar formula I can't google for the bass formula, but I'm sure it's in Erlewine's book, which is worth at least 5x the price. If the nut's ok, you can raise the bridge saddle, and while you're at it you might as well intonate all the strings

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/

u/srr728 · 2 pointsr/Guitar

I wouldn't be too worried about the nut. Chances are that they didn't need to do any change to the nut when going from factory 9s to 10s. I've put 10s on all my Fenders and haven't had any issues with the nut action. Even if it was filed slightly, the chances are that it isn't going to really cause any issues going back to 9s, but you won't know for sure until you get it strung up and see what the nut action is like. As for the rest of it, basic setup on a strat is pretty straight forward. You may need to adjust the truss rod slightly in order to get the proper relief, but it isn't difficult. Just do it slow and make small adjustments at a time. The most tedious part is really adjusting intonation and/or if you want the trem to be floated. It isn't difficult, it just takes patience as you have to keep re-tuning after every adjustment.

As for taking all the strings off, you shouldn't have any problem with this. I've never had any issue with taking all the strings off when I restring, because I usually do a fret board clean (and oil if it is rosewood or ebony) and a quick fret polish. The only real worry is the need to reset the trem if you want it floated, which in this case you would have to do anyways since you are changing gauges. It really isn't difficult to do a setup. Just read up/watch some how-to videos and take your time. Also, if you plan on doing your own maintenance I highly recommend checking out this book. It is definitely a great reference/guide for most repair/maintenance work.

u/discogravy · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

I read (here) that BB King puts the whole string on -- ie, puts the very first bit of string and just wraps the whole peg with it. I find that to be really annoying and sort of nuts.

I pass the string and leave a bit of slack and then tie the string (bending it around the peg and then under itself) so that I have to give like two or three full turns of the peg to get to pitch.

consider changing your gauge, or better using a mixed gauge (lots of places will sell individual strings) esp if you're going to keep it in the new tuning and note you're also goign to have to re-setup the intonation. If you change the gauge, you're also probably going to want a new nut cut (or your current one recut).

u/kerm · 2 pointsr/Guitar

I feel comfortable adjusting intonation, action and pickup height. But, I won't do truss rod adjustments, nut or fret filing. However, I recently ordered Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide, so I'm hoping to go even further. I want to completely setup my own guitars from now on; I wasn't completely happy with the last pro-setup I had done.

u/paulrpotts · 2 pointsr/Guitar

I own about 20 guitars. I've learned to do most of the basic stuff. I don't file nuts, and I don't dress frets, but I've successfully adjusted neck position, truss rods, pickups, replace or adjust bridges, saddles, intonation, etc. I'll even do minor soldering, although I'm skittish about soldering on the pots since I don't think I have the right tools to do that without damaging them.

I'll second the recommendation for Dan Erlewine's book -- his stuff is fantastic.

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-Book/dp/0879309210/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

How often? Well, usually if you get the thing adjusted right, and it is not put in storage for a long time or subjected to major temp/humidity changes, it shouldn't need too much tweaking. You ought to be able to change strings (to the same brand and gauge) without having to change much, if anything. In general if everything else is right, and the only thing that has changed is the humidity, a minor tweak of the truss rod alone might do it. If you're going to change string gauges, like going from 10s to 11s, you'll have to re-intonate it and perhaps have issues with everything to correct for.

u/serion · 2 pointsr/Guitar

Happy to help.

A set of allen keys, a ruler, and a screw driver will take care of most basic setup issues. Go slow and don't over think it. Searching google and youtube can get confusing and overwhelming. I keep a copy of Dan Erlewine's book, The Guitar Player Repair Guide as a reference. https://smile.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210 Once you learn the how-to stuff then it is a matter of determining and setting everything to your personal preferences.

Good luck. I hope you get everything sorted out.

u/jazzyjacck · 2 pointsr/musictheory

I learned a lot from taking classes and private lessons, as well as self study by reading books and analyzing music. I'm not really aware of that many good resources for jazz theory online unfortunately, but there is this site: http://community.berkleejazz.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

EDIT: I love the Jazz Piano Book, it's not really a theory book but I thought it was great. The author has also written a Jazz Theory Book which a lot people seem to like, but I haven't really gone through it yet. Some other options are the Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony and the Jazz Harmony Book

u/Xenoceratops · 2 pointsr/musictheory
  • Dariusz Terefenko - Jazz Theory: From Basic to Advanced Study

  • Bill Russo - Composing for the Jazz Orchestra

  • Mark Levine - The Jazz Piano Book (More for the voicings than all the modes wankery.)

    /u/billgrahammusic has some good videos applying Barry Harris' methods.

    Hal Galper has been mentioned as well.

    I'd also recommend reading George Lewis' essay, Improvised Music after 1950: Afrological and Eurological Perspectives, Philippe Carles and Jean-Louis Comolli's Free Jazz/Black Power, and Robin D.G. Kelley's Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary Times (Freeeto get a sense of the socioeconomic and cultural stakes of Afro-diasporic music.

    Obviously the music has to be primary, so learn a couple tunes for starters. However, recognize that jazz represents an epistemology totally separate from that which is cultivated in European classical music. It is possible to make jazz in the mold of Euro-American cultural hegemony, and it actually happens quite a bit (one of the arguments against jazz academia, as well as the impetus for bebop, as just a couple examples), so it's important to understand music beyond simply an object made out of sound, or a collection of techniques or musical gestures. Jazz is a way of knowing. Avant-garde classical improvisation is a different way of knowing, and performing Mahler in a concert hall is yet a different way of knowing. It's important to know the difference, especially if you did not grow up learning it implicitly. The George Lewis article articulates some of these thoughts, but it might take a lot more work to really wrap your head around it. The Carles/Comolli book is especially caustic, and a really good read. I excerpt a bit of their book in a discussion over here.
u/dietcheese · 2 pointsr/JazzPiano

The Levine book is usually the go-to book for jazz pianists:

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1549422911&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=jazz+piano+book+mark+levine

Make sure to use your ears a lot, sing what you play, transcribe a ton, take your time and concentrate!

u/spidy_mds · 2 pointsr/piano

I am mostly into classical at the moment, but I would really-really love to start entering the jazz-part of the Piano at a point, is it easily readable for jazz-beginners?

EDIT:

This one?

u/ILikeasianpeople · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Is orchestration, composition and harmony something you've studied quite a bit on? Like, have you grabbed a few books on the subject and dug in? The orchestra is a fickle mistress, especially when migrating from another, non-orchestra related, genre. If you haven't studied one or any of those things, it will make the learning process a living hell. Thankfully, the orchestra has been around for hundreds of years, so there is a massive amount of knowledge out there to pull from.

These lists are "start to finish" kind of lists. Do them in order and you should be alright. One will be a "quick start" list (not as much to read) and another will be a "long haul" list (way way more to read).



Quick start (a few months of study)

  1. Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book

  2. Schoenbergs Fundamentals of Musical Composition

  3. Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration


    Long haul list (will probably take you a (few) year(s) to complete):

  4. Schoenbergs Theory of Harmony or Pistons Harmony plus workbook

  5. Schoenbergs Fundamentals of Musical Composition

  6. Mark Levins Jazz Piano Book

  7. Sam Adler's The Study of Orchestration vol. 4 plus Workbook


    I hope these resources can help a bit, if you decide to take the plunge. If not, there are tons of resources at openmusictheory.com that should be helpful.
u/thesuperemperor · 2 pointsr/Jazz

I took up Jazz Piano a few years back. The guy I took lessons from recommended this book. It is, hands down, the most useful jazz piano book, arguably best jazz book overall, that I have ever run across. It has all kinds of theory and improv techniques with quotable licks and riffs from a number of jazz standards. You cant go wrong with this book.

u/jdrew619 · 2 pointsr/JazzPiano

A couple of channels that are good are:
Kent Hewitt (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmjw5sm9Kn83TB_rA_QBCw): This guy is old school and can actually play. His overall production isn't flashy at all but the content is solid and he adds free sheet music.

Dave Frank (https://www.youtube.com/user/Dfrankjazz): I am not crazy about his playing style but he is a good educator. His lessons are well organized and the content is legit.


Also the Jazz Piano book by Mark Levine is a must-have (https://www.amazon.ca/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151). You need to be able to read music but that is something you should learn anyways.

As for the freejazzlessons guy, it's a personal opinion but I find him hacky and mediocre.


Finally, if you want some books to get started I can PM you some stuff I own.

u/jseego · 2 pointsr/piano

This book has solid overviews of the various playing styles, including for left hand

For improvisation, you are not going to sound good right away. What it sounds like you are doing is basically exercises, just running pentatonic scales over chords - that will sound very exercisey. "Okay, Cm7, playing C minor pent, okay, F7, playing F pent..." etc. What you want to do is look ahead to the notes in common and work on your ear training around that. So, instead, you might go: "Okay, Cm7, gonna play C - Eb - F - G, then the F7 comes up and you continue to A - C - D - F....

Basically, point is you can still play pentatonics, but try to create runs and melodies that move over and through the chords, not just shifting the scales once per chord.

It's not something you think about - you want to get used it and how it sounds so that you can focus on using a combination of ear and theory to make musical sounds and shapes that you want, and the fabled melting away of the notes and chords happens.

As rough as it is, you gotta do that kind of thing in all keys as well. It really opens up the piano and reveals secrets of how things work.

Also, listen a lot and try to play along with your favorite recordings. Take a class / find other improvisers who are at your level. It helps so much.

Final thing is, there is more to improvisation than getting the notes right. A solo with wrong notes and great rhythm and lot of passion is much more interesting and listenable than a solo with all the "correct" notes and no feeling and just running uninspired rhythms. Try soloing with just roots and fifths of the chords and see how much fun you can have. Try soloing with absolute abandon and let your hand just flop around and see what kind of interesting sounds you can make. Prepare your mind to forget about the notes...that's the eventual goal (even though you can still be strategic about scale degrees and chord tones and such).

Good luck and have fun!

u/barryfandango · 2 pointsr/piano

/u/improvthismoment is right about how jazz is generally learned, but if you prefer to sight read insead of lifting from recordings, there are lots of great jazz transcriptions out there that can help develop your style and vocabulary. The World's Best Piano Arrangements has a generic sounding name but is a pretty dynamite book that has taught me a lot.

If you're interested in getting going with real jazz piano, The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine is a classic that has kicked off many great jazz piano journeys. Good luck!

u/medicalsteve · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

It's always tough to hear this, but there's really nothing better than listening to your favorite recordings and transcribing everything you hear.

But... if you're just getting started and looking for a book, I highly recommend "The Jazz Piano Book" by Mark Levine

I picked this up several years into playing, and wished I found it sooner. He gives transcribed examples of the topic at hand from classic recordings, instead of just dumping a bunch of theory and voicings on you. (the theory is there too, but it's much more accessible the way he goes about it.)

If you don't already have them, go find the classic recordings he references, and listen until your ears bleed.

If you're really serious about it, go ahead and transcribe the full piano parts (including the comps, not just the solos) and you'll be well on your way

u/dfmtr · 2 pointsr/piano

For improvisation, Dave Frank's Joy of Improv books are good for working through. Here's his full DVD going over the very basics.

For comping and jazz harmony in general, Matt Levine's Jazz Piano Book.

u/detective-loser · 2 pointsr/musictheory

I’ve yet to buy this book but maybe....

The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

u/ttchoubs · 2 pointsr/piano

The Jazz Piano Book is a fantastic place to start.

u/drzedwordhunter · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Darth Vader and Son

Dlightful contest.

u/Yokuo · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Use your force to try and not laugh. Go ahead, just try. These are real, and from the bits I've seen, they are funny. :)

u/acciocorinne · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

To infinity and beyond! I added the polish I want to my etsy registry, which is listed on my default wishlist :D It's this polish--how super cool is that?!

I'd like this book for my space prize--it's Darth Vader with his son! Thanks for the contest! It's super fun :)

u/jcbouche · 2 pointsr/gifs
u/8bitesq · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I'm going to link the Vader and Son book because the ebook is under $8 and these books are freakin' adorable.

My least favorite thing about Episodes 1-3 were that they were the first early indication that the Extended Universe's days were numbered. I grew up reading all the post-ROTJ books and I loved them. I absolutely loved them. They were the best. I started with the Thrawn Trilogy in the third grade and from there I was just hooked. The New Jedi Order was the shit. But one of my all time absolute favorite characters was Corran Horn whose entire backstory with his family made absolutely no sense when the prequel series came out and only took place like eighteen years before the original trilogy.

Which, by the way, reminds me that one of the other biggest things I hated was how technologically backwards it seems that the entire universe got in just twenty years under the Empire's control. I mean, I can get some of it but like... the differences are a bit much. And there wasn't really any attempt at explaining it.

u/JoeGlenS · 2 pointsr/funny
u/DoingTheThing_ · 2 pointsr/Parenting

Darth Vader and Son Have some fun with it!

u/cewaat · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

That's not true! Impossible!! But, you wanna play, pops?

u/BlowfishFramingham · 2 pointsr/pics
u/Zarenadra · 2 pointsr/AprilBumpers2018

I'm not sure if you or he are Star Wars fans, but there are these cute little kid books of Darth Vader with Luke and Leia. There's one specifically about each and one joint. Maybe buy the one that matches baby's gender? Boy and girl. :) They have them at Target and probably any book store.

