boo

[Adam Lina]

As far as doing gesture and anatomy, I think it depends on you. Some people need to focus on one thing at a time for a period of time before tackling differing concepts. I think too much bouncing around will prevent you from digging deeper into a subject and not let it soak in. Anatomy is really important to learn but more so is proportions and structure. Especially if your aim to to draw figures from imagination.

Im leaning away from recommending Hogarth lately. His books have good information. Dont get me wrong. I think his style has too many curved lines and almost no straights. Good designers balance curves against straights. Bridgman and Frazetta are great examples of balancing straights against curves. Michael Hampton's book has some nice introductory anatomy break downs though. His approach would blend well with Force if you wanted to study more anatomy along side gesture.

For a more complete comprehensive book on anatomy I would go with Elliot Goldfinger's Human Anatomy for Artist's. Sarah Simblet's Anatomy for the Artist is less in depth but has gorgeous drawings on muscles. I really like what Proko is doing as well with his anatomy series. Starting with an accurate mannequin of the skeleton first is vital for learning muscles insertion and origins. If you dont know the insertion and origins properly your muscles wont have the right flex or stretch to them.