Customer Reviews

Drawing the Female Form (Dover Anatomy for Artists)

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This book's intended target is mainly die-hard, enthusiastic, Bridgman completists- which pretty much describes me perfectly these days.
Since I actually revere Bridgman as a genius, I felt I almost *had* to get this book. In a way, I'm actually glad I did, at least for curiosity's sake(!). I now understand why this book has been out-of-print. Here's what it contains: 32 'average-quality' black & white photos- 26 of a nude female model; 4 of a nude male & female couple; and then 2 of a nude male model only. Many photos are cropped; some are completely full-figured. Two props are used: a large, shiny ball, and then a medium-sized piece of drapery. Bridgman's drawings are placed next to most photos- he usually depicts a part of the model in his famous, beautiful, and popular-classic style. The main problem here, as with many of Bridgman's works, is that the drawings are *mainly* sketchy & faded. Some of this is obviously due to this being originally printed in 1935. But here, some drawings are *shockingly* faded- almost completely useless(!). Even more odd, a few of these sketches are crystal clear, almost as if someone had re-traced them. Additionally, the quantity of drawings here is severely lacking. If it weren't for Bridgman's exceedingly popular name, it'd be a joke anyone would think this worth reprinting. Yet as a Bridgman fan, I *did* buy it- I just couldn't restrain my curiosity. And keep in mind: when I say the drawings here are *sketchy*, I mean they're even *more* so than in Bridgman's nearly-famous The Human Machine. For the highest quality Bridgman work, in my opinion at least, see The Book of a Hundred Hands, Constructive Anatomy, or Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life. These 3 are *currently* my favorite Bridgman works.
THE BOTTOM LINE- ONLY THE MOST ENTHUSIASTIC BRIDGMAN COMPLETISTS NEED APPLY.

P.S. My copy of Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life mentions *this* book as being included within its pages. However- I can't for the life of me find any of these drawings in that Complete Guide. If any *are* included, they certainly ain't easy to find!

I have a deep and abiding admiration for Bridgman and all his work. This one however is a bit of a departure from his other works. It consists of photographs of models and scetches and studies of those photographs, with no text, explainations, or breakdowns of the information. While I have always found his books more useful for their illustrations than their text, the ad hoc feeling of this text left me at sea at first. However, it is useful if you want to look at his choices in how he simplifies the form, accentuates aspects of the body and, as always uses line weight. The only reason I rate this as mediocre is that there are very few drawings and the photo reproduction is not very good.

This book is nothing more than a few photographs from the 1950's, with a couple of very loose interpretations of the photos. There is very little detail to the sketches, and even less text. A book for the beginner this is not!

I guess for 7 bucks it's not too bad.

Rick S

Actually I bought this book to my husband, he is a great illustrator and comics artist, he likes to buy this kind of book looking for new ways of drawing the human body... He got two or three new things from this one, what is a good sign... Well, no complains at all. It made us buy the "Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life".

Concepts in this book will prove helpful to artists of all levels in one way or another...simply a must have!