Customer Reviews

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist (Galaxy Books)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Copyright 1951? Wow, what a stimulating discovery, and what fun! Besides the skeletal and musculature illustrations, "Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist" is full of Peck's own drawings of basic anatomical features. These are not just the "final" drawings, like the master prints in Hale, but the beginning "rough sketches". I find this delightful because every beginner needs some inspirational guidance in drawing's first steps. A simple rough sketch of a nose, with shading; or bones drawn as a simple hinge joint, an arm or leg.... Peck's general reduction of the human figure to basic shapes is of inestimable help. The reader may just find himself saying, "Hey, I can do THAT!!!" And that is the wonderful thing about PECK's book.

Peck has impeccable credentials and must be compared to Robert Beverly Hale. Peck's is not merely an alternate duplication of the same material Hale covers. There is a 'personal' touch in Peck; but the problem with any/all anatomy books, for beginners, is that they are simply intimidating, in their detail, their precision, their absolute realism. PECK overcomes this anatomical intimidation. I would venture that PECK ought to be included in at least the first several "drawing" books that one acquires. Sometimes it seems that several pages offer more practical instruction to a new student than entire chapters in the books coming out in recent years with gimmicky titles.

"Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist," in combination with any beginning book on figure drawing is a must. With Famous Artist's School, Willy Pogany, Walt Reed, Jack Hamm, Viktor Perard and similar instruction, any ...................
book-buyer / beginning artist will find themselves advancing steadily. I rate this in the top 4 of figure drawing books for the beginner.

The chapter on "Distinctions of Age, Sex, And Race" is highly useful. PECK may be in danger of getting shoved aside with time and the publication of new pablum texts containing nothing new or vital; but PECK has written a timeless text that commands respect. CARPE DIEM [Seize the day!] I rate this book a very deserved 5 stars*

This anatomy book covers areas of the body which other books of its type overlook. If you need to draw a knee, this book tells you how. It contains some photographs of models to give a visual reference from where the drawings were derived. If you are looking for photographs for reference, this may not be your book. The poses are straight forward and simple, giving a basic view at the human figure. It is an excellent book to have on the shelves. I own a large number of anatomy books, some sketck oriented, some photographic. This is by far the most used of my collection. I highly recommend it.

This atlas of human anatomy is unlike any other 'anatomy for artists' I've ever seen; it is by far the best. It is a wealth of information about the human body. Pecks book unpacks the human body as the three dimensional and dynamic structure that it is. He covers the physics of how the body is built how it moves, grows, ages, gains weight and the distinctions of race. This book utilizes many types of drawings, paintings, photographs, and diagrams to illustrate the human body, AND it explains every muscle, the derivation of its latin name, its origin, insertion and action.

Length:: 0:27 Mins

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck is an anatomy reference book.

It covers everything from bones, to muscles to topics like fat, veins, hair, age, sex, race and expression. There are some photos for reference as well. The writeup is descriptive and simple to understand. The examples are well illustrated and clearly labeled. It's pretty comprehensive.

While it also has some figure drawing tips and instructions, it certainly is not as comprehensive as dedicated figure drawing books. Here, it's on the approach to drawing certain parts. There's not much on posing the figure.

I see this book get mentioned a lot on art forums online, for good reasons. It's useful and very affordable.

This book's recommended to beginner and intermediate artists.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

This book is fantastic. I have not seen (ever) a better description of human anatomy, bodily motion and the methodology for capturing both in artistic media. This book describes every detail of the human anatomy from multiple angles.

In the section describing the bones, it shows you how the bones look for all ages and each sex. It shows you how the bones move, and work together. It shows you what the bones look like from the underside.

In the sections covering muscles, it shows you how fat is stored in the muscle, how the the muscles move, how blood vessles show through the muscle and how the muscles layer.

There are detailed portrayals of proportion, motion, emotion and prospective, all in photos and drawn graphics - not just in words.

As I said, I've never seen a better book for describing the human body to an artist, and I've been on the look-out for more than 20 years.

Mostly focusing on bone, and muscle structure this guide is excellent for finding what you need quickly. Easy to use but detailed I can usually find what I'm looking for in a couple seconds.

I bought this book on the account of the positive reviews here. A part of me regrets buying this book because I expected a figure drawing book. It isn't. It's a reference to human anatomy and I guess half if not most of the book is useful. I just can't give it 4 or 5 stars because Mr. Peck uses more words than visual diagrams to explain how the body moves and where fat develops. The section about fat is purely textual. It would have been better if there's a diagram of an average person overlaid with outlines where fat develops.

I still use it to supplement Joseph Sheppard's Drawing the Living Figure though.

I ordered Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain and I hope the high reviews of that book reflect its actual quality.

I guess it's true that there is no one-stop shop book on anatomy and figure drawing. An artist must have access to a library - personal or otherwise - to learn from.

Again, Mr. Peck's book in my opinion doesn't deserve 4 or 5 stars but if you do buy it, you won't regret it as much as let's say buying an anatomy book authored by Christopher Hart (blech).

I bought this book for reference but when I wanted to look at the bones and muscles in detail, the pictures were too dark and not clear. I ended up buying "The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing : A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition"

By far the best book on human anatomy for artists. Anatomy can be a dry subject, but Mr. Peck has a way of presenting the information so it can be remembered, applied and enjoyed. This is the one book EVERY artist should have on anatomy.

It's a great reference for anyone doing figure drawing. I am currently taking a class and it has helped me tremendously. I like the different angles and small sketches he has of each part of the anatomy. I also liked the nude pictures in the back(not in a wierd way) - they're good to practice with when you don't have a live model. Really worth buying for any artist!