Customer Reviews

Step-by-Step Art School: Nudes

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It's almost impossible to pick an art book based on others opinions but I personally fell in love with this book. I'm new to figure drawing and this book is just what I need. Not only does it give step-by-step instructions for several classic poses in a variety of mediums but it also provides you with the reference photo (which few figure drawing how-to's seem to do). There aren't a lot of exercises but for the price I'm still happy. A far more comprehensive book you should definitely check out is "The Big Book Of Drawing And Painting The Figure" - it's awesome and a great bargain at amazon!

This is an excellent beginners book on the subject of depicting nudes in several different media. There are many excellent and highly detailed books available about figure drawing, but relatively few for acrylic, oil, or water color. This one covers many media - pencils, charcoal, pastels, watercolors, oil, acrylic and more. The examples are well illustrated, attractive, clearly explained, and simple enough for beginners to follow. The book is colorful and the subjects both varied and attractive. With as many media as are covered in this book, the authors could not go into the depth of a book focused on a single medium. Instead, they contented themselves with providing thorough explanations of the approaches that seem to work best for them. I was pleased to see some good simple recipes for mixing a suitable range of flesh tones (some authors are rather vague about specific color mixes). There are also good explanations of undercoating, modeling through tone and color, glazing techniques, etc. Basic techniques are explained and illustrated well, and the simple demos are executed well enough to inspire an inspiring artist to learn more and to do even better. For those with interest in continuing on with figure art, there are many more detailed books available. Some of the best are by Robert Barrett Life Drawing: How To Portray The Figure With Accuracy And Expression, Anthony Ryder The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition, Giovanni Civardi Drawing The Female Nude, Joseph SheppardHow to Paint Like the Old Masters, Laurel Hart Putting People in Your Paintings, Don AndrewsInterpreting the Figure in Watercolor, Boris Vallejo and Julie BellFantasy Workshop: A Practical Guide Fantasy Art Techniques. I have no hesitation recommending this book, because it covers a lot of ground, easily and clearly. I wish I'd found it sooner, but I've picked up a few new ideas too.