Other than that, gendered onesies or socks!

edit: also, congratulations!!

u/macguffing · 2 pointsr/funny

You need this and this

u/Mindtrick205 · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

Have you read the books that go with the games?
This one came out alongside 1 and is really interesting. It’s an interactive experience and ties into the game, along with having maps and stuff in it:
Tom Clancy's The Division: New York Collapse https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452148279/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_x-3pDbZHKFJXP


And this one ties 1 and 2 together:
Tom Clancy's The Division: Broken Dawn https://www.amazon.com/dp/1984803174/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_983pDb3PDP12V

u/sillysocks404 · 2 pointsr/thedivision

I love this idea. I actually just bought the survival guide book IRL (New York Collapse) and have really liked getting to know the story more. I found it a little difficult to follow the details of the story in-game because of how it's presented, collecting phones, incident reports, and survival guide pages out of order. Anyway, I definitely enjoy the April Kelleher character, and I think playing with her as an AI companion would be very fun!

u/Hellguin · 2 pointsr/gaming

The most enjoyment I got from The Division was the Tie In book that is a Survival Guide to Urban Catastorphe that was a neat read.

Edit: If you enjoy the in-game lore, this is the Survival Guide that you collect pages for and see April Kelleher writing in one of the holos

u/guyflannigan · 2 pointsr/The_Division

But it's not. Here's the specific quote from the interview.

&gt;Is the Division based on a particular Tom Clancy book or series of books?

&gt;No, not a specific book, but the Tom Clancy universe is key to the story of The Division.

There was a companion book released alongside the game, but the game itself isn't based on any book.

u/DenTay · 2 pointsr/thedivision
u/BomberWRX · 2 pointsr/thedivision

It's a survival guide with the events that happened told by April Kelleher. In your Field Data in the game you'll see the category Survival Guide which are actual pages from the book. Also she has her own category under ECHOs. http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-The-Division-Collapse/dp/1452148279

u/VVulfpack · 2 pointsr/thedivision

I don't think you're joking, so you probably don't know about the companion book: https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279

It follows the story of April Kelleher and her experiences during the first few weeks of the outbreak of "The Dollar Bug" as she calls it.

Frustratingly, she says if you find the book, she'll be outside the Niagra bar at the Joe Strummer mural every day at noon. But ... the place where that mural really exists in NYC is about 2-3 blocks south of the playable map. FFS :D Anyway, in game, the last we know for sure of her plans is she was heading into the DZ after her discussion with Aaron Keener.

u/dizturbd · 2 pointsr/thedivision

Yeah, I played the closed alpha, the closed beta, and the open beta. Each time the game got better and grew on me a little more as I noticed subtle UI and gameplay changes. This is not your typical Ubisoft title.

The Division will not fail to deliver like Watchdogs and The Crew. Everything was extremely stable during all 3 tests and the game chat is unbelievable.

I couldn't imagine playing this game without the extremely compelling companion book, though.

u/Ramsickle · 2 pointsr/thedivision

$30 on Amazon as well, I'm Canadian. Chapters is our large Brick and Mortar store like Barnes and Noble is for the US.

u/Slug_Overdose · 2 pointsr/boardgames

I'm pretty much the opposite of you. I would never add notes directly into just about any printed material. The only exception I can recall making was this book, for the following reasons:

&amp;#x200B;

  1. It contains a number of puzzles which specifically rely on the positioning of words and letters on and across pages, so writing on anything other than the pages themselves would be extremely awkward.
  2. The book is stylized such that it appears to be a copy of a survival guide recovered during the apocalypse on behalf of a previous owner, who presumably made hand-written notes in the margins, with different pen colors indicating time continuity, so writing my own notes and solutions only felt natural and added to the unique setting of the book.
  3. As a creative person who does video game development work on the side, I found the book extremely inspiring, and every bit as enjoyable as the video game it's based on, so I don't foresee myself ever wanting to sell it.
  4. The book is generally sold new in shrink-wrap, as it contains a number of loose sheets and other bits which could easily be lost otherwise, similar to the Exit series of escape games, so the potential resale value of an opened copy is inherently extremely low, as anybody really interested in a copy would need to verify the contents, potentially spoiling a number of surprises.

    It's ultimately up to you to do whatever works best for you, but I've moved a number of times in my life, each time selling off collections of books which I at one point believed I would never sell, many of which I never actually finished or even started reading, and so I could never see myself potentially reducing the resale value of a book by marking it up with my own notes.
u/jacquesclouseau4 · 2 pointsr/thedivision

New York Collapse book has some good answers to this. It really deepens The Division story.

https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Clancys-Division-York-Collapse/dp/1452148279

u/CSwain91 · 2 pointsr/thedivision

The Newspaper!

It was both a promotional point, and a part of their "New York Collapse" meta-gaming.

u/Starfire013 · 2 pointsr/thedivision

It's actually cheaper on Amazon ($14.97).

u/Kinglm · 2 pointsr/ableton

Thank you for the great advice, I bought this book and havent gotten around to reading it yet, and i probably should...

u/NequissimusMusic · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

this, this and this are said to be pretty good and are on my "to buy" list as well. Just took a short look at one of them at a friend's house a while ago and seems to be pretty well written.
Also: AFAIK written by a redditor. ;)

u/Heatedbread · 2 pointsr/EDM

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034
This is hands down the most comprehensive guide I've come across and it's taught me everything I know. If you post on /r/edmproduction this will be the first guide they recommend. If you can't afford that then here is a free guide that is also very good. https://gumroad.com/l/tldrmusic

u/schimmi · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

There's not much to add, everyone's already told it like it is. Might i recommend the absolutely wonderful and informative book "Music Theory For Computer Musicians" by Michael Hewit?

On a semi-related note, how did you make that video for your song?

u/xtremeggnog · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

Do you know your way through Ableton already or are you looking to learn more about the in's and out's of Ableton?

If you know how to use Ableton already, I highly recommend spending more time delving into music theory over DAW tutorials (especially if you are producing deep house which has more complex chord structures). I bought the following book off Amazon and was happy with what I learned off music theory (allow the beginning starts off a little slow if you have been producing for awhile):

https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1537349050&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=music+theory+electronic

If you are wanting to learn more about the in's and out's of Ableton, I'd recommend saving some money and looking up tutorials on YouTube on how to accomplish what you are looking to do. If you have any questions regarding Ableton plugins, there is likely a YouTube tutorial on it for free.

u/rafael000 · 2 pointsr/abletonlive

Find sample packs with sounds you like and make your own racks.

Then, go learn music theory. If you don't know the basics (never played any instrument) it will be hard to do anything good.

I'm a drummer, so I have a hardtime with notes and chords, so I started reading a music theory book for computer musicians. It's not great and it can be hard if you don't know nothing, but it sure helps.

u/Open_Eye_Signal · 2 pointsr/electronicmusic

I actually major in music theory, so don't feel bad :P I'm not really sure of any materials as I've mostly learned from teachers and professors. I've seen this book thrown around a lot:

Music Theory for Computer Musicians

u/mczanetti · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

DO NOT GIVE UP


if you enjoy the process of doing music, and like what you are doing, continue with it. i think you should read some technical resources, to get a better understanding on how things work and how they related with each other.

I highly recoment [this book] (http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Computer-Musicians-Michael-Hewitt/dp/1598635034), and [this] (http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Music-Manual-Tools-Techniques/dp/0240521072). You can find booth on torrent, but buy if you can. they tottally worth the price.

one thing i read from a skrillex interview: "everyone starts making shit music. continue making bad music until they start to sound good"

u/pingpongchongkong · 2 pointsr/musictheory
u/Kerb3r0s · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

Music Theory for Computer Musicians https://www.amazon.com/dp/1598635034/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xWBVCbA2HCEHM

This book starts from the absolute beginning and walks you through everything you need to k ow to start making music using a DAW and synths. It’s written like a textbook so it has lots of pictures and exercises at the end of each chapter.

u/Marie_Orsic · 2 pointsr/TechnoProduction

You could try this book. Might be the best is if you got some music lessons on piano. You don't need to learn to play Rachmaninoff but having somebody to show you proper techniques is going to be helpful. Since you will be paying for it out of your own pocket you are likely going to be more motivated to practice and to continue. Once you have the basics down you can then start to pick up other bits and pieces from other people on YT, friends or what have you. If you're interested in more sort of classical Detroit techno then you would want to look into learn some jazz and gospel for more complex chords. Of course its possible to make techno with out learning any theory and there are many who have done so but you will likely get there faster with it.

u/AcousticSounds · 2 pointsr/Guitar

When discussing measurements of the nut slots, it's actually describing the distance between the top of the first fret and the bottom of the string. Some guidelines will have you capo the 3rd fret when taking this measurement.

Action at the 17th fret is used to set your saddle/bridge height. Some guidelines will have you capo the 1st fret when taking this measurement. As for the measurements you've noted, it's all relative. 4/64ths" at the 17th fret is a good starting point.

If you want to learn more about guitar setups and factory specs, I would suggest you get a copy of The Guitar Player Repair Guide.

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1480433072&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=the+guitar+player+repair+guide

u/electrodan · 2 pointsr/Guitar
  1. Allen wrench set, various screwdrivers, various pliers, guitar polish, and a clean cloth will get most things done.

  2. Plug it in and try all the knobs and switches, the switch is going to do it's thing or it won't. Your pots or "knobs" will either work or not, and they might make a bunch of noise and need to be replaced or sprayed with contact cleaner.
  3. There isn't a really short answer to this, heaver or lighter strings may or may not require a truss rod adjustment and/or intonation adjustments to still play fine. If you want your action and intonation perfect then adjustments will have to be made.
  4. Replace it.
  5. Put something between the trem block and the body like this guy does you can use just about anything but a block of wood is quite common.
  6. Replace it.


    If you're serious about wanting to learn how to do basic guitar setup and repair, this book is worth every penny. It's easy to understand and has tons of valuable lessons from a real expert.
u/HoneyBucket- · 2 pointsr/Guitar

Youtube has a ton of stuff. If you want THE book here it is. It's written by Dan Erlwine of Stewmac. He repairs really nice guitars for a living. I would suggest both Youtube and that book. No such thing as too much knowledge.

u/motwist · 2 pointsr/guitars

Go to your local library or bookstore and read the section pertaining to this process in Erlewine's The Guitar Player Repair Guide. If you realize you're in over your head, shop around for a better estimate or fork out the $225. You could buy a somewhat playable new or used guitar for that amount though.

u/AdverbAssassin · 2 pointsr/Guitar

Get this book. I have no connection to the author, but it is a life saver and teaches you a lot about adjusting truss rods and will help you put a proper upbow back on your tele.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210/

u/MojoMonster · 2 pointsr/Guitar

Yes to all of that.

You will want this Dan Erlewine book.

And this Dan Erlewine book.

You can make DIY fret files using a feeler gauges, like this.

A strobe tuner for best results.

A nice steel ruler.

Assorted screw drivers and mini-screw drivers.

Powdered graphite or "nut sauce" lubricant.

Clear nail polish and super glue.

Appropriately sized deep sockets and a "thumb wheel" socket driver.

Fret refinishing is the only place, IMO, that requires actual dedicated tools, but there are guys who DIY that as well.

I got the StewMac 3-in-1 fret file for crowning.

I still haven't decided if I will DIY or purchase something like the Nut Seating Files for when I make bone nuts for everything.

I use a set of diamond sharpening plates from HF to touch up flatten and a HF 19" Flooring Level (sorry no HF link, they don't seem to carry it any longer)and some strips of 220 sandpaper sticky glued to that straight edge to do fret leveling.

u/ReallyNotBilly · 2 pointsr/Drumming

Firstly, get used to playing swing with the right hand while keeping 2's and 4's steady with your left foot. Once you've got that down, grab a book like Syncopation and practice playing the rhythms on the snare while keeping your right hand and left foot as solid as a rock doing the same thing as before.

I used an Erskine book that does exactly this, but also goes into hand-foot combos, taking it to the next level. It also goes into triplets and such, but that's for when you're good with the basic patterns.

This sets you up for being able to comp using any rhythms you want but keeping your left foot steady on the up beats, essentially the core of jazz drumming.

This is a really condensed explanation, but I hope it helps.

Good Resources to Use

u/blckravn01 · 2 pointsr/Bass

Buy this book and a metronome. It will help you with reading rhythm. Afterwards, then you can try to tackle the staff.

u/ntboa · 2 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Marching or Concert Snare?

Either way, buy this book and work through it, varying the stickings and tempos. Also, learn these rudiments. The absolute best thing you could do is get a teacher.

