Customer Reviews

Drawing the Draped Figure (Dover Anatomy for Artists)

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

 

 

After reading the other very positive review, I'm wondering if we have two different books!

I was looking forward to receiving this book as I've been experimenting drawing folds and clothing lately, but needed some guidance. I thought this book would provide it. It didn't.

There are several problems.

1. The drawings are almost incomprehensible line drawings that give no clear picture of exactly what's going on in the various kinds of folds.

2. There's a lack of useful photographs.

3. The poor printing quality doesn't help.

4. The text gives no "laws" of folds (such as: The fabric will always bend this way if it hangs that way, etc).

In a bookstore in Italy recently I saw a book by Hogarth on the same subject. Though it was in Italian, the drawings showed much more clearly exactly what's going on with clothing in various positions and movements. With text in English, I can only imagine it will be far more helpful to me than this Bridgman book.

I'm just happy the Bridgman book was inexpensive.

This is a basic to intermediate-level effort on wrinkles & drapery- parts of which can be clearly seen in the popular title by Burne Hogarth: Dynamic Wrinkles & Drapery.

The 7 laws of draped figure folds listed here: -pipe folds, -zigzag folds, -spiral folds, -half-lock folds, -diaper pattern folds, -drop folds, and -inert folds. Burne Hogarth basically takes all of Bridgman's ideas and tries to improve on them. Critics still debate the effectiveness of Hogarth vs. Bridgman- but I believe Hogarth's work, in this particular case, has far exceeded that of Bridgman. Which book to get? The price of Bridgman's book is very attractive- But is it effective? Maybe. I think it depends on how you use it. In conjunction with photographs, Bridgman's book *can* be effective. Still, I have to admit: Bridgman's drawings here are not exactly clear. It takes a real concerted effort to figure out exactly what he's trying to teach. Also worth considering is that the best parts of this book were eventually included in what is now called Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life. If you're trying to decide between his Complete Guide and this, I recommend the Complete Guide by far.

P.S. There's a brief, excellent section on wrinkles & drapery for *beginners* in Jack Hamm's Drawing the Head and Figure- check it out!

*A better book worth considering*- Barbara Bradley's Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure, available here on Amazon(!).

I read both Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Drappery and Bridgman's one and I like this one better.

First, I like Bridgman's drawing style better. It's looser and more simple. I can see the rhythm of folds better.

Second, the size is handy. A thin book that covers the basic in a good price.

My little recommendation: Go for it if you are looking for a more fine-art-way of drawing, as others has already sugguested in their review.

This book offers some basics as to types of fabric folds and falls that one would encounter in trying to draw a draped figure. While the writing is lucid though incomplete, this book suffers from a serious flaw of terrible prints of drawings of such folds which do little to elucidate the writing in a substantial manner. More illustrations would have been helpful, as would have been covering close focus photographs of the draped figure as painted by some of the masters excelling in the same. It would not be possible to master or even come close to mastering the aspect of drawing fabric folds on the basis of this book

As I was reading this book I kept thinking this must be a reprint of something written in the 1950s. The writing style had that cumbersome approach of much older 'how to' books. In fact the book is a reprint of another book called "The Seven Laws of Folds", and I suspect it was orignally a book meant for sculptors. The examples are charcoal(?) drawings. Most of well known statues. The descriptions really don't seem to apply to drawing at all. I tried looking through the eyes of a would-be sculptor while I read. Only then did the book seem useful.

Unfortunately, I have another complaint. The example sketches are, well, terrible. Many of them I could not make out. There are photographs in the book as well that are so badly reprinted I really have no idea what they're sposed to be.

There needs to be a better book to help people draw 'the draped figure.' This one really doesn't help.

After reading the other very NEGATIVE review, I'm NOT wondering if we have two different books! (Isn't it stated clearly in THE OTHER VERY POSITIVE review that there ARE two books?)

Anyway, with all the intentions of trying to avoid a war here, I do feel myself owing it to all the late teachers and mentors, to explain to other readers what on Earth is going on here.

Oh, and by the way, speaking of the late teachers and mentors, I mean the late artists the teaching of whom we can only inherit from their books. These include (but not limited to) Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Peter-Paul Rubens, Ingres, to name a few; also those of more recent times, such as Bridgman, Robert Beverly Hale, and others. But I digress. However, you DID notice I did NOT mention the name Burne Hogarth, didn't you? (With all due respect to Mr. Hogarth, for the reason mentioned below.)

