Customer Reviews

Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual (Illustrators Reference Manuals)

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

 

 

Wouldn't it be great if we had a single, one-stop reference for figures with & without clothes, with props & in action- including multiple angles of each pose on every single page? Well, we *do* have this comprehensive reference(!)- it's just difficult to keep it in print...

The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual is a phenomenally comprehensive piece of work- and a truly *GREAT* resource for every working artist. Even if the exact pose you need isn't in this book, you're bound to find *something* of extreme value here. It begins fantastically enough with an entire nude figure section- a single female & male model, each shot from *many* different angles. It's 54 pages- 27 for each model- out of the book's approximately 250 pages total. What makes this section so valuable is that each page has just one pose, but again- many angles/photos are given. This gives us an accurate way to understand how the figure changes when rotated, except that it's the camera that rotates, not the model. High, middle and low angles are shown, with the figure standing, kneeling, sitting, and laying down. This multi-angled approach is used throughout the remainder of the book. All photos are in color, but they're so muted & slightly faded, they could easily be mistaken for being in black & white. Single figures *and* clothed couples are represented in a wide variety of situations. Common everyday props are often used, including chairs, tables, sports items, and various hand-held objects. Hard-hitting action poses are *avoided*, as well as extreme camera distortion and perspective. This is meant to be an 'everyday-common-average' and 'likely-to-see-on-a-regular-basis' photo reference. It's the best *one-stop book* I've ever seen on this subject to date!

My copy is copyrighted 1987 by Quarto, ISBN 1555210333, and is published by Chartwell, a division of Book Sales Inc. It's been reprinted: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, etc. It contains over 5,500 photos: from over 200 individual poses- seen from 24 different angles. It's definitely worth getting- if you can find a decent price! My highest recommendation!

This book contains over 5,000 different poses in different situations, photographed at various angles, so there's a figure to suit almost anything. Even if you can't find the pose you're looking for, you can always combine existing ones with ease. If you want to draw realistic figures, but want to avoid the hassle of hiring models, then you'll find this book better than helpful.

I'm doing cartoons, which always involve people wearing clothes. Working from nude poses is helpful, but I still have to work out the clothes. This book is the only one I have found so far with photographs of clothed poses (anime drawing books are a good source for drawings of clothed poses). Especially helpful is the "rotation" of the models so that numerous angles are shown, from each of 3 different eye levels.

Also, nude poses seem to explore all the different positions a body can get into, which are not typical of the way people stand, sit, move, etc., in life - what I'm trying to draw. The photos of clothed models in this book do reflect "real life" poses.

The main reason I did not give 5 stars is that even though this book is very good, and I recommend it highly, I wish it had more poses, particularly ones which illustrate additional common poses.

I've used this several times over the years, but frequently I am frustrated that there are very few of the most needed poses, such as clothed people standing, walking and sitting. I mean the real basic stuff, without too much gestural attitude. The nudes section of the book is well done, but in the clothed figures section, there's too much space wasted on gimmicky poses like "Gangster with Violin Case" and "French Maid Dusting". Also, some of the dark-clothed figures have so little detail showing, they might as well be black silhouettes. I think they should have concentrated more on making this a useful tool for illustrators and artists and less on making it "entertaining". Sometimes I want to throw it out in disgust, but you never know, I might need a photo of a "Vicar Asleep In a Rocking Chair".

This is such a good idea, one wonders what took so long to get it done. The manual is a hefty hardcover, designed to last. Very comprehensive in giving you 5,000 poses of people doing ordinary things from excercising, to primping before a mirror, to dancing alone or with a partner, to laying around on the floor. The models are photographed from eight different points of view. They are not unnaturally posed, however. More like a stop-motion camera caught them "in a moment of time".

The section on Nudes alone is worth the price of the book. If you've ever had problems finding a model to pose nude, or if you just want to sketch at three in the morning, this is the book for you. The photos are not as close-up as they might be, but they are really good at capturing the movement(or non-movement)of the subject.

I can see alot of potential for this manual beyond sketching, drawing and painting.Animation, anyone?

If you're an artist you will really like this book.

While the figures might not be in exactly the right pose for what you are doing, they are in a wide variety of poses. Each pose is photographed from eight different sides, and three different angles (straight away, from above, and from below) which makes it extremely helpful. Overall, I find that this figure reference manual cuts down on the need for models, as well as gives you the freedom to work at any timme of the day or night. I recomend this book for anyone who needs people to draw realistic scenes from.

Am looking for this book to purchase it.Please notify me when its available.Thank You