As far as concert vs. marching. They are very similar, but concert snare is much more subtle. Concert snare utilizes a lot more buzz rolls whereas marching snare uses open rolls or diddles.

u/BillyCool · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

You want to build a base of knowledge when it comes to creating rhythm? Start with this book. Order it now. https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer-Publications/dp/0882847953

u/damnagedb · 2 pointsr/drums

I would highly recommend the book "Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer" by Ted Reed. Phenomenal book that can teach you a lot and can be done with just a practice pad and sticks. It's easy to find at any music store and there may be some PDFs on the interwebs somewhere...

If you aren't looking to join a band or take it too seriously browse through some YouTube videos, pick up a book or two and just have fun with it! Once you find out if it's something you really love doing then you can invest in lessons/a drumkit.

https://www.amazon.ca/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953

u/pgm1209 · 2 pointsr/piano

I don’t have this one but people seem to bring it up often.

Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer (Ted Reed Publications) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0882847953/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_rrb3DbBMXZRVW

You can work on your syncopation while your at it.

u/stevewheelermusic · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

I've been a drummer since I was 8. Quite rusty right now as a lot of things have kept me from practicing (moving to apartments for years, etc.). Honestly, it's never too late to start. Are you going to be playing Carnegie Hall in a year? Wildly unlikely. But as long as your expectations are grounded in reality, that learning anything takes time and practice, you should be good.

As for practice and sense of tempo/timing: it is imperative that you buy a good metronome and practice with it regularly. You don't necessarily need a Dr. Beat, though I have one, and it is useful at times. But you do need some kind of click to play off of.

Can you read music? If so, there are some really good technique books out there that I'd recommend that are classics. Most people hate grinding technique, but I find it oddly relaxing. Here's some good books:

  • Stick Control
  • Syncopation
  • Master Studies - (Do wait on this one a bit and start slow. It is possible to injure yourself if you get too carried away. Stone Killer exercises are no joke)
  • New Breed - This one's actually a full drum set book. Quite challenging. May want to wait on this one a bit or try to just play one or two of the lines together (eg. right and and right foot).

    The first two books are probably where you should start. With all of these, start the metronome at molasses level slow - like 60 bpm or maybe even slower if you're not accurate at that speed. Get comfortable with that speed - maybe 15-30 mins at that speed without any mistakes. Then bump the timing up slightly 2-4 bpm and repeat. At no point should you be tensing up. If you are, you need to stop immediately, shake out your arms, and back down the tempo a bit.

    Make sure that you're making more use of your fingers than your wrists. Wrists can be good to start the stroke, but your fingers should be doing a lot of the work.

    There's a lot of other technique stuff that you can do, but the above alone could take you 5-10 years of solid daily practice if you're being thorough.

    Good luck!
u/macetheface · 2 pointsr/drums

Ah memories. Yep I started with How to Play rock'n'roll drums, Syncopation and this book way back in the early 90's. Then later on went to Advanced Techniques, Future Sounds and The New Breed for different permutations and limb independence. And 'trying' to pick apart and play Dave Weckl's Island Magic.

Does anyone else remember those drum solos like calypso eclipsed and aint it rich?

u/sing_for_davro · 2 pointsr/Drumming

I guess a great place to start would be the Vic Firth website. For each of the 40 basic rudiment it has a bronze, silver, and gold challenge. Treat it like a game, where you're trying to get that third star for each level.

I like to stick some tunes on and play (for example) 16 bars of paradiddles, then doubles, then singles in time with the music.. It's important you be able to seamlessly move between rudiments while keeping tempo and dynamic constant.

My book of the moment is Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer by Ted Reed. For £1.50 it's a steal, and really can help you get started.

u/bill_cleveland_fan · 2 pointsr/statistics


It's an interesting book.

R's powerful
ggplot2 graphics system has a default output
style which follows many of these principles, and it looks good.

But it's not my favourite book in this area.
My favourite would be (both)
Bill Cleveland's books

  • The Elements of Graphing Data (1ed 1985, 2ed 1994)

  • Visualizing Data (1993)

    After seeing references to Cleveland in the
    R documentation
    (for example, the
    loess
    and
    lattice
    packages),
    I read both the Cleveland books, and found them extremely interesting.

    There's a classic paper by Cleveland and McGill,
    "Graphical Perception: Theory, Experimentation, and Application to the Development of Graphical Methods"
    (you can download a PDF)
    which is also interesting. (And if you find that interesting, you would
    most likely enjoy the books mentioned above.)

    The Cleveland books are not widely famous like
    The Visual Display of Quantitative Information,
    but I found them more appealing in a way that's kind of
    hard to describe. But, very roughly

  • Cleveland feels more like a statistician trying to create
    visualisations which are efficiently and accurately perceived.

  • Tufte feels a little like a designer trying to create beautiful
    visualisations based on a kind of minimalist aesthetic. Or
    maybe like a philosopher trying to find the essence of a
    visualisation.

    The conclusions of the two approaches are not necessarily
    incompatible. They would certainly agree on the
    undesirability of most of the ridiculous
    stuff

    in the MS Excel plot menu. (So if Tufte stops people doing that, then the more people who read him, the better).

    But when there's tension between the two approaches then I'd
    choose the first (Cleveland).

    For example, the
    Tufte (minimalist) boxplots
    manage to represent the same information as a box plot, but with less ink.
    But they feel like they might not be as easy to read.
    (See also "W. A. Stock and J. T. Behrens. Box, line, and midgap plots: Effects of display characteristics on the accuracy and bias of estimates of whisker length. Journal of Educational Statistics, 16(1): 1–20, 1991"
    (abstract) )

u/ford_chicago · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

I will second Kimball's books on data warehouse design in general.

My favorite book on data visualization, Visual Display of Quantitative Information, won't show you in three minutes how to build a great dashboard, but will certainly help you recognize good and bad options and think about the topic.

u/Nautilus_myth · 2 pointsr/videos

If anyone is interested in more great examples of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, this is a classic book.
And here's a related webcomic http://comicjk.com/comic.php/796

u/hishtafel · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Looks like July 9, 2005. So close!

u/toastspork · 2 pointsr/talesfromtechsupport

Gonna leave this here.

u/HoldingUpTheBar · 2 pointsr/pics

+1 for the first person to realize it's not about drinking. :)

If you're serious about infographics there's loads of good resources available. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition is a very good read - rock solid theory and an essential for every designer. Once you've read that check out the follow up Envisioning Information for some excellent inspiration.

u/This-is-Peppermint · 2 pointsr/suggestmeabook

that's a lot of book money! Like other posters suggested, I'd want something that you're going to enjoy passing the time just looking at.

The Visual Display of Qualitative Information might sound dry and terrible but it's beautiful and so very interesting.

u/sillyrants · 2 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Get this (very old but very good) book: Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Tufte.

Browse https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/top/?sort=top&amp;amp;t=all

and maybe http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Infographics-2015/dp/0544542703/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1464943088&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=best+infographics&amp;amp;refinements=p_85%3A1 for inspiration.

Consider the coursera course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/infographic-design (it's very basic but a good overview)

Learn basic design concepts like visual hierarchy, white space, type, visual flow, colors, grid layouts, etc.

u/kkastner · 2 pointsr/MachineLearning

Edward Tufte as mentioned by micro_cam (http://www.amazon.com/The-Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142) is a very well regarded source for visual display/information presentation.

My simple tips are:

Don't use straight red, blue green, etc. Play with more subdued colors. In Matplotlib this is color="steelblue" or color="darkred", and there are others as well.

If you look in the webdev community there are lots of charts of colors and the corresponding hex code. Playing a lot with blues, purples, and oranges at the moment but I have no real background other than I like the way they look.

Don't ever use the jet colormap (if you know enough to know when it is ok to violate this rule, you also understand why not to use jet in general ;) )

u/4thekill · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Pretty much anything by Stephen Few. His 2nd edition of Information Dashboard Design is a great start. He's also done some great whitepaper type stuff as well. Google can help you find it.

Edward Tufte is pretty famous in the area as well. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information is a classic and an amazing book on representing data.

To me, telling a story with data is essential to calling something BI. Otherwise, it's just presenting a bunch of data in a different format than it started. You need to guide users to be able to diagnose issues and make decisions. Wireframing out a dashboard that starts big picture and have different paths users can follow to additional focused dashboards is key.

I just did a presentation on dashboard and visualization best practices at my company's conference for the 2nd time, and both times a lot of people told me how it changed their view of how they view analytics, or that they needed their team or boss to see the presentation because they are thinking about things the wrong way. Most of what I know and practice/preach today is a result of the above two gentlemen, plus things learned on the job along the way.

Visualize the data with the best chart type for the data. Not because they are pretty. Not because users want to see it a certain way. Pie charts suck, don't ever use them. I use this tweet in my presentation. Along with an example chart of when to use pie charts. Your dashboard might be KPIs and bar charts, and that's ok.

I could go on forever...

TLDR; Check out a couple of guys who are good at what they do. Tell a story with your data! Pie charts suck. Use the right visual. Feel free to PM me questions.

u/fullup72 · 2 pointsr/Amd

&gt; Personal opinion:
&gt;
&gt;
&gt;
&gt; If you haven't read this book:
&gt;
&gt;
&gt;
&gt; https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142
&gt;
&gt;
&gt;
&gt; Then you probably shouldn't comment on this topic.

Classic elitist jerk "personal opinion". I will send you my address and you will get the privilege of shipping me a free copy of the book, so maybe one day I can be worthy of a discussion with you. Deal? No? Then please avoid these toxic comments, or save them for a face-to-face conversation so that the other person can punch you in the nose to bring you back to reality.

u/matts2 · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America, but Gary Wills. He completely changed my understanding of Lincoln, the Civil War, and America. If nothing else this short book shows you what it means to really read a text.

Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. A dull title, an exciting book on how to use pictures to help you understand.

edit: fixed link

GGS might be on my list as well. But Selfish Gene gives you a distorted view of evolution. Dawkins is a hyperselectionists, he really can't seem to grasp that selection is only one of several forces involved in evolution.

u/ThatOneWebGuy · 2 pointsr/web_design

That sounds like a great book, thank you. I found it on Amazon if anyone else is interested. It averaged 4.3/5 stars.

u/tolos · 2 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Lots of great recommendations in this thread; I've added a few to my reading list. Here are my suggestions (copied from a previous thread):

u/acatnamedpeach · 2 pointsr/AskAstrologers

I know how you feel, it’s really difficult to put yourself out there. Creations are intimate expressions of the self. Erykah badus quote “Now keep in mind that I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit” always reminds me that sensitivities ARE vulnerabilities. You are being vulnerable. You have to give yourself the credit where it’s due. I think the issue is fear like how you say you’re terrified- fear of rejection, fear of being misinderstood, fear of the feeling of exposure. The book I linked might help you. Your analysis of yourself is great, but also too harsh. One thing that you can change and that you do have control over with enough discipline are your thoughts. Get out of your head, as lame as that sounds. Really though, no one can do it but you. Positive thinking practices will help you, whether it’s clearing your thoughts through meditation or exercise, positive affirmations, or just really shutting your pervasive and invasive thoughts down. Use that strong mental energy you have that you’re using against yourself and put it into your work and what you love.

another thing I would add to your chart though is it having your moon in the tenth house. Something more for you to research and reflect on. When you’re in the public eye, you can get emotional, negative or positive emotions. There are ways around this. There are many artists who stay in the background and let their work speak for themselves. I know a big part of being an artist in a way is selling yourself, but really the people you need to sell yourself to are the people who are going to display your work. You can still be your low key public version of yourself in the art world and have your work shine.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/ernster96 · 2 pointsr/ArtistLounge

there's a book that may interest you called "art and fear." i like to listen to the audio sometimes when i'm not motivated to draw.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1511550560&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=art+and+fear

u/b-fredette · 2 pointsr/pics

I am going to art school and have been drawing and painting for a few years now. I offer up a few suggestions, mostly things that helped me starting out. I run the risk of sounding like a know-it-all or a snob, but I'm just hoping to offer up what little things I've learned along the way. I don't claim to be an accomplished artist, but just someone who was where you were once, and took similar advice from people who had been doing it longer than me. I hope to humbly pass on some of the things that were passed on to me.

I mostly use oils, but the startup for oils is a little more expensive. I would consider trying them out sometime, because they offer a little more freedom in what you can do with them, but you don't need them to learn to paint. You can mimic a lot of these capabilities with acrylics. With oils, you mix the paint with medium to adjust the viscosity of the paint. You can paint thick, chunky strokes, or have nice smooth flowing strokes, just by how much medium you add. Acrylic is water based, so try adding some water as you paint to adjust the viscosity, it will give you more control and more options. I'd suggest going to an auto parts store and getting a little oil squirter can, (yes, like the tin man had) and you can squirt small amounts of water on your pallet next to each puddle of paint and mix it in with your brush as you apply it. Less messy that way. (I think other people have mentioned this, they've got the right idea.)

Another thing that gives oils an advantage is working time. They take an incredibly long time to dry, which gives you lots of time to work in transitions and shadows while the paint is still wet. To achieve this with acrylics, which have a relatively fast dry time, try using some retarder in your paint. It's a clear, gel like substance that when mixed with the paint, helps keep it from drying, without changing the color or consistency. This gives you more freedom to work, and keeps you from being restricted by time (as much). You might be able to get it at a big box art store, but I recommend finding a smaller, locally owned one. People tend to know their shit in the smaller, local kinds of stores, and will be more helpful at answering questions, and have a better selection.

