Isabel Pohjanen

Media Literature 2020

Essay 4

Art Fundamentals by 3DTotal Publishing

On my journey towards becoming more solid with my fundamentals, I ended up choosing Art
Fundamentals by 3DTotal Publishing as the fourth book I read for the course. I originally bought this
book last autumn when I began my journey with the fundamentals of art, but I never finished it or
read it through before I bought more books, so this one stayed on my shelf almost untouchable. I
figured that this course would be the perfect time to go through the book in detail. The reason I
chose this book last autumn was, because I wanted to have a book that would go through all of the
fundamentals so I could have everything in one book, it would be portable and nice to take along for
studying.

Also I have to say that I was not yet convinced that my skills in the fundamentals department was so
lacking as it truly is, and I wanted to get something that wasn’t too expensive. I also did not originally
feel like going through several books. I was out for a quick fix of a sort. My former art lead also
stated this to and said that this book looks like a good summary, but not the best place to learn
when you are starting from the beginning. After having my ego crashed, I went along with the advice
and read something else. I thought that now would be a good time to go back to this one and see if I
would get more out of it this time around.

Once again I have to compare this book to the ones I have read before, but not because it is similar
to Framed Perspective or How to Draw. Art Fundamentals did not really have any exercises I could
follow along compared to the ones I studied before, so the reading experience was in a way more
faster. The faster aspect wasn’t necessarily good though, since the concepts are really glossed over
shortly and fast to fit as much information and topics in the book as possible. The knowledge was
presented in an easy to read format though, so that was a plus. But after reading from books that
showed you how things are done, this one felt very different and alien since the examples were all
just looking at a picture and analyzing it. Of course it is one of an artists most important tools, but for
anyone who isn’t already on intermediate level on fundamentals at least, the book would be too
broad and move too fast. I felt like all of the topics could have been went through in more detail, but
to be fair the information was good and beneficial. It’s not as if the book was useless, it just is more
condensed.

To start from the beginning, the book began with colorand light. Color has never been a strength of
mine to be exact, I feel like I can see what looks good but producing good palettes has never been
my forte. Light I have considered myself better with. The pages started by going through what are
shadow and light, but after reading about shadow forming in the previous books, I instantly notice
that the book does not teach you how to form them, only the names and wider concepts.
Considering I already have those instructed in other books, it didn’t really bother me or anything
since I can always study it from another books. But if I didn’t know the importance of the knowledge
already, the book wouldn’t really help me find it. But besides that I do think that the chapter did a
good job in summarizing everything. I just can’t help but to compare the book to James Gurney’s
critically acclaimed Color and Light, which goes through the same things, but in better detail and
with more patience. I am planning to study my color theory eventually from Color and Light, but Art
Fundamentals does give nice spreads that sum up what the basics are.

The book also goes through composition in a way that in my opinion was clear and better than the
first part. Composition is something I know the very basics of, but I think that Art Fundamentals did a
good job in putting many concepts into a small digestable nutshell. The anatomy-part of the book
was reasonably wide and it presented a lot of good information on how the body works and why
things happen as they do. Also the images drawn to find different muscles and their names were one
of the best I have seen in a while. I am actually on a mission to learn and memorize the human
anatomy, but I am not quite there yet. The book has good insight on the human anatomy in a
summary and I would return to it again. Most likely will once I am done with learning about
rendering first. The human body is such a complex system that I feel like I need to be further before I
can truly benefit from learning the muscles and bones by their names.

I follow 3DTotal Publishment and all of the books they push out, I will keep an eye out if they come
out with a book only on learning anatomy. I have not yet moved in my studies to studying
expressions, and the pages the book had on the subject were interesting. Expressions are hard, and
a big part of transferring emotions and mood to the viewer. I would have liked to see more
examples, since the ones they had were solid.

I was actually thinking that maybe this book could have worked better as a series, where each topic
would have had their own book. After reading the book I did get over my initial disappointment,
since the book is not meant to be read as a beginner even though it advertises itself as something for
artists of all levels. Like I have stated many times, it is a summary. A really good summary, but not
really the place to start from. Having some practice with other books helped me form a lot of some
important skills that were presented in Art Fundamentals, and for future learning it will nicely work
as a piece from which I can check what could I learn next.

I would like to keep myself on a steep learning curve now that I have found my excitement towards
learning, and having everything inbetween the pages of a single book is not necessarily a bad thing
as long as I don’t try to crutch myself with it due to laziness. But I doubt that will be my first
problem, since I have already established a better working morale for myself than I used to have last
autumn. Mostly because I am currently starting to reap the benefits of working hard, I don’t really
feel the need to steer towards quick fixes anymore. I certainly recognise that this used to be a
problem for me, and I can see that all around me as an artist. It’s hard to accept that you will have to
work hard and that the quick fix will actually only get you on a longer ride. But I feel like I have
crossed that bridge.

I will most likely keep this book as an addition to my collection and I believe that in the future I could
use this eventually as a tool to go through all of the fundamentals in a small amount of time
compared to reading several books on each topic. But as a student I would not really recommend it
for studying to be exact, I think this book is best used as a reference while working and checking up
something. I think that in the future I will use the book for inspiration and as a check-up list when I
am making and planning bigger projects.

Art Fundamentals as a whole is inspiring and I did already use it to be able to find more books about
composition, since it did present me with new concepts that I didn’t really have any information
about or a name to call them. The reference gallery at the end is also a joy to look at and I think that
analyzing others work is an important asset in learning, since you need to surround yourself with
good art to become a better artist. Many of the artists I have learned to recognise based on their
work, since after I bought this book I have also become a more active member of Artstation, a
community created for professional artists. I follow many of the artists that contributed for the book
and looking through the reference gallery was one of the best things about the book and one of the
most insightful.
Relating to the previous topic about reference galleries and studies, I think I have started enjoying
art in a less vain way too. I used to get sort of jealous looking at good art before, but now I just feel
more secure knowing that all of those images are result of practice and dedication. And I am on my
way too, now that I am more dedicated and passionate. I have also become more resilient with
learning and I have formed an actual plan to become better, which is a result of trial and error.

The two last chapters with the reference gallery and art gallery ended up being maybe the most
inspiring for me. I was expecting to learn about the fundamentals when I started reading the book,
but mostly I think that I found inspiration and also short insight on what fundamentals were the
most important ones to bring each piece to life. I was not really expecting this to be the most
interesting part for me in the book since I have been on an phase of intense dedication towards art
fundamentals and the technical aspects. In a way it was a breath of fresh air to take a break and just
enjoy beautiful art for a while, since I have been only been focusing on technicalities. I think It might
actually beneficial for me to go through a few art books that are not instructive after I am done with
the last book I have planned to study for this course.

But looking from my current mindset of technical accuracy and efficiency with books related to my
future profession, the book does lack example exercises. You can only get so much out of it if you
don’t already master many of the fundamentals before starting. Gladly I feel like I am on my way, so
in a way Art Fundamentals is more useful to me now than it was in the beginning of my journey with
the fundamentals. I did originally have some second thoughts on whether I already knew too much
and if the book would be interesting or beneficial to me, but as it turns out, you can never learn
enough about the basics. The information in the book was all rock solid even though it was
condensed. The book isn’t bad in any means and I think that as I move forwards in my career, I will
be checking things from here again. I’m just happy that I built a good base somewhere else before I
dove right into this one.