Customer Reviews

The Art of Figure Drawing

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Bruce Bain's excellent review of my book makes very valid points. My book is certainly NOT a complete guide to figure drawing, whether classical or otherwise. I wish I could contact him personally, and tell him so; judging from the quality of his review, it would be a very good conversation.

The only point worth addressing is how little control an author has over any North Light publication. I did not title the book, let alone subtitle it "a complete guide to classical figure drawing". My own title was "The Language of Figure Drawing".

I was given 144 pages in which to make what points I could. This does not excuse any incompleteness here; no one forced me to sign the contract. But that contract is not unique, and Mr. Bain would be well advised to bear these things in mind. There are plenty of things in the book that are my own fault, and that I wish I could redo. (There will be a second edition, in which some of these are indeed addressed.)

There are a lot of ways to teach drawing. I make no apologies for the methodology I used in my book. I have been teaching figure drawing for years, and the methods employed in the book have helped a lot of people. The book makes what I consider to be some excellent points, some of which have never been addressed elsewhere, to my knowledge. (The chapter on The Rule of Tipped Cylinders is a good example.)

I hope someday to do a really complete book, but this would require some more space. In the meantime, I do recommend the book, as well as quite a few others. (North Light left out a reading list which contained quite a few of these.)

It has been a great pleasure to have my book read, and commented on, by people of Mr. Bain's calibre.

I think the book's well worth the price, incomplete as it may be.

If you can only afford one book, try "George Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life". Shortly before his death, the great comic book illustrator Gil Kane told me he was just beginning to grasp Bridgman. It's a book you'll live with, and feed upon for the rest of your life.

As an amateur who loves to draw, I've read quite a few books on the subject, and spent numerous hours in life drawing (i.e. from a live model) sessions. Clem Robins' book is by far one of the best out there.

First of all, Mr. Robins' example drawings are some of the best I've seen in this kind of book, each of them expressing the model's unique gesture and personality with a surprising economy of means. That kind of skill level is not easy to come by. I find myself going back to the examples just to remind myself of how compelling an image of the human figure can be crafted with just a few simple drawing tools.

The explanatory text is easy to follow and full of gems of information, and gives clear examples of how to approach a live drawing in several different mediums. The nuts and bolts, as wells as the subtleties, of producing a convincing figure drawing are difficult to convey in any format, and I feel that Clem Robins book meets the challenge admirably.

I've been involved in figure drawing for about three years, hardly an expert. Still I found that this book contained information I've not encountered elsewhere or in other guides to figure drawing. ( I have a shelf full of them )Some of the ideas the author presents have changed my understanding of what it is I am trying to accomplish in my drawing. I recommend it to anyone trying to come to terms with 'classical' drawing style. People more into avant garde may find it somewhat lacking in passion, but thats just the style of drawing presented.

If one read the introduction to Clem Robin's book you'd notice who he studied under, and why his concepts are "borrowed" However, explanations can't exactly be plagiarized, so the same concepts would be repeated in not only his book but many other books. There are rules to figure drawing that has been repeated over and over.

So saying this, I enjoyed the book because Robin's explanations were UNDERSTANDABLE. If you're simply looking at the illustrations like Hogarth, you can learn, but sometimes it takes a better understanding when the author tells you the ideas behind the concepts. Many of the books I have such as Bridgman's and Hogarths, are great concepts in their illustrative approach, but rather hard to read. Some of the language is dated and in such a cold mechanical approach, it's harder to grasp what is being said.

His notes on lighting and showing how to work with shading was EXTREMELY helpful. I also like the fact he had some illustrations on overweight people as well.

There won't be that one anatomy book that solves all, but I really do enjoy life drawing books so it is interesting to see each author's take and how well they can explain the concepts. I'm sure there are people that will look for more beautiful illustrations, which is fine, but sometimes ti's great to read what it takes to make said art instead of simply copying it. That helps develop your own style.

The first thing that really impressed me about this book when I began poring over it was the way that he relates established ideas of planes, perspective, rendering, and shading to the human figure - something that never *entirely* happened in my life drawing classes. But what has affected me most profoundly is how he describes, and with his drawings thoroughly demonstrates, how to use the line quality of the hatching to describe the contour, shading, and texture of a given surface. Nothing new by any means, but it is presented with such thoroughness and clarity here that one can very easily see how it all serves and simplifies the task of drawing a figure. Beforehand I was always so concerned about proper proportions, lines, and shading (not to mention the clock) that my drawings, although accurate, still had a haphazardness that I couldn't shake and now I know why and what to do about it. That alone was worth the price of admission.

This certainly isn't the only book you'll need if you want to learn figure drawing - you'll need at least one good anatomy book as well as books dealing more thoroughly with your medium(s) of choice, but it is an excellent introduction for making the transition from drawing to figure drawing and is one I plan to work from for some time.

As an art student I've been reading as many drawing books as I can get my hands on. As far as beginning figure drawing books go this is the best that I've read.It has the most useful information, is the best written and has a wide range of illustrated examples.Mr. Robins writes clearly and doesn't assume that the reader has any prior knowledge of the subject. He covers the basics systematically and throughly, giving helpful tips along the way.But what I like most about this book are the author's drawn examples. They run the gamut for quick gesture to finished drawings done in a variety of media from pencil to ink wash. Also, you can tell that these drawings are there to help the reader, not to show off the author's skills. These are true "working" drawings done, for the most part, for information. If you're looking to begin to draw from the figure, I can't recommend a better starting point than this book.

Robins text covers just about everything needed for beginners to intermediate-level figure artists. The illustrations run from rough sketches to carefully shaded realistic depictions, providing examples of what can be attained quickly or with continued effort. A good book overall.

I cannot completely agree with Mr. Bain assessment. Complete is a relative term. Upon reading this book, it was my interpretation that the author expected the student/reader to have a certain familiarity to anatomy. This book successfully ties together the constructive aspects of Bridgeman, and the gestural nature of Nicolades to create a more refined drawing.

Certainly, there was more I had hoped to see in the text. Myself enjoying Mr. Robins work, I truely desired for a more intimate view over his shoulder, so to speak. But for a guide to tying up loose ends in figure drawing techniques this book is a success.

I like the twist this artist put on presenting how basic shapes, line, tone etc. effect the figure. The action poses and unusual angles make the book even more interesting. But, what I think stands out most is the simple everyday language. No need to burden the mind with technical terms. He makes a simple statement about the technique and lets the drawing communicate the rest. You just can't get any simplier than that! Well drawn and worth adding to your collection.

I found the book in our local library and borrowed it home. Being mostly self taught, it has helped me understand some of the techniques and 'rules' in figure drawing.

As I have difficulties finding the book in a bookshop, I contacted Mr Robins for information and he was humble about his book and his work. I copied of one of his drawings and emailed him. He gave me some good feedbacks, resources and directions to other great artists to learn from. To my surprise, he told me that he is less trilled with formulas and concepts as he gets older. This book was written when he was teaching, so the text basically enshrined what he believed and taught at that time (10 years ago), the theories were based on formulas and concepts of the teachers who taught him. He said the way to learn to draw well is 'to hook up with a cadre of really first rate painters' and learn from them.

Anyway, the book is very useful to me personally, that's why I finally bought it after much search.