Another piece of advice I'd give is to learn a little bit of color theory, and practice mixing colors. My professor always said that you should never use a color straight from the tube, because chances are it wasn't really the color you need, and that if you look closer, the color you really want is a mix of a few things you have. He used to say "You think that winsor newton knew exactly what color you needed there?". It mostly just helps you look and see more specifically. 80% of painting is seeing more specifically, and getting your hand, brain, and eye to work as a unit. The book "Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green" Is one of the better books on color theory and mixing with paint. Check it out. You can practice by finding something, and trying to mix that exact color, holding them side by side to test it. You'll find often that 3, 4, maybe 5 different tube colors mix to make the one color you need. Being able to mix any color you want will open doors for you and let you have more options.

Also, try painting on large canvases/paper. Giving yourself more room to work is a big thing that helped me starting out. I was still gaining control over the paint and brush, and bigger space made it easier to hone those skills and fit more detail in. You can make your own canvases for a fraction of the store bought price, message me if you're interested in that, I could write up a quick how to.

I think you're going to notice yourself improve greatly over time, you'll gain control over your brush, the paint, and then anything's possible. I think you've already got a good eye for things, and this painting looks pretty good, damn good for a 3rd painting. My third painting was in black and white (hadn't even ventured into color yet) and it was a sloppy mess. You've got strong compositional lines here, nice color choices, and a good sense of depth. It looks like you're trying out a little bit of an impressionist style, which is good. Find awesome paintings/painters, and learn from them by imitating. Once you've imitated some of the things they do, you'll have learned a little more and will be able to find what you want to do.

Most of all, practice a lot. Hope this is encouraging, if you like it, keep at it. Also, another must read is "Art and Fear" Good luck!

u/thephotopiper · 2 pointsr/photography

&gt;I'm also pretty jealous when I see photographers local to me getting paid gigs, exposure and kudos for what I think are terrible photos. These are ok photos to the untrained eye (most of the time), but when I see a photo that hasn't been straightened, is over saturated or is just someone playing with the clarity slider just because they can, it just makes me a little angry.

This is why I tell people not to waste money on an "art education." The reality of the photo industry these days is that very little about success comes from your ability to create good photographs. It's an extremely frustrating characteristic of the beast that is the Photo Industry.
There will always be people out there who are better at networking and convincing others to spend money on them.

I once had a friend get very angry with me for suggesting how lucky he was to be earning 100k a year at the age of 25 in the NYC photo industry. He said it was all hard work. Bottom line is there are thousands of people who work VERY hard and are VERY good at what they do, and they will still never "make it" in the industry. It's not an assessment of your worth, skills, talent, or drive. It is simply the nature of the beast.


RE: Your creative rut...
Don't be afraid to switch gears. Take time off and avoid photography. Or dramatically switch subjects. I'm sure everyone here has been burnt out before. That is when I started landscape photography, and hiking. After about a year of not doing "real photography" I am now scheduling shoots with dancers left and right. Back at it with a vengeance, you could say.

You may also enjoy reading the following two books, which my old photo professor gave everyone in my glass upon graduating.

Creative Authenticity

Art and Fear

I could elaborate in depth on any of the things mention here, but I shant bore you. There are already too many comments to go through.

u/viwrastupr · 2 pointsr/MLPdrawingschool

&gt;You have no idea.

I have every idea. Everyone goes through this in art. Every. One. There is a wonderful book out there called Art &amp; Fear which goes over... Art and Fear. It is short, an easy read, and really quite helpful for learning how we approach art and what this does and the role fear plays. If you've got a library card or $10 I really recommend it.

It does you no good to try and get things perfect the very first time. They won't be. Accept mistakes as a foundation for the future. Look at the undersketch guide and play around with seeking marks out. A clean piece of paper means nothing as far as learning art goes.

u/VivaSpiderJerusalem · 2 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

Seriously, get that book. It's much better than my paltry words. I bet it's highly likely that you will end up like me: I'm on my 10th or so copy, as I've kept giving away mine to whomever has expressed artistsic doubt and just getting a new one. Most of the folks I've given it to have followed the same practice. It really helps.

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fear-Observations-Rewards-Artmaking/dp/0961454733

u/jfaulkner8 · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

This book is fantastic for learning to play jazz:

Jazz Piano Book

u/duggreen · 2 pointsr/edmproduction

Mark Levines' book on jazz piano covers pretty much all of pop music theory.


http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

u/Chumkil · 1 pointr/rocksmith

Looks like you need to adjust your action height or your truss rod - or both. Your nut may be cut too low, or your bridge, maybe both. You might also have some fret height issues.

You can google how to fix these things. They are not hard.

If you want a reference, then buy this:

Guitar Player Repair Guide 3rd Edition
http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210

This is the best book on guitar repair period.

It goes though the absolute basics, all the way up to extreme repairs.

u/happy_noodle · 1 pointr/Luthier

All parts has a sale on second bodies right now for $60. Eyguitar music link has the other parts you will need ,they also have bodies, for pretty cheap. If you got your parts from those two sources it would be in the range your'e looking at.

I should mention that I've built a grand total of one guitar so I'm by no means an expert but I did spend a lot of time trying to source cheap parts.

As for assembly instructions I would check around the internet or maybe some of the other redditors can help out. I did find the guitar player repair guide really useful.

EY Guitar Shopping list

Strat Tele Gutiar String Tree Retainer Neck custom CR -- US$1.20

1Set,Big Size Strap End Pin,Chrome Finish, for Acoustic,Electric Guitar,Bass -- US$2.50

PACK12PCS* Strap Pin,End Pin Felt Washers,Vitage White -- US$0.80

PACK 6PCS,Telecaster Chrome String Mounting Through Ferrule -- US$3.00

New Chrome Neck Plate w/ Screw fit Fender Strat Tele -- US$3.00

pack15pcs,telecaster bridge mounting screw chrome -- US$1.50

10pcs,19mm Straight Pickup Height Springs,For Telecaster Neck or Bridge pickup adjusting,Chrome Finish -- US$1.00
Amercian Standard Tele pickguard 3 ply white -- US$6.19

Tele Jack plate Cup For your Tele body custom,Chrome,Metric Thread -- US$5.50

New,Natural Color in Satin Finish,Telecaster Neck 21 fret,Rosewood Fingerboard,10mm or 8.3mm, machine head mounting hole,White Dot,free shipping -- US$57.00

Tele Bridge Chrome 6 saddle String through body style_004 -- US$9.00

Chrome Grover 6 INLINE 305C6 Mid-Size Rotomatic Tuners -- US$20.00

3 Meters (9.8 Feet) Coated Hook Up Wires,22awg,style001 : Red -- US$1.70

3 Meters (9.8 Feet) Coated Hook Up Wires,22awg,style001 : White -- US$1.70

Artec Tele bridge alnico,TRA-44 --- US$10.00

Artec Tele neck Alnico Chrome,TFA-40C -- US$10.00

Eyguitar Total: $133.09

add the body from allparts.com $60

Approximate total shipping (I'm guessing here) $70

Grand Total: $263.09

Hope that helps.

Edit: Formatting &amp; added Total

Edit 2: I just thought about it and you may also need to get screws attaching the neck &amp; pickguard. You can get them from all parts.

Also, you'll probably need to use a drill press, people please correct me if I'm wrong, to add the holes for attaching the neck / pick guard.

u/malignant_logic · 1 pointr/Guitar

If you are interested in learning how to do this yourself there is a great book on the subject. Combined with the right tools (straight edge, hex wrenches, feeler gauge) it should still run less than $50. It's not complicated and just requires a bit of patience.

I use stands all of the time. If you are one to lean your guitar against the amp/wall etc. if you don't have a stand available then a stand is your best option. Les Pauls are prone to breaks where the head meets the neck should they suffer a fall, but i've never seen a stand cause any damage.

u/SynapticSpam · 1 pointr/IWantToLearn

This book has been a great help. It covers everything from changing strings to major repairs.

u/seeyoucreepin · 1 pointr/Luthier

This book will be a life saver for any basic DIY repair.

u/pixelbaron · 1 pointr/Guitar

Here's a list of basics that I bought recently to give you an idea:

Feeler Gauges

Hex Key Wrench Set

String Action Gauge

String Winder

Contact Cleaner for Electronics

Neck Rest

I already have various sized screw drivers, but if I didn't that would be on the list as well.

The above would be enough to do a basic setup: adjust truss rod, adjust action, get into the guts and clean the electronics. Everything will fit in a beat up old shoe box haha.

Along with YouTube videos, this book is a good reference guide. It has everything from basic repair and maintenance information all the way to repairing a broken neck or trying to repair a messed up truss rod.

u/toxicvarn90 · 1 pointr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

&gt;I certainly am, how'd ya tell?
Americans say shit, Britons say rubbish. Essentially your curse words sound classier.

What do you mean by impedance? What does the natural resistance of a wire sound like?

Despite this, I have yet to fix this very annoying feedback that I hear in both the amp and in my Mac (so I suspect it has something to do with the pickups). Before I do that, I must catch up on some basics.

u/writtenloudly · 1 pointr/Guitar

Trial and error and youtube. There are a ton of great videos and the basic rules all make sense--just be very, very cautious when it comes to the truss rod and invest in a good tuner or use http://sourceforge.net/projects/lstune/ . Go slow, research from multiple sources and consider picking up Erlwine's book http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1368087198&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=guitar+book+setup .

u/neocontra · 1 pointr/Guitar

I used Rock Guitar for Dummies to start, then I purchased this for more specific guitar tweaking.

I also took tools to my strat and tried a number of things, and now it plays/sounds amazing.

u/Leumasperron · 1 pointr/Guitar

I've built my own partscaster (relatively) from scratch, and I've only brought my guitar for a setup once. Setups are easy and fun: you get to know your instrument much more... personally. You know the G-spots knowhatimsaying. I learned how to finish, setup, route and sanding. The only thing I still can't do is nut-filing and fret-stuff, because like you I lack the tools.

If you know how to solder (easy to learn too), then electronics is a breeze. I would never take my strat to a shop for a pickup swap.

If you're serious/curious about learning, I recommend Dan Erlewine's excellent book, it contains pretty much everything you need to get started, and then some.

Nobody said building a guitar was easy, but nobody said it was boring! You'll cherish that instrument, with all its bumps and edges and faults, because it will truly be yours.

u/Hawkeye2422 · 1 pointr/drums

I'm not sure about your skill level so it's hard to make a general suggestion, but I've found that Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer is great set of exercises for all skill levels

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953

u/5redrb · 1 pointr/Guitar

Ted Reed's Syncopation is a classic book:

https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer-Publications/dp/0882847953/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=TMB5JKB4B4EBBBSM4QX7

You can play with your palms on your lap and tap your foot to learn these rhythms and it will help your playing. Download a free metronome for your phone or go to metronome online.

u/JT_Beaver · 1 pointr/Jazz

Read rhythms everyday, it doesn't matter what they are or what book they're from, just read them. Take it slow and sync up with a metronome so you can learn what notes line up and what don't. This a great book by Ted Reed called 'Syncopation' (jazz drummers will know what I'm talking about). There's a section near the back that is considered the bible for learning coordination, but I think it will also help your situation. I think it starts on page thirty-eight or forty and it goes through lessons one until eight. Put a metronome on and shed that stuff everyday and you'll develop some great rhythmic vocabulary as well as better yourself at reading and performing more complex rhythms. Check out this [link]http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1410966323&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=Ted+Reed%27s+syncopation) for the book!

Happy shedding!

Edit: Well... the link thing didn't work out, but you get what I mean.

u/dannaddan · 1 pointr/drums

Yep, that's the stick control book. I believe the Syncopation book refers to this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953

u/hairyontheinside · 1 pointr/drums

2 practice pads and 2 sets of sticks (so you can play with him)

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953.

The standard recommendation is to find an instructor. I would see if you can find a local high-school kid who is a good drummer and would give lessons. Lessons through a music store can be hard on the wallet. You'll be able to pay for those a little later.

u/incredulitor · 1 pointr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

I'm playing guitar, but my teacher recommended this for rhythm work:

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953

u/MattSchtaundtender · 1 pointr/drums

There’s a legendary book about this exact subject, it’s essential for any drummer to spend time with it. What a lot of people like to do is take the rhythms from the book and orchestrate them around the drums for some really fun sounding licks and exercises.

u/2sticks6strings · 1 pointr/guitarlessons

I started out playing drums and this book is one of the most useful tools I was ever given. Since I started playing guitar I have used it to help build my strumming and picking dexterity. It might help you.

https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer-Publications/dp/0882847953

u/psychadelicfur · 1 pointr/Drumming
u/BogWitch3000 · 1 pointr/Music

Get this book, and never stop learning

Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer (Ted Reed Publications) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0882847953/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_K4FDCb9D1W7YC

u/Zi1djian · 1 pointr/percussion

Don't be too worried about it. In 8th grade they're not expecting you to be some kind of master.

