I actually have both 9 heads and Fashion Sketchbook. Sketchbook is more about clothing and 9 heads focus on the figure. They have some really cool figures in there. I was surprised I could draw them too. I also have a few other books on templates as well. Some also have a good amount of rendering and all that good stuff too.
Drawing DOES take a lot of practice. My problem is that I am a perfectionist. If my figure does not look right I DO get angry, but I have learned from that and not to get too angry when something does not come out the way I imagined it lol. Surprisingly when I first began to draw again I sucked like crap!!! Nobody could tell me I was good because they would be flat out lying!! By the time that semester ended I could not believe how my hand got sooo free. Trust practice does help. You can also get figure ideas from magazines. You can look at the shape and form. Using a Croquis does not make someone less talented either. I used to see if I could draw some things from the books just for fun lol. Funny because I drew stuff from 9heads and Fashion Sketchbook and it looked exactly like the book. WOW!! So practice. It does take a lot of time, and a lot of practing. Just keep drawing it and you will get better. And besides I am not trying to be a fashion illustrator so I don't need pretty looking pictures and stuff. I know this is a Fashion Illustration thread. One thing that I cannot get on a drawing no matter how hard I try is the shoes. LOL. Terrible!! I think everything else is fine.
I remember when I first started I was too busy getting angry and upset by trying to perfect the croquis I barely even focused on the designer. Which is why I would rather have some Croquis so I don't have to get upset but now that I have a free hand I don't really get upset anymore. I am not perfect but I am very, very happy with the progress I did make over the course of a few months. Nice.... But the only thing is that I have not drawn in so long and I don't remember how the heck I drew a lot of the designs I did draw. If I could only find them I can see... DAMNIT!!
I still don't have the time to be fighting with a croquis lol. I would rather have a croquis already. I am beginning to think about mejust doing my stuff free handed. I dunno. I have also heard that some designers do you croquis. I have heard some designers do not sketch but drape their designs, and don't even get me started on the ones who have a designer under their behinds and just give their supposedly ideas or "vision" to them and have THEM draw it out, while they take credit for it. We all know who they are too. That being said I think there are a million and one ways to get out your ideas. The thing is having your own style and being able to bring it to life.
THE master of figure drawing and applied anatomy. All of his books are out of print, but accessible online if you look hard enough. How can you design clothes without understanding the underlying skeleton, muscles and skin that moves with and against fabric? I've always had issues with the idea of an 8 head figure, especially when it has to be made to fit.
