A Treatise on Muscular Action

I found a copy of this 1794 book, A Treatise on Muscular Action.  This was a pioneering work on exercise.  Apparently the author, John Pugh, invented apparatus for strengthening the muscles. The book doesn't illustrate the apparatus but it is mentioned in the testimonials at the beginning of the book.

What it does illustrate in elaborate detail, with engravings by Thomas Kirk, is the structure of muscles under tension and the grouping of muscles working with and against each other.

It is these engravings that are interesting to artists both interested in figure drawing and in action comics or animation.

You can see more illustrations from the book which is available as an ebook at Figure-Drawings.com

The illustrations compare favorably to the work of such artists as Burne Hogarth, who has an equally strong line and way of illustrating groups of muscles in action.

More links about Perspective Drawing

I came across this web page: Spherical Perspective by Rob Adams. I explains why the traditional linear rules of perspective are not sufficient to describe the way we really see things, especially the way we see things in panoramic view.

The site reminded me of the work of one of my teachers, Rackstraw Downes.  Here's a site with a number of examples of his work: Simplistic Art - The works of Rackstraw Downes. You can get a book of Rackstraw's work:  Rackstraw Downes by Sanford Schwartz, Robert Storr, Rackstraw Downes.

Finally, I came across examples from an old book on  perspective drawing: "PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE - or Perspective made Easie" published in 1670 by Joseph Moxon. Here are two  examples from the

 book plus an interesting pop-up illustrating the observer looking though the picture plane  which is illustrated in so many ways in Traite de Perspective a l'usage des Artistes.

Find a copy of Practical Perspective at Abebooks.com .

Enter the search term "Perspective made Easie."

Perspective Drawing

New ebook on the practice and science of drawing in perspective.  
Traite de Perspective a l'usage des Artistes

This book was the standard text on perspective for the 18th century.  It was written by the Astronomer and artist Edme-Sébastien Jeaurat.

It's in French but the engravings are so intelligently designed and so clearly executed that even if you don't read French you can understand the principles that are being explained. 

Each illustration has a page of explanatory text, sometimes the text exceeds the length of the facing page, in that case the engraving is repeated so that the student can look at the engraving while studying the text.

I have a long term goal of translating the text, if you are interested in collaborating on this - I must use web-based translation services and then try to make some sense of what comes of that - I'd like to hear from you.

Computer drafting programs make turning drawings into convincing perspective almost easy but I am convinced that a basic understanding is necessary to anyone who wants to draw well, regardless of the medium.

Traite de Perspective a l'usage des Artistes

by Edme-Sebastien Jeaurat
Ingenieur - Geographe du Roi.

Costume Design and Illustration

I found this book, published in 1918,  which references some of the anatomy and drawing books available as ebooks.

From Costume design and illustration By Ethel Traphagen

"There are some books which may help the ambitious student in the life
class to observe and impress on the mind fundamental facts which it is
believed most life-class teachers will agree in thinking extremely useful.
Among these are Dunlop's Anatomical Diagrams, Figure Drawing by
Hatton, Anatomy in Art by J. S. Hartley, Richter, Marshall or Duval, and
Drawing the Human Figure by J. H. Vanderpoel. If the student is studying without an instructor, Practical Drawing, by Lutz, will be found helpful."

ETHEL H. TRAPHAGEN. - NEW YORK. 1918.

How to Paint Watercolors by David Cox

David Cox, the English Watercolorist, published a book on how to paint watercolors in 1822 12 years after he was elected President of the Associated Artists of Water Colour. in 1812 he was elected an associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colour and a member the following year. He exhibited there most years until his death.

He was born in 1783 and studied drawing in his youth. He was apprenticed to a man named Fiedler in 1798 and learned to paint miniatures. He worked as an assistant scene painter in the theater from the time of Fiedler's death until 1808. After that he pursued his career as a landscape painter and drawing master.

This combination served him well in preparing his book.

An ebook of his book is available here: 
A Treatise on Landscape Painting in Water Colours

Steve Brodner Draws the Presidential Candidates

In this series of videos New Yorker cartoonist Steve Brodner draws caricatures of the presidential candidates in his inimitable style. You can see him develop the finished watercolor from the first sketch to the final touches.
See all the Youtube Videos of Steve Brodner Drawing the candidates

The Theory and Practice of Color

This book, published in 1918, is one of the early descriptions of the use of pigment.

It includes clear descriptions of primary, binary, and complimentary colors as well as tints, shades and grayed colors.

The best features are the charts of colors which are hand painted onto separate pieces of paper and glued to the pages in the original book making the colors vivid and true and easy to understand.

The Theory and Practice of Color by Bonnie E. Snow and Hugo B. Froehlich