If this is something you're serious about, pick up this book: http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1377065599&amp;amp;sr=8-6&amp;amp;keywords=snare+drumming

It's a fantastic introduction once you get the basics of how to read notes. It starts off fairly simple and gradually moves into more intense exercises but with some imagination and possibly a good teacher's guidance it can take you very far.

Also, get a metronome and use it! Start practicing with good habits now and they won't be a hinderance to change later on. Look up lessons on youtube, check out drumming sites online, it's an amazing time to learn music with so many free resources online.

u/Basselopehunter · 1 pointr/drums

The biggest thing I can think of is for you is to practice musically and not just straight forward notes. Throw accents in, change up the dynamics.
Here is a prime example from Jojo Mayer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTM7khtBeXc
I can also suggest to you some books.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1892764040/temancom
This is possibly the best drum instruction book on the market, it will do wonders for your playing.
http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953
And this book too, work your way through these books and you can do anything.

u/greatwhitehype_ · 1 pointr/Music

Your welcome. This one as well is awesome. Gotta love the turn of the century black and white but that's where all the bad asses came from.
http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Steps-Syncopation-Modern-Drummer/dp/0882847953/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

u/themessyb · 1 pointr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Buy this and a metronome.
Read it.
Breathe it.
Sleep it.

u/bigredrider · 1 pointr/Guitar

Buy this book.http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0882847953/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?pc_redir=T1

I'm a drummer learning guitar and this book is an excellent source for rhythmic variations.

u/GERMAQ · 1 pointr/Eve

Grouping would have taken 2 more minutes. You could have just combined "before 5/15" into a single data group and the impact would have been made. I appreciate your work, it's interesting information but if you handed this to me at work, I'd never trust you doing any data analytics ever again.

I highly recommend this book for data presentation in theory and practice.

http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142


u/neel2004 · 1 pointr/AskReddit

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte is a beautiful textbook I used in an economics course in undergrad. It was also rated one of the 100 best books of the 20th century on Amazon.com.

u/oh-dear-me · 1 pointr/programming



Yes.

Like a
3-d pyramid bar chart
(only have Libreoffice so, sorry, no 3-point perspective etc),
it might look cool, but it's not a particularly effective
way of understanding the data. (Tufte, etc)

The unzoomed view gives an idea of the top ten (or maybe 20) queries.
That would be clearer in a bar chart or dot plot with the categories
in descending order of frequency.

There is only one quantitative variable here - "counts" and the
categories seem to be ordered according to that variable, which is
useful.

This single quantitative variable seems to be mapped (roughly) onto a
spiral. Which means it is mapped onto 2 separate spatial variables -
angular and radial. The angular variable corresponds to the count
variable, so 2 categories that are next to each other in the angular
direction are closest in the number of counts. But which circles are
next to each other in the radial direction is kind of arbitrary - an
artifact of the spiral layout algorithm. So the "second dimension"
(radial) is not really meaningful. Zooming in shows an arbitrary
bunch of chunks of what is essentially one dimensional data.

As an exercise in using the various tools, it's fine.

But as a visualization it's more eye candy (it DOES look pretty - nice
layout and colour palette) but not so much a useful exploratory tool.



u/hagemajr · 1 pointr/AskReddit

Awesome! I kind of fell into the job. I was initially hired as a web developer, and didn't even know what BI was, and then got recruited by one of the BI managers and fell in love. To me, it is one of the few places in IT where what you create will directly impact the choices a business will make.

Most of what I do is ETL work (taking data from multiple systems, and loading them into a single warehouse), with a few cubes (multidimensional data analaysis) and SSRS report models (logical data model built on top of a relational data store used for ad hoc report creation). I also do a bit of report design, and lots of InfoPath 2010 + SharePoint 2010 custom development.

We use the entire Microsoft BI stack here, so SQL Server Integration (SSIS), Analysis (SSAS), and Reporting Services (SSRS). Microsoft is definitely up and coming in the BI world, but you might want to try to familiarize yourself with Oracle BI, Business Objects, or Cognos. Unfortunately, most of these tools are very expensive and not easy to get up and running. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with the concepts, and then you will be able to use any tool to apply them.

For data warehousing, check out the Kimball books:

Here and here and here

For reporting, get good with data visualizations, anything by Few or Tufte, like:

Here and here

For integration, check these out:

Here and here

Also, if you're interested in Microsoft BI (SSIS, SSAS, SSRS) check out this site. It has some awesome videos around SSAS that are easy to follow along with.

Also, check out the MSDN BI Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bi/

Currently at work, but if you have more questions, feel free to shoot me a message!

u/miggyb · 1 pointr/dataisbeautiful

Sorry, but that image really hits a nerve. Don't take it personally, it might very well be a great idea, but the execution is jarring for us data-as-art people.

  1. You should almost never use circles to represent data unless you have a very, very good reason to. It's harder to visually compare angles in a circle as opposed to height in a bar chart. And if you put the percentage points next to the area, you might as well just show the data in table format.

  2. Neither the Z or the... theta(?) axes make any sense. Is time going outward from the center of the cup? Is it going inward to the end of the day? Is it over the course of a 3 month period? Do all the different categories share the same Z axis? Is the "Time spent on Spacebook" in minutes, hours, or fortnights?

  3. You should almost never use 3D effects unless you have to. Don't feel too bad for this one since it's commonly ignored, but in this case it's very relevant. You could put a series of circles parallel to the coffee cup saying "time" and it would help clear up whether time was increasing outward or inward, but there's no way to fix the Z axis. If you had a series of circles going upwards in a cylinder, it would still be impossible to match any line with any amount.

    The picture you have behind the data is a really nice picture, and I could see how you wanted to use it to tell a story about your day. However, the way you're forcing the data into the picture is completely visually destroying that it.

    Further reading: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. It's a thick book but it's mostly pictures :)

    Again, don't take it too personally, but I figured a harsh answer was better than no answer.
u/bliker · 1 pointr/Python

I am just going to pick out on some points.

&gt; This should be left up to the user. What looks good is subjective to begin with

This is not true. There are many acclaimed books about topic of information design (The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte for example) that set up many rules about quality information design that matplotlib does not follow. Majority of users tend to not fiddle with setting, as they do not have time for it. Sane defaults go a long way.

&gt; I’d rather you didn't fork!!! The project as it is could use more help. Have you talked to any of the current developers about this.

I totally agree with you, my plan is to develop in parallel and push changes back into iPython. I think significant change like this needs more breathing space.

u/ImInterested · 1 pointr/Entrepreneur

I have always heard good things about any of Tufte's books

You can also search books by data visualization for more options

u/yasth · 1 pointr/jobs

For one thing in a lot of places database administration is 75% reporting and analysis, 20% ETL/Integration and 5% Server admin. So no one will be too surprised should a database admin want to become a pure play data analyst.

That said I would A) get a GED (mostly because it will help in B) B) look at wgu or something like it for a degree in databases. You really can't beat hard credentials, and they aren't that expensive.

I'd also consider reading:

  • Visual Display of Quantitative Information ... highly recommended for anyone who has to present information

  • The first few chapters and the last of The Flaw of averages which is over long, but has some good stuff, and great analogies which you'll need to explain things later

  • A deep cover book on your chosen DB's sql

  • A NOSQL database book


    That should get you started.
u/datadreamer · 1 pointr/dataisbeautiful

Or you can just read his PhD thesis, Computational Information Design, which covers pretty much all of the same conceptual topics but doesn't go into the technical aspects of project development as much. Other essential reading would be Semiology of Graphics by Jacques Bertin, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte, and Visual Complexity by Manuel Lima.

u/mobastar · 1 pointr/visualization

I've read and some bad reviews of Tufte, basically that his style isn't for everyone. I currently report a lot in Excel, thus two of the choices lean towards Excel use. For Tufte, do you recommend The Visual Display of Quantitative Information as the ideal beginner book? Not thrilled about the $40 price tag, but if it's worth it I'll happily pull the trigger.

u/shmatt · 1 pointr/programming

yeah. a good gift- the books are beautifully printed. I would get the first one so to get the best understanding of his philiosophies. Anyone who created the term "chart junk" is OK in my book.

u/sfurbo · 1 pointr/AskScienceDiscussion

As an off-beat addition to all the excellent suggestions already give, I will recommend The visual display of quantitative information by Edward R. Tufte. One of my pet peeves is that figures and graphs in science are often done really badly. The information could be presented clearer, and more information could be included without sacrificing clearness, if people just knew how to and took the time. This would make their publications much more accessible.

u/hardleaningwork · 1 pointr/learnprogramming

It's design... It's art just like any other form, just on a different medium and mixed with technical limitations. You can read a lot of blogs (www.alistapart.com is pretty great) but there is no "book" on web design. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information is a classic, but has nothing to do with actual web design.

u/FadedGenes · 1 pointr/dataisbeautiful

There is no single formula to creating a beautiful, persuasive data presentation. It's not a question of choosing the right tool; it's a question of choosing the right means of communicating. With innumerable options at your disposal, your most valuable tool is your brain and your experience presenting to audiences that are critical, skeptical or easily confused.

Here's where I would start:

http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information/dp/0961392142/

u/mhink · 1 pointr/webdev

To be perfectly honest, the one book that's "gotten through" to me is The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte. The book has a lot of examples of information design, both good and bad- and plenty of examples of taking a bad design and "refactoring" it so that it does a better job of conveying the information it contains.

u/_namaste · 1 pointr/infp

Check out Art &amp; Fear along with The War of Art.

Tons of good things to say about these books as someone whose perfectionistic brain has ruined many projects by screaming "worthless, pointless" over and over again.

u/tst__ · 1 pointr/Advice

Judging by the competitiveness for jobs in the game industry you got to stand out.
If you haven't read it, read On Becoming a Game Writer.

General steps to stand out:

  • Become a personal brand. Start a blog, twitter, be active on mailing lists, etc.
  • If there are less than 50 - 100 books on game writing, read them (or stop if you can't learn anything about game writing anymore)
  • Read all the classics on writing, take writing courses
  • Read books on how to improve as an artist (like Art &amp; Fear, Steal Like an Artist, etc.)
  • Read books about story writing / telling
  • Learn about about communication &amp; marketing (this will help you to get the word out and a job)
  • Blog about your journey, start talking about the books, principles you learned; maybe get interviews with other game writers;
  • Read blog post / articles about game writing (e.g. google "game writing", read the first 30 - 100 pages) &amp; start following blogs
  • Apply your knowledge, e.g. analyze game plots or game writing
  • Write, write, write. Produce something. (see *)
  • Create games - there are so many programmers out there who just love to make a game, contact them, make it happen
  • Connect to the industry - ask for advice, invite somebody to dinner, be a nice guy
  • Publish your work. Get honest feedback, this is the best way to improve even if it hurts.


    Summary Be so good that they can't ignore you.


    * There's a great story in Art &amp; Fear about a pottery course. The students were divided into two groups. One group got judged on the quality of their vase, they other on the quantity. Which one produced the better vases? The second one.
u/mt0711 · 1 pointr/learnart

A person (including you) shouldn't judge your initial efforts and exercises in art any more than they would judge the worth of a mathematician on the practice problems in his old algebra textbook.

That being said, don't let your perceived lack of ability keep you from tackling projects you're interested in because you feel you need more practice first. Keep practicing but don't be afraid to say what you want for fear of technical ability.

Some books:

The Natural Way to Draw

The Art Spirit

Art and Fear

u/babblefrog · 1 pointr/edmproduction

I would bet only 1% of artists in any artistic field make enough money out of it to be worthwhile. You have to do it for yourself, not for other people, because (probably) nobody else is ever going to understand your art.

There is a book that might help you, though it doesn't focus specifically on music: Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

u/ilikeboarding · 1 pointr/GetMotivated

Art &amp; Fear if you haven't read it.

u/Cashewcamera · 1 pointr/writing

There is a great, afternoon sized book, that covers this really well.

Art and Fear

Edit: Fixed link.

u/endless_coil · 1 pointr/learnart

Art &amp; Fear is a good read on the subject.

u/sick__bro · 1 pointr/Filmmakers

Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez is pretty great.

Not as film related bur more related to the artistic process is Art and Fear. I highly recommend this to everybody I talk about art with. It's a great book to take notes in and destroy with highlighters.

u/milkeater · 1 pointr/java

An interesting parable from the Art of Fear

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot”albeit a perfect one”to get an “A”.

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work”and learning from their mistakes”the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

To each their own but I'd say hiding behind the Quality vs. Quantity argument is a path to becoming irrelevant. Fail and fail fast, people don't have time for you to plan the world....still fail....and then fix it. Otherwise Waterfall wouldn't be such a curse word these days.

I hope we have the ability to reel in those who are fired up to make shit happen, not those clinging to some semblance of safety that never existed.

u/supermattmasta · 1 pointr/FL_Studio
u/WurzelGummidge · 1 pointr/photography

I have a quick read of this little book whenever I feel like I'm in a cul-de-sac.

Art &amp; Fear : Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking


From the back cover

Art and Fear explores the way art gets made, the reasons it often it often doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way.

