Customer Reviews

How to Draw the Human Figure: An Anatomical Approach

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

 

 

I was struggling to get the concept of drawing the human figure even though I was enrolled in a figure drawing this class. Within a week of buying this book, and this is true, I was drawing extremely well applying what I seen and learned from the book to my drawings. The book shows you both the anatomy of the body, something extremely helpful since you'll need to know what goes where when you draw, and the bone structure and how one bone connect to the other. Louise Gordon's drawings are simply magnificent and can easy be achieved just by reading her notes and drawing the way she does. Once you do you can easily apply it towards your own drawing technique. And with the many depictions of famous artist drawing renderings, this book with give you a very high jolt in artistic vision to where it's impossible for you to not improve. Do yourself a favor, BUY-THE-BOOK and also check out her other books. If you start a collection of How To books, Louise Gordon should be a primary choice.

The author is a medical illustrator and her familiarity with human anatomy is evident with each drawing in this book. Both male and female anatomy is presented, and the differences between each are noted. Where possible, the anatomical and finished drawings are placed side by side so that underlying musculoskeletal features are shown on the surface. Most of the drawings are of dynamic poses to show how the parts of the body work together. This book will be one of your primary references on human anatomy.

This is a very clear & concise, small-sized, paperback anatomy book that'll very likely impress beginners.
Why do I like this? Firstly, the origins & insertions of all major muscles are *clearly* depicted in a simple & accurate way, rendered capably in pencil. This is truly a book that gets straight to the point(!). The author is an established medical illustrator *and* an artist in general. She's a graduate of the University of Toronto, and was a member of the staff there for 8 years. Apparently, Canada really is good for more than just ice fishing, hockey, and seals! :) Secondly, there's just no wasted space in this book. And its physical size is convenient! There're no photographs, although a few drawings from the masters of western art are included. It's mainly the author's own simplified treatment on anatomy here, and you can tell she didn't just copy other anatomy books when putting this together: there're some truly unique perspectives taken on the figures & muscles here. It's not quite as beautiful as Barcsay's Anatomy for the Artist; it's not as genius as Bridgman's Constructive Anatomy; it's not as creative as Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy; and it's not as in-depth as the many overly large treatments available today. Yet I'm still glad I have it!

For the beginning figure drawing student this is a must have resource. Lots of illustrations with explanations to study. The book is divided logically by anatomical part. I do not regret spending the money for the book.

I thought that this book was great. It was really helpful. It had many great and useful tips on the human anatomy, which really helped me alot since I couldn't draw the human figure if my life depended on it lol. Now at least you can tell it's a human.