About this book, and all the NEGATIVE comments given to it, perhaps it helps to clarify to other readers the following:

In my opinion, there are AT LEAST two different kinds of "artists" who bother themselves with figure drawing and drapery studies.
The more popular one nowadays, perhaps, include folks who are interested in drawing comic books (the "Marvel way", and whatnot). (You know, those interested in learning to draw Batman, X-men, Catwoman, Spider-man, etc., and other comic characters with humongous fists thrown at you in stunningly forshortening, and heart-stopping poses.) For those folks, the book series by Burne Hogarth, Marvel, and perhaps Loomis, are of favored choices.

And then come "another" group of artists that make up the second kind, aka the "fine artists". These are the ones that are obsessed with the Old Master's approach of training, with emphasis on life drawing, good draftsmanship, and such matters. For this group, the book in discussion, in my opinion, is of priceless value. If one happens to own this book, think about it every time one looks at a statue by Michelangelo, Frederic Hart, and other Masters. Only then will these "rules of folds" be appreciated. Better yet, set up the drapery oneself. Experiment it! Draw it from life!

With all that said, perhaps it is time to sum it up:

1) If one wants to learn to draw drapery in a "dynamic", "comic book" way, then get a book by Burne Hogarth. The same style by the author in drawing figures can also be found by searching for all the books by him.

Oh, and by the way, one needs not have to go to Italy or read Italian to learn from Hogarth. The book mentioned in the other comment, I believe, is available RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, from Amazon.com, at the click of your computer mouse. (Oh, did I mention, it is written IN ENGLISH!) Need more info? Here it is:
"Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery" by Burne Hogarth
Watson-Guptill Pubns; ISBN: 0823015874 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.49 x 10.98 x 8.28.

2) If one claims oneself a "fine artist", books like this one (no matter how little...") is priceless. Never mind the fuzzy drawings, the lack of photographs, "indistinct" rules, or poor printing (although, not really!). The reason, I believe, is that this book should only be considered a guidance, not the replacement of lots of practice, observations, and drawing from life, in the quest to perfecting oneself in the rendition of drapery.

Need more convincing proofs? Then readers should read comments about Burne Hogarth's books written by other reviewers.

As for this book, it is a FIVE-STAR in and of its own right, I believe!

STILL STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!

P.S. Disclaimer - Since a lot of pointers (and plugs) for Amazon.com were given in this review, I thought perhaps it'd be necessary and appropriate for me to say that I am not working for Amazon.com; therefore, all the references are simply for the sake of clarity. Also, when I bought books from it (Amazon.com), I did pay regular prices like anybody else. So, there you had it!

Unfortunately this book is a poor representation of the original, a hardcover that was printed in 1942 and has better representations of the drawings.

If you are an artist or art student, it's worth it (even if more expensive), to find the older, 1942 hardcover version for the finely detailed drawings that are shown clearly and full sized.

Save your money by not buying this cheap paperback....! :)

Sometimes I wonder if I had not worked as a professional illustrator for fifty years, if i could luxuriate in the self-described expertise of those who make pictures occasionally and with no time constraints. This contains everything the SERIOUS artist needs to know...the basic anatomy of folds in fabric.

Done in Bridgman's powerful and abbreviated style that cuts to the chase, this will be difficult for those who judge a drawing on how much it resembles a photograph, this will not be of any use...nor will a photographic rendering.

In the studio, we had built what came to be known as "The Wall of Pain," because drawing from it always results in showing what you still have yet to learn. Here's a link to the picture [...]

This is based on Bridgman's observations of the way cloth forms folds in nature and also upon the way the classical Greeks had codified the study of drapery. If the reader is among that small number of brush and pencil owners who aspires to make art a profession, Bridgman's book forms a cornerstone.

Bridgeman is an indispensable teacher of human anatomy (even though he worked in the early 20th century), but this isn't the best book out there. The drawings are too loose and sketchy to see clearly what he is describing. He goes through the seven typs of folds all right, but they need to be illustrated more three dimensionally. I'd choose this over Hogarth's book, though, because Bridgeman's written descriptions are to the point, and at least the drawings aren't overdone. And it's [inexpensive]. The world cries out for the definitive book on drapery: one that is concise, accurate, and with good drawings. I saw one once on a guy's desk in an animation studio, it looked like it was written in the '50s, but I can't remember the name; it had superbly elegant drawings and lean, no-nonsense explanations of the 7 folds. I made some copies, but not of the title. Oh well, Bridgeman will have to do.

Maybe I was looking for too much from an instructional book that only had 60+ pages. Maybe there just isn't THAT much to be said about draped figures. I think the illustrations were ok from a learning perspective but the descriptions of could have used some work. Maybe it was just me...