Fred Fixler - Brandon House Covers

Fred Fixler nació en Hungría, aunque su familia emigró a Estados Unidos siendo él muy joven, y se crió en el Bronx. Después de seguir otras carreras , en la década de 1950, el Sr. Fixler centró su atención en el arte. Asistió a The Art Students League de Nueva York , y más tarde estudió cubismo en la Académie Julian en París. En la década de los 60 y principios de los 70, Fixler firma anónimamente portadas subidas de tono para las colecciones de Brandon House, un pequeño sello Pulp, editor de novelas para caballeros. Entre los coleccionistas de estos libros, las portadas de Fixler son los más valoradas. por la habilidad empleada en su ejecución. Fixler, más que otros compañeros de profesión, era capaz para capturar el trasfondo psicológico de las historias. 

Tras una exitosa carrera como ilustrador, trabajando para clientes como MGM, Coca Cola Continental Airlines, American International o Peterson Publishing entre otros, siguió el camino de la enseñanza. Fue profesor en The Brandes Art Institute y el The California Art Institute, influyendo en una nueva generación de dibujantes que beben de sus enseñanzas hasta hoy...

Su ex-alumno Greg Pro ha creado un sitio web que muestra algunos de sus trabajos. Fixler se refería a los estudiantes de sus primeras clases como 'Cave 22'. En la sección homónima de la página web, se pueden encontrar las notas de las clases de Fixler. A continuación se presenta una muestra de esas notas que se pueden encontrar visitando Cave 22.

Fixler's Law 

Taken from the art school journal of Morgan Weistling... 

"EXAGGERATE: If it's sort of straight, make it very straight. If it's slightly curved, make it very curved. It's better to have an over exaggerated drawing, than a boring unexaggerated drawing."

"When drawing a pretty girl, she needs to look like a pretty girl right away, in your drawing. Making her look pretty later will never work."

"Did I ever tell you the story about Lenny Steckler?..."

"RELATIONSHIPS: The big relationships will create the smaller ones. Everything has a counterpoint relationship. If you draw one side of the arm, you already know how and where to draw the other side without even looking."

"SIMPLIFY!!!"

"CHEAT and look at the model."

"Why don't you just tie your hands behind your back and make it even harder."

"Fixler's Law: The iris is always half the size you drew it."

"It's the edge that counts, not the shading inside."

"Get the big shape."

"When drawing a pretty girl, she needs to look like a pretty girl right away in your drawing. Making her look pretty later will never work."

"Look for the long lines."

"Halftones are always lighter than they appear."

"Long straight lines are one of the biggest helps. If you see it, draw it and judge other angles by it."

"Draw the negative shapes."

"Draw as though you have a sculptor friend who is going to use your drawing as his only reference to sculpt from."

"When you do a bad drawing, try to figure out everything that is wrong with it. When you do a good drawing, try to figure out everything that is good about it."

"Draw the arm with one long flowing line. Then add the details along that line as though you were "stringing pearls"

"Movement and direction of object is determined by the 1st line. Character is always determined by the 2nd line and is parallel and tapering."

"It's not that the nose is wrong, but it's the whole head that's off. Get the overall shape of the head before you start worrying about individual parts."

"When your drawing is not going well, DON'T QUIT! That's the most important time to stick with it and fight it through. You quit too easy. The more fights you have the better you get and the less you will have."

"Stop drawing the dark shapes. Draw the light shapes. Better to get correct light shapes and bad dark shapes rather than the other way around."

"Never attempt to copy, there are plenty of people for that."

©Fred Fixler website
via Pulp Covers

The Reilly Method - Fred Fixler classroom handouts

The Reilly Method - Fred Fixler classroom handouts