This is a book about what it feels like to sit in your studio or classroom, at your wheel or keyboard, easel or camera, trying to do the work you need to do. It is about committing your future to your own hands, placing Free Will above predestination, choice above chance. It is about finding your own work.

u/elementary_vision · 1 pointr/infp

Yeah that's a bullshit answer. Most people give crap answers anyway, you're better off not paying any attention to them.

It definitely stings when you work hard on something and post it and it gets no attention. In fact I went through that exact thing with a track recently. My best piece of advice, work hard. Don't burn yourself out, but really focus on getting those ideas down and pushing your comfort zone. Don't feel the need to release everything you make. Sit on it for a while, move on to something else, come back to it. If you're still really feeling it, post it. Otherwise leave it be. I know it can feel like one massive race at times with people creating tons and tons of art that people love and it hurts to see that and come to the realization you're pretty far off from there. But run your own race. Measure yourself with how well you've improved compared to yourself in the past, not successful people.

I know this gets posted A TON, but this ira glass video is so spot on. ira glass

And this book has really helped me out

If you want to bounce ideas or talk about creative roadblocks like these feel free to message me anytime. This stuff can get really isolating and depressing fast. Even more so if you don't have people in your life that understand the passion behind your artistic pursuits. When it comes to artists a lot of people are ignorant about how much blood, sweat, and tears goes into that work. That's why you have to shut out the opinions of people who aren't on the same level as you.

u/IronMyrs · 1 pointr/learnart

FORCE YOURSELF.

I'm on day um... 63 I think? I don't have my sketchbook on me at the moment, but I was challenged by a friend to do one drawing a day. No restrictions on content or detail. Just had to be in pen, and had to be daily. So far it's been FANTASTIC to just be in a position of "well, I don't wanna draw today, but I gotta get this done before I go to bed." It really beats the fear of a blank page out of you when you know that you MUST draw today, even if it's just abstract polygons.

Another recommendation is Art and Fear. It discusses what you're feeling on a very high level (it doesn't talk about technique at all, just things like motivation around the creative mind and thought process) and the book itself is short.

u/fotoford · 1 pointr/photography

Surely you've heard the term "late bloomer." Photography is fucking hard and it takes years to actually get good at it. If you put in the time and love it, it will love you back. Get this book because it was made for people like you (and me): Art &amp; Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Get it. Read it. You'll be happy you did.

u/Vylanius · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

This is something I need because I could use all the help I can get when it comes to artwork. Its my primary source of income at the moment, so anything that could aid me in that would be spectacular.

Chuck Finley

u/CloudDrone · 1 pointr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

Yeah, man. Look, I hope you didn't think I was being too harsh. I tried to make constructive criticism.

I will say this: I really appreciate hearing when artists try things that are different and out of the ordinary. Its necessary, and I will always support artists who try things differently more than artists who tread the same tired waters in a more polished way.

Yes, you could use some practice in the application of your ideas. But I hope this will be a fire under your ass a little to focus in on taking the little elements that you like about what you do, and find a way to do them better. That's where the true magic happens as an artist.

I'm reading a book right now called "So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love" by Cal Newport.

The main idea of the book is breaking down the idea of being motivated to do what you do based on passion, and how that's an idea that can be dangerous. He says we can think about our work in two ways. There is the passion mindset, and the craftsman mindset.

  • In the passion mindset, our focus is on what value our work will bring us.

  • In the craftsman mindset, our focus is on what value we can bring to our work.

    The passion mindset leads us to find more heartbreak and creative blocks in our workflow because of our expectations for the kind of feelings and value we perceive our work to be adding to our life.

    The craftsman mindset however, is much more fulfilling, realistic, and helpful in the long run. Our minds become not consumed with the grandiose ideas of how amazing our work is, and instead are focused on how we can improve them. This ultimately leads to a point where our work is undoubtedly much more full of value, because of all the energy we put into giving our work value. We can't help but feel the value in our work. We don't have to rely on vague abstractions of passion and trying to stay optimistic with our work, because we know exactly how much work we put into it.

    I have found this to be especially true, and there are a lot of other theories and things I've found along the way that support it too.

    The book mentions Ira Glass's Famous quote on advice for beginners. The idea that we've got to just keep working and learning and improving and not focus on how good our work is. Here's a really nicely animated version of the short speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1oZhEIrer4

    Then there's the famous 10,000 hour idea from Malcom Gladwell's book Outliers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_%28book%29) The idea that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a master. I always take that with a grain of salt, but there is something to it. I generally take it though that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberately working on getting better to become a true master. 10,000 hours of casual playing will make you a master at casual playing. Like Kenny G. (who I still consider a master, by the way. He's the best at what he does, even if what he does is fucking simple)

    Another of my favorites is the story from the book "Art &amp; Fear" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0961454733/lifeclever-20?tag=lifeclever-20) about the pottery teacher who turned one semester class into an experiment. He split the class into two halves. One half were told they would be graded on only one pot that they could spend all semester working on, and the other class were told they would be graded on the amount of pots they created. The long story short is that the side of the class who took all semester working on one pot had inferior pots than the side of the class who wasn't graded on the quality of work, but by the quantity they produced. The side who made a lot of pots gave themselves so many opportunities to learn from their mistakes simply because they gave themselves the freedom to make them. Once you do something so many times, little changes each time mean you find a better method. There is only so much you can do to improve when the approach hasn't been practiced, and all the fundamental skills haven't been repeated over and over.

    Something that can help us to keep in this mindset is from one of my favorite books "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron (http://www.amazon.com/The-Artists-Way-Julia-Cameron/dp/1585421464) She suggests a practice to help artists work through creative blocks by a process of freewriting with a pen and paper, a practice she recommends for every kind of artist. She suggest starting every single day out with writing 3 pages of longhand writing without stopping. The only rule is to not stop. You write and write, even if you have to repeat stupid things over and over because you can't think of anything else. You come up with ways to keep yourself from stopping by writing about your day, or your grocery list, or saying "this is stupid" over and over. Anything to keep you from stopping. It gets the juices out and you keep going and going, and going. You practice getting over the fear of making the mistakes. You are practicing your art. Free expression where there are no mistakes. You practice coming up with ways to keep going. Then when you are done with the three pages, you close up the notebook and you don't read over it. You are done with the pages and you move on with your day. There is no reason to look over what you wrote since you are not critiquing what you wrote. The process is about getting over creative blocks and creatively acting without hesitation. I've found this practice to be invaluable.

    Some advice that started to help me was to not spend too much time on each of my songs deliberating over details, until I was good enough where it was hurting the final product to not dive in deeper. I also don't listen to my tracks over after finishing. Instead, when I finish a song, or make a recording. I listen to it and set it aside and begin working on something else. After at least a day, or sometimes more, I listen to it with a notepad and take notes as objectively as I can, and try to find ways in which I would have improved on the song. Things I could have done better or approached differently. If its a couple of small things, I might fix them right there, but if its a bunch of bigger things, I just appreciate that I learned a lot from that song and try to incorporate what I learned into a new song to practice it.

    All of these all point toward the same thing, and I hope you find some of the advice useful if you try it out. I'm not telling you this because I think your music sucks, but because I think you have what it takes because of how you are trying things outside of the ordinary.

    My ideas to all artists: Abandon thoughts of your work being brilliant. Focus on keeping moving. Let yourself make terrible music. Learn from your mistakes without getting down on yourself. One finished song that you had to think creatively to get to work even though it sucked, is a better use of your time than 20 unfinished alright ideas sitting as loops. If you do like making lots of loops, export them as audio loops and churn them out like an assembly line. Don't deliberate on every move when your time would be better spend actively working through a block. In art, mistakes is where magic happens. Hone in on your mistakes and see if you can let them dictate the direction of where your song goes. Focus on improving your skills instead of feeling good about being an artist.

    I hope this wasn't just a bunch of gibberish. Let me know what you think about this kind of stuff if you're interested. I'm always down to talk about it when I can't be making music.
u/shalis · 1 pointr/ArtFundamentals

I'm a newbie as well, so take my words with a grain or two of salt. I've been working at it for about as long as you have. Everyone trying to follow an artistic pursuit of any kind struggles with that, and it never goes away neither, as the more you know the more you are aware of what you don't know.

Now keep in mind that, just like me, it sounds like you are still working on your fundamentals. Its easy to get discouraged at this stage (heck I know I am right now, as I keep trying to draw plants and feels like i'm hitting my head against a wall) because you are basically learning how to (visually) talk and listen. Its frustrating when one can't express oneself, we are basically at "gugugaga moma?" stage. Learning to visualize 3d forms in 2d space, being able to see the information that you need from the subject that you are examining, being able to break complex forms into simple primaries, being aware of flow within 3d space, etc, these are the things you should be looking for progress in as that has been your focus with the boxes, organic shapes and even the figure drawing stuff I would think. Pretty pictures will come easy after that skill is comfortably under your belt.

Saying that, I try to categorize my progress in 2 ways. Mechanical and Conceptual. Mechanical skills progress is slow but progressive, all it takes is conscious repetition (conscious as in not in autopilot, you don't learn anything if you are not aware of what you are doing), Conceptual thou... that is what gives you the headaches as it often requires you to change how you think, progress in this is far more sporadic, but when it comes its explosive and completely changes how your art work looks. It takes not repetition, but analysis, reflection and study.

This is a good book that address the struggle : Art &amp; Fear

u/SpinalFracture · 1 pointr/Jazz

The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine is a great jazz course, aimed at pianists who are already reasonably proficient.

u/Hilomh · 1 pointr/JazzPiano

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

I did a Google search and found a ton of companies that sell it.

u/KidCheetos · 1 pointr/IWantToLearn

Chord extensions are just how you voice chords beyond the fifth. You just use scales and keep counting upwards, 9ths, 11ths...

Inversions are just chords with the lowest note moved to the top of the chord.

C-E-G-B
1st inversion
E-G-B-C
2nd inversion
G-B-C-E

Inversions let you change the flavor of a chord or play chord progressions with minimal movement. IOW you can play progressions without having to bound up and down the keyboard.

As far as chops, I don't really know. I have found this to be an excellent free online resource:

http://www.jazzguitar.be

A lot of people think this one of the best jazz piano resources out there:
http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Piano-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/0961470151

u/urbster1 · 1 pointr/piano

Check out the Youtube channel jazz2511 and his website http://www.bushgrafts.com

Also highly recommend Luke Gillespie's Stylistic II/V/I Voicings book

Mark Levine's Jazz Piano book is also popularly recommended, as is Randy Halberstadt's Metaphors for the Musician.

u/BeowulfShaeffer · 1 pointr/piano

It would help if we knew more about your own level of knowledge too. For instance I could recommend Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony or Levine's Jazz Piano Book but those books expect a lot out of their readers, so you may be better off with simpler books.

One book I liked a lot was Carl Humphries The Piano Handbook. It doesn't assume you know much and goes over a lot of material without a lot of depth. It might be a good starting point. It has something to say about pretty much every musical style from 1400 to today.

EDIT: I just reread your post and see you already have the piano handbook.

As a six-month player you probably need to work on physical technique more than anything. And you'll need a teacher for that. :( Can you find one to even meet once a month for 30 minutes?

u/ralmeida · 1 pointr/weeklybeats

My song for this week: https://soundcloud.com/blowghoti/hidden-pearl

I tried to do something more relaxing this week, a song I would listen to while coding. I also tried to apply some concepts from the book Music Theory for Computer Musicians, mainly intervals and changing the scale from G to Em.

u/Mark_at_work · 1 pointr/Beginning_Photography

You can do a lot with the kit lens. I recommend you hold off on investing more money in lenses until you've reached the limits of what the kit lens can do. Then you'll have a better idea of what you want when you go shopping for the next one.

Also, pick up a copy of Understanding Exposure to learn how to use your camera.

u/thkie · 1 pointr/Nikon

&gt; What's the most important things to know, the basics, what I should/shouldn't do, etc.

A lot of recommendations for blogs and videos, but I really found Understanding Exposure (amazon link) to be a great tool.

If you're reading replies here and are thinking to yourself "I don't even know what that is" this might be a good jumping off point.

u/guilleeee · 1 pointr/photography

I'd recommend any of Bryan Peterson's books; Understanding Exposure and Learning to See Creatively are the ones that really got me into photography a few years ago. He has one on portraiture if that's what you're looking for.

u/inkista · 1 pointr/AskPhotography

&gt;And I saw the A7III with it’s kit lens 28-70 and I loved the picture quality you can get with it.

Just me, but before buying one, maybe rent one and see the pictures you can get with it. The fact that the pictures you see as examples of what an A7iii can do may have been taken by a very talented, experienced photographer who was willing to drop all that cash on the body+glass and may also be extreme skilled at post-processing sometimes doesn't occur to a newb. :D Composition, timing, subject matter, processing: those are still up to you.

Higher resolution, better tonal smoothness, wider dynamic range, better high ISO performance those are all very nice, but they don't always equate to "more beautiful," especially in unskilled hands. A full-frame camera doesn't turn you into a great photographer any more than buying a guitar turns you into a great musician.

&gt;Should I leave the RX100 M7 and get that A7III and learn or what?

I'd vote for learn with the RX100.

