Chuck Lukacs

My attraction to this book started with the cover, it's an art related book, so I want eye candy. Luckily it didn't stop with the cover, the content is beautifully presented and there are a lot of images. From the 144 pages this book has, about only 5 don't have illustrations (and I'm counting the index and title page as two of them).

This book is meant to teach you how to create original characters (humans and creatures) by paying attention to emotions and their different facial expressions, behaviors, archetypes, age, costume design and cultural background. Every page is filled with drawing lessons so that you can conveying attitudes, emotions and overall make your characters more interesting and accurate to what you want to transmit. It also has mini lessons on drawing basics: human anatomy, folds and fabric, drawing from life and reference, silhouetting and exercises to hone your skills.

A new use for your RPG dices

What makes this book special, is that it incorporates gaming!. There are boxes all over the book with themed, enumerated lists (for example, emotions, expressions, actions, occupations). Each one says the type and number of dices you will need for each given box and by combining different boxes you can create random characters that will challenge your creativity and make you explore new possibilities. For those of you who have enjoyed role play games and want to create original characters, you are going to love this approach. It can be a great way to have fun and create drawing challenges with other people and at the same time develop your skills.

*I requested an eArc from F W Media – Impact via NetGalley (Thank you!) and then bought my copy via Wordery.… (más)

This book is something of a drawing game, but is as much a how-to as any other. It shows drawing techniques for various creatures styles and genres through sci-fi and fantasy. The guides tend to focus on individual parts like appendages, eyes, face types, etc., since the intention of the game is to mix body parts to create weird creatures.

The "game" is fairly simple. The book comes with several numbered tables and you roll different sized dice to determine what sort of creature you're going to draw. For example, roll a 6 sided die to determine animal type (eg. Sea life), then a 12 sided die to determine what specific type (sea life - shell), then combine with another set (eg. Veggie - fungi - lichen). The tables also include earth/mineral and technology. It's a fun idea, though I find I'm more inclined to pick my own mixes and work with that. It's a good book for working in a different style.… (más)