Tales of the Snail Continued...

Paul M. Smith was "on fire" at this point in his career.

AFter becoming a full-blown star of the comic book world with his run on the Uncanny X-men, Paul shifted gears and wanted to do Doctor Strange, a character for which he had an affinity.

It started off well enough but after a couple of issues Mr. Smith 

was off the book for eight issues and then returned to do seven more, raggedly spaced out, before leaving the title for good.

Such a crying shame!

Anyway, during this time, he appeared at the Silver Snail to do a some signing, some sketching and some promotion,

for the revamped Dr. Strange.

I remember that he was a very personable guy, easy to talk to and full of information about learning to draw.

It was the first time that I had heard the name Andrew Loomis 

and I soon headed out looking for one of his books.

I was incredibly lucky and found a new copy of 

Figure Drawing for All it's Worth

at Britnell's Bookshop, then situated on 

Yonge Street above Bloor Street, a space that is now home to a Starbucks Coffee House.

Little did I realize then, that it would take me another 

fifteen years to gather together all 

six volumes in the Loomis canon.

They are wonderful books, full of information that will make a dedicated practicer a better artist and it has been a great joy to see Titan Books reissue them in recent years.

In an aside, interestingly, I bought the 

least well appreciated volume, 

The Eye of the Painter and the Elements of Beauty,

from John Biernat,

the owner of The Dragon Lady comic shop but

I bought it from him at an Old Paper Sale at 

the St. Lawrence Market!