Are you sure you've exhausted what your RX100 can do? Do you shoot with it in M mode? Do you post-process its RAW files? Have you used it on a tripod? Have you tried off-camera flash? (Dumb optical slaving can still work with its built-in flash). Have you taken a class or read a book on basic composition or exposure control? I'd say try those things (and price out the cost of those Sony FE lenses for an A7iii) first before sinking into the money pit that is interchangeable lens camera systems. It may turn out that an α6000 (or a Fuji X or Panasonic/Olympus micro four-thirds body) is a better starting point for getting into interchangeable lens cameras.

u/normanlee · 1 pointr/bayarea

Have you considered some books instead of in-person classes? Obviously quite different from having an actual human look at and critique your work, but Understanding Exposure and The Photographer's Eye are two of my favorites for learning the fundamentals of how to make good and interesting pictures.

u/huffalump1 · 1 pointr/photography

You probably have a smartphone which has a camera, right? You can start with that. Just take photos, read, watch videos, learn, take more photos, ask more questions, read more, take more photos, etc...

/r/PhotoClass2017

Book recommendations (these are excellent):

u/sew3521 · 1 pointr/pics

This book has influenced my photography more than any other class I have taken or book I have read. I highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607748509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-kzVBbTSXGZV7

u/tokyohoon · 1 pointr/japanlife

There's an excellent book called Understanding Aperture Understanding Exposure that's pretty much an essential read. Highly recommended.

Edit: Corrected title

u/Beaker__ · 1 pointr/35mm

I'm late. Maybe of interest for the next person:

&gt;What aperture and exposure setting is best for a beginner ? I plan on take photos outside in the lovely summer sun !

See https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509

&gt;Where do I get the film developed ?

Those places have nearly disappeared. I can't speak for the states but Jean Couteau (pharmacy) is easy if you're in Canada. You can also develop yourself.., if you really want to.

&gt; Is there a way they can develop the film onto a disc or USB to create jpeg photos for editing or to send digitally ?

Scanner. Some places offer to develop &amp; scan (barrel scanner).

&gt;Any other tips ? dos and donts ?

Keep your film in a freezer for storage (I have portra expired two years ago which still shoots well). Leave it out over night before you plan to shoot, I'll keep a roll in the fridge if I'm thinking about it.

&gt;Any links to video tutorials or articles would be stellar as well !

Look for Bryan Peterson online and in youtube.

u/mikeciv · 1 pointr/analog

So more about taking better photos than a film camera thing specifically. Here is a great book for learning the basics.

u/digiplay · 1 pointr/photography

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's a solid lens for your camera at a very affordable price. There are a few other options like random and sigma but he 55-250 optically surpasses them.

You really can't find a better lens anywhere near that price for that camera. Make sure you shop around for a good deal. Check Adorama. BH photo. Amazon. Ebay.

It's not a very long lens but like I said you have a camera with which you can crop and still get usable images. Take a look at the canon 55-250 on pixel peeper or the flickr pool for it.

That's a couple hundred thousand photos to show you the quality you can achieve.

Remember photography is not about gear as much as skill. This is a great starter lens and if you're unhappy with photos you're making there are plenty of good books to read to improve your skills.

I usually recommend these three to start

Understanding exposure
Learning to see creatively
National Geographic ultimate guide to field photography

u/nx_2000 · 1 pointr/CasualConversation

Understanding Exposure is a great book for beginners on the subject.

u/desertsail912 · 1 pointr/photography

Let's see, there was Understanding Exposure, which is especially helpful for people who have only ever shot digital b/c it explains so much of the basic functions of the camera that most people take per granted and can improve your pictures dramatically, another one of Peterson's books, Learning to See Creatively is also really good, I also like The Photographer's Eye. Another really good book if you're into B&amp;W is Black &amp; White: Photographic Printing Workshop, which was written for using enlargers in a darkroom but can equally be used with basic Photoshop technique, shows how to convert blah pictures into really amazing imagery using basic dodging and burning techniques. I'll post some examples of his later when I get home.

u/PsychoCitizenX · 1 pointr/photography
u/kabbage123 · 1 pointr/videography

What you need to learn is the core elements of photography, and not necessarily the camera itself. When one learns how to use a camera, you have to be able to ask specific questions, like 'How do I change ISO?' 'How do I adjust Iris?' 'How can I put this in a framerate that I like?'

If you don't have the core fundamentals down, might as well stick to point-and-shoot type cameras.

I suggest picking up a book maybe like this one to learn, and then you'll be able to ask the specific questions you need for your camera.

u/strawcat · 1 pointr/explainlikeimfive

If you’re interested in some reading, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is fantastic at breaking it down and how the three relate to one another. In fact I’m a huge fan of this author and I own several of his books. Check your local library, I’d be shocked if they don’t have it.

u/donoteatthatfrog · 1 pointr/AskPhotography

This book, for example?
Understanding Exposure , by Bryan Peterson.
https://amzn.com/1607748509

u/mcscope · 1 pointr/learnart

If you want to actually learn perspective well I recommend this book - it's the most technical treatment of the subject that I've found.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732


It is written as though you are going to be drawing complex objects like sports cars in 3 dimensions so it's very precise. Most of the explanations of perspective I've found on the internet are very 'dumbed down' and just cover the basics of vanishing points.

u/4FK · 1 pointr/learnart

this is a great book!!! XD

u/ArkitekKX5 · 1 pointr/Art

Well drawing for me started out as a coping mechanism when I was a kid and still is for me today (especially these days). I had a lot of problems with depression and anxiety as a child coupled with a fairly ignorant father that didn't recognize these things as mental problems. I was forced to try to find a way to deal with hordes of feelings and emotions that as a mere child I was incapable of understanding and drawing helped me do that. Around the time I was about 13 or so some close friends of mine started drawing and where WAAAAY better than I was, so that pushed me to start working on things like technique and different styles. I really liked Dragonball Z at that age so I started drawing pictures I printed out from the internet regularly and started drawing in an anime style and eventually began coming up with my own characters, my friends were really good at drawing in anime styles so they taught me a lot about it.

When high school rolled around (I'll say sophomore year or so) I took basic art 1&amp;2 but I never really did too much because the course material was SO rigid that it didn't interest me. Ms. Huelett (the art teacher) felt like I had a lot of talent and took me under her wing in a big way. She knew A LOT about art and helped me learn and meld multiple styles together in order for me to create my own. She taught me a lot about anatomy and how to draw people/characters in different poses, how to properly shadow characters and apply light sources to my pieces, creating expressions and applying drama through a characters poses, she poured as much knowledge into me as she could and I couldn't be more grateful for all she taught me.

I know it isn't much (you've also been given some great advice already I see, which is fantastic) but I'll give you a few links to some books that really helped me learn more about various styles and techniques (I still have most of these books and refer to them fairly often, even now)

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404954561&amp;amp;sr=8-9&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw

http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Urban-Sketching-Location/dp/1592537251/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404954800&amp;amp;sr=8-19&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+graffiti

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Art-Doodle-Book-Outside/dp/1856696820/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404954800&amp;amp;sr=8-28&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+graffiti

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Head-Figure-Perigee-Jack/dp/0399507914/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404954902&amp;amp;sr=8-28&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+books

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Manga-Mark-Crilley-drawing-ebook/dp/B006WUD10S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404954990&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+manga

http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-Manga-Bodies-Anatomy/dp/4766112385/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404954990&amp;amp;sr=8-6&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+manga

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Cutting-Edge-Anatomy-Reference-ebook/dp/B00G8ELT2K/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404955084&amp;amp;sr=8-10&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+comics

http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Comic-Book-Action-Garbett/dp/1440308136/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1404955084&amp;amp;sr=8-14&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw+comics

I think that's most of the books I've got, at the very least it'll give you some ideas to practice with and all of those books together isn't too bad of a price and it's a good way to get experience in the things you want to learn (I think) if you're not able to afford the classes you were suggested.

Good god this post is long as hell and I apologize for that, I'm just trying to be as helpful as I possibly can with what I know (call it a flaw)

I'll leave you with a few pieces of advice that help me out regularly and that I feel have gotten me to the level I'm at now (though I think I'm just ok at best truthfully)

  1. Sketch whatever idea you have in your mind for something as fast as you can and just let your ideas flow through you. Don't give yourself time to say this part sucks I have to redo it, just go for it and you'll be surprised at what can come out of it.

  2. Try to take inspiration from artists you admire but don't try to copy their style. What worked for me was incorporating my inspiration with various artists and merging them with my own ideas which eventually lead to me developing my own style(s)

  3. Do your best to not look at your art as inferior to another persons artwork. Absolutely, have those people you look up to want to be like artistically and draw inspiration from, but do your best not to doubt yourself. It's YOUR artwork and YOUR ideas, the only person's opinions that matter are your own. If you're truly happy with what you've created and feel you've done the best you can then I promise SOMEONE out there WILL like your work as well, at least in my opinion.

    Sorry again for the book, I just hope I was at least a little bit helpful with the advice I was able to give and didn't come off as arrogant sounding or anything

    Best of luck and I can't wait to see what you do in the future :)

u/mortini · 1 pointr/learnart

Scott Robertson in one of his videos talks about building muscle memory for drawing straight lines and ellipsis. Once you do this, you simply 'turn the pad' to position the paper so it's wherever you want to draw.

Technical Pen and Paper does two things for you. The way it feels when you drag a pencil tip across the paper is called 'tooth.' This is feedback that your hand can feel as it will feel different as you speed up or slow down. Or different types of paper. But you can feel the pencil move across the paper.

Tablets generally don't have any tooth - or very very little. So it's difficult to build that 'muscle memory' for drawing a straight line.

The first few lessons on drawabox you could work on those at your desk without any issues. It's really about getting confidence with basics and line quality.

How to draw - By Scott Robertson is pretty good. It's really based on perspective and drawing things in perspective, though, and isn't as much designed in lessons but as in sections for different types of perspective tasks.

u/I_am_godzilla · 1 pointr/DigitalPainting

Definitely classes. If you're not doing classes for whatever reason. I suggest making these three books your bible.

How to draw - Scott Robertson

Color and light

And finally

Bridgman's Drawing from life

No need to get them all at once. But these three books are chock full of lessons that you will revisit over and over as you progress in your art. Strongly recommended.

u/TwoToedTerror · 1 pointr/learnart

Glad I could be of help!

Watts Atelier is really amazing. It is beginner friendly - anatomy knowledge helps, but you wont be drawing the figure immediately. It will still be a good idea to learn anatomy while you continue through the program - I'll link you to some great anatomy resources.

To give you a rough breakdown of how the course works, you start by drawing simple shapes (spheres, cylinders, boxes, cones) focusing on form and value. Then you will start drawing other simple geometric forms applying the same principles. Then drawing fundamentals is finished with still life drawing. Next you move into portrait drawing fundamentals, then figure. If you are interested in painting, you can continue the course to portrait and figure painting, along with other specialized classes (landscape, drapery, composition, etc.)

On the issue of sizing, that is a problem that will solve itself naturally over time. It has to do with proportions and measuring, which is a skill that takes time and practice to get a handle on. Eventually you can visualize where everything goes and place it on the page in the right spot. But yeah, Watts Atelier will definitely help.

The difference between Watts and other free tutorials online is 1.) professionalism and structure: The course is taught by the founder of the atelier Jeff Watts, and it is structured like a true academic art class. Learning online gives you random bits of information which are helpful, but you can't contextualize them. The course is designed to take you from beginner to master. The tutorials online are fun, but don't have that structure.

2.) The teachers are world class artists. To give context, here is some of Jeff Watts work. You may not want to be a painter, but you can be confident that you are learning from a master. You can also google his drawings, they will blow you away. Also, the guy Stan Prokopenko who I recommended - and is often mentioned in this sub - was trained at the Watts Atelier by Jeff Watts.

You probably get the picture, its a great program. My experience with it has been an absolute joy. I wish I could go back in time two years when I started pursuing a career in art and taken these classes immediately. It would have saved me so much time and effort wasted trying to figure out how to grow as an artist on my own. What I do is pay for a month and watch all the videos and print out the handouts for the module (currently on portrait II), and then spend however long I need to get a good handle on it before I spend the 100$ for the next month. Also, if you have the cash to blow, you can spend extra money to get 1 on 1 coaching with teachers at the atelier.

I will note that it can get boring drawing spheres and still life all the time, so make sure you schedule time to draw stuff you love. Once you get into portrait and figure things get way more fun, but just be ready for that in the early stages.

Anyway, glad I could help at all! Feel free to PM me at any time, I have tons of resources I've hoarded over the years that can be helpful. Here are some links that might be helpful:

Here is a video of Jeff Watts drawing and answering questions, it will give you an idea of what his teaching style is like and who he is. Also the drawing is really good.

New Masters Academy is another great tool that has been huge for me. The anatomy and figure drawing courses are amazing. They aren't as structured as Watts, but can be very useful for when you have specific areas you want help for.

This book is superb for figure drawing. Also, this book is the equally amazing book on perspective. Also, a lot of books don't talk about drawing the clothed figure (which is pretty dumb considering most of the time, commercial art has to do with clothed people), which is why I also love this book. You are probably familiar with Bridgman's book, but if you don't have it - get it.

A lot of professional artists in many different industries (concept art, comics, film, animation, 3D, etc.) make gumroad tutorials for a decent price, here is a massive list of tons of these great tutorials.

If you want some inspiration while you work, I love listening to Creative Trek and Chris Oatley's Artcast. They both are mostly interviews with other professional artists and contain all sorts of wisdom and inspiration to help you out.

I have more, but I'll leave it there. I hope the best for you man! Keep up the hard work! Feel free to PM me for whatever reason.

u/Soliloquies87 · 1 pointr/MattePainting

I'm late to the party, but I made a cheat sheet for my boss niece last week: here's all the ressources I can think of to kick butts at matte painting.

The sites where we pay per month

Gnomon Online School
Super school of vfx in California. They have on their site a lot of tutorials from 8 to 20 hours to learn to make your own camera projections. You can either pay (expensive but worth it) for a private class with a teacher via Skype. Or you pay (cheaper) for a bank of tutorials.

private lessons
https://www.gnomon.edu/courses/online


the bank of tutorials
https://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/tutorials?tags[]=matte-painting


I recommend: All the tutorials of Dylan Cole (vol 1, 2,3), Camera Projection Techniques in Maya, Matte Painting Production techniques, etc.




Plural Sight (formerly Digital Tutors)


a site that has courses on a little everything. This site is very good when you want to learn new programs. Excellent serie on the 3D which becomes more and more present in the matte painting, and some tutorials


https://app.pluralsight.com/library/


related to 3D

Quick start to modeling in Maya (volume 1,2,3)
Professional Tips for Modeling Complex Shapes


related to matte painting

Photo manipulation and Clean Plating Fundamentals
Matte Painting Basic and the Static Camera Shot


Sites where we pay per tutorial (Gumroad, etc.)



The tutorials of Anthony Eftekhari

Good DMP tutorials that show you the latest techniques and how to do it step by step.


https://gumroad.com/anthonye

The tutorials of Eytan Zana

More concept art, but the main lines apply just as well to the DMP.

https://gumroad.com/eytanzana


Free sites and tutorials


Garrett Fry's blog

He also has a Facebook group that helps each other in DMP, it is THE technical reference for matte painting. His blog is full of technical stuff for camera projections (aka moving your matte painting). A treasure of information.
https://www.gfryart.com/blog



Other


TEXTURES! (Or can we find good textures to make DMP)


CGtexture

http://www.textures.com

Flickr (Matte Painting References)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tjframe/sets/72157605581901392/

Flickr (Matte Painting Resources)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dman3d2000/sets/72157629164518650/

Photobash.org (paying a card)

https://www.photobash.org/

Pictures of Jacek Pilarski

https://gumroad.com/jacekpilarski

Books (yes yes, it's a thing)

Digital Matte Painter Handbook

it's old, the drawings are ugly, the photoshop stuff in it is pure candy though. Full of stuff in DMP that I have never seen elsewhere but that is the basis of the trade. Still actual today. The matte painting of the castle in is also an excellent starting point if you start from scratch.

https://www.amazon.ca/Digital-Matte-Painting-Handbook/dp/0470922427/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1523975893&amp;amp;sr=1-1&amp;amp;keywords=Digital+Matte+Painting+Handbook

How to draw and How to Render

Scott Robertson, a big shot of concept art, shows the basics of traditional drawings, perspective, etc. An essential.

https://www.amazon.ca/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=pd_sim_14_4?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=GWB27RDDYF5E0JG7TTY0

https://www.amazon.ca/How-Render-fundamentals-shadow-reflectivity/dp/1933492961/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=K9W1RK5K9KVWMPY14EAE

Imaginative Realism and Color and Light

James Gurney is an illustrator who specializes in realistic fantasy artwork with traditional mediums, excellent cues on light and color

https://www.amazon.ca/Imaginative-Realism-Paint-Doesnt-Exist/dp/0740785508?th=1&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;source=googleshopping&amp;amp;locale=en-CA&amp;amp;tag=googcana-20&amp;amp;ref=pd_sl_2y2j9az9y9_e

https://www.amazon.ca/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=YCNYYJCTNJ4405KD1S6B

Nuke 101

We can make the projection of matte painting in Nuke or Maya. An excellent book for Nuke.

https://www.amazon.ca/Nuke-101-Professional-Compositing-Effects/dp/0321984129/ref=pd_sim_14_8?_encoding=UTF8&amp;amp;psc=1&amp;amp;refRID=FNST5YS1F7464SZY3QZV

u/agnosgnosia · 1 pointr/DCcomics

Not bad. The thing that jumps out to me that could be improved is the mallet. For one, the bottom dark line under the diamonds doesn't curve on the left at all. The two diamonds on the outside also look off. The left one should be more foreshortened. It just dawned on me how you could draw the construction lines to make this look better. Admittedly, this could have been done better if I had split the oval reference lines more equally, but the prinicpal is there to get you understanding how to make construction lines for the diamonds to look better. I just kind of eyeballed it.


This book, How to Draw by Scott Robertson, can give you more in depth instruction on how to draw shapes from different angles.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732

u/TMiracle · 1 pointr/leagueoflegends

Mmmm... it's hard to say really, I'm self-taught so my way of learning is most likely very inefficient. The few tips I can give you though is:
at the very beginning, just make drawing a consistent habit, draw whatever, but dedicate some time and try to draw daily. Little but consistent steps are much more powerful than ''drawing entire day once a week''.
fall in love with the process and don't care much about result, aka never compare yourself to others. Your drawings will suck, a lot, for a long time - and that's completely okay, because we all go through that. Comparing yourself to someone with years of experience will only demotimate you. This video perfectly illustrated what I mean: https://youtu.be/lRtV-ugIT0k
once you get into ha bit of drawing relatively often, you can try learning some fundamentals like anatomy/perspective. For those there are many resources online, and books.
AND PRACTICE - a lot, on paper, with pen, or wahtever you got, there's no such excuse ''I odn't have a tablet or fancy pen or whatever'', in fact most of your studies if not all, in the beginning should be on paper, before you get into digital things.

Books I recommend for a begginer:
Perspective: https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732
Anatomy: https://www.alexhays.com/loomis/ (these are free)
and this channel is absolutely amazing https://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV

When you start with basics, you will be just drawing spheres and cubes. Learning fundamentals is very different from actual illustrations - it's quite tedious and even boring, but it propels you forward fast. When it comes to drawing fun stuff tho - always question what, why, how it works and use references. Look at many other artists and question how and why they did the things they did. Once you get down to it - it becomes just pure science.

I'm not gonna go on anymore because it's quite a long post as it is, hope it helps in a way. I use photoshop, because I started with it and it's very powerful- tho it's very hard for a beginner to use, in you case I would probably start with ''paint tool sai''.

If you wanna follow me and learn more about me, you can follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/tmiracleart and the links in the stream description, as well as join my discord (link in the stream description).

u/Attemptingrepairs · 1 pointr/learnart

When you said Scott Robertson's How to Draw book you meant this?

u/my_pants_are_on_FlRE · 1 pointr/rocketbeans

http://www.amazon.de/How-Draw-Sketching-Environments-Imagination/dp/1933492732
http://www.amazon.de/How-Render-Fundamentals-Shadow-Reflectivity/dp/1933492961/

how to draw gibt einem die grundlagen wie man objekte/landschaften perspektivisch korrekt zeichnet bzw. konstruiert. how to render baut auf how to draw auf und zeigt einem wie man die linien mit farbe füllen muss. dazu gibts noch links auf seine website mit 30+ stunden videomaterial.

u/sixilli · 1 pointr/learnart

I would recommend How to Draw by Scott Robertson. He does lots of digital art but the book can easily be followed by using any medium of your liking. The book is filled with practical examples and knowledge. Many perspective books dive so deeply into the science they forget to show you how to use and apply it to your work. The book also comes with links to hidden videos to go with the book. Here is a video of him paging through the book. You can check out his other tutorials on that same youtube channel. His videos usually focus more on advanced subjects a bit past the basics but any skill level can learn from them.

u/dkoreo · 1 pointr/conceptart

Honestly mate, seems like you need to broaden your minds creative library. The best way to do this is to do a lot of studies of things from life and combined them with the things you love. So if you want to design cool vehicles then you need to do studies from vehicles we have around us today. Best way to learn this is to use your perspective knowledge and draw those vehicles/buildings. Scott Robertson honestly breaks this process down the best. And if you don't already have it I suggest picking up How to Draw, by Scott Robertson. https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1541794749&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=scott+robertson He goes pretty in-depth on how to create vehicles and buildings with perspective.


Also check out Feng Zhu on YouTube. He talks about how to go about expanding your creative library. And being able to pull from it when concepting.

&amp;#x200B;

Hope this somewhat helps. Good luck with your art journey mate!

u/Tchernoi · 1 pointr/Art

https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732

I'd also recommend looking through the gnomon workshop for lectures about perspective, color theory, anatomy, composition, positive negative space, tangent lines, etc etc etc.

Art isn't an exact science but it's definitely close.

u/Halzman · 1 pointr/learnart

Well, I've gone ahead and picked up the recommended How To Draw book, since that seems to cover primarily what I'm trying to get better at (that flip through you did was perfect!).

I really enjoyed the advice you gave throughout your videos, like only committing to what you know you can do, and the risk/reward perspective. You make quite a few compelling points!

As far as topics - I've always marveled at how an artist can take a blank canvas, draw an outline, and then add details to bring them to life. I have enough technical skill to make a decent copy of an existing image, but I could never start an original concept from scratch without just creating generic stuff. Mentally I have an idea on features or style, but I'm never sure on how to incorporate them.

I guess my question would be - How do you 'design' the uniqueness to an idea? How do you figure out what kind of character to give it?

u/weenie131 · 1 pointr/stevenuniverse

Sorry this is really not going to be helpful but I'm going to say it anyways. It's mostly practice. The more you try it, the more easily your eye spots it out. And by practice, I don't just mean look at stuff and try to find the shapes in it. Draw it out, build stuff out of geometric shapes or go over your drawings and fill it in with geometric shapes. If you search up analytical figure drawing, it basically takes this concept and applies it to the human figure. If you really want to go in depth, a book that really helped me with the technical aspect of art was the book, How to Draw. I'll link it at the bottom.
I think a lot of technical drawing is mostly retraining the things your eyes notice as well as muscle memory. If you practice enough, you'll get there. Some people like to say drawing is a talent, but the real talent is work ethic. If you want to get better, and you work at it, you will.

Link to analytical figure drawing example:
http://theartreferences.tumblr.com/post/33190998640/analytical-figure-drawing-week-6-shoulder
Link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1422224291&amp;amp;sr=8-2&amp;amp;keywords=how+to+draw

u/xensoldier · 1 pointr/conceptart

Yup I highly recommend you get his newest book "How To Draw", fantastic book.

u/Ophichius · 1 pointr/fo4

If you've got the time and resources to spare, try making maquettes. You can get modeling clay fairly cheap, and it can be incredibly helpful to throw together a quick maquette, chuck it under a lamp, and see what happens with the light.

If you want a great pair of books on light and form by a master painter, check out James Gurney's Color and Light and Imaginative Realism. His blog is worth a read as well, it's always informative and interesting.

If you want a more technical approach to lighting, How to Render is a fantastic technical examination of how light behaves on various surfaces. The associated How to Draw is an excellent technical book on perspective. Both are a bit dry and clinical, but quite excellent.

Anything by Andrew Loomis is also well worth picking up.

u/syn-nine · 1 pointr/drawing

I made a little gif to explain how to derive a perspective grid using a 60 degree cone of vision. I thought you guys might appreciate it. It's based on Scott Robertson's How to Draw book:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732

Steps:

  1. Draw a border for the scene.
  2. Locate the horizon line.
  3. Draw a circle that encompasses most of the view, centered on the center vanishing point.
  4. Find the Station Point by extending lines from the edges of the circle to the middle of the Field of View such that the angle between the lines is the width of the FOV (60 degrees).
  5. Locate your first Vanishing Point.
  6. Locate your second Vanishing Point (90 degrees from VP1 measured from SP).
  7. Locate the Diagonal Vanishing Point (45 degrees from VP1 measured from SP).
  8. Use VP1+VP2+DVP to draw a grid of perspective squares.

    I'm on Drawcrowd if you want to say hi: https://drawcrowd.com/kennedy31415
u/baimo · 1 pointr/ottawa

ahoy!

If you're finding it hard to make time for in person classes, there are tons of resources online that might suit you better for the time being. Youtube is an awesome resource, I really enjoy Aaron Blaise's channel but there are tons of other free lessons and tutorials available.

Tumblr is actually a really good place to find all kinds of art blogs/refs/tutorials. Even Reddit has some drawing sections where you can get critique from others!

Lynda.com you follow along with lessons and they provide working files you can can download.

FZD School of Design

Level Up!

Other than that just practice!
These books are a pretty good jumping off point if you want to just get a strong understanding of foundations.

Sorry for the long post, I likes me some drawing yar har :)