Drawing the Living Figure (Dover Anatomy for Artists)
$14.88
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“Joseph Sheppard has been favorably compared to practically every Renaissance master…he is without peer among modern realists for his ability to impart a warm verisimilitude to the figure.” — Artspeak magazine.
In this highly praised guidebook, Joseph Sheppard, a versatile and influential artist and teacher who is widely recognized as a master of figure drawing, introduces an innovative approach to drawing the human form. Beginning by reviewing the basics of anatomy, he makes his principal focus the specifics of surface anatomy.
Rather than depicting in detail the muscles and bone that lie beneath the skin, as do most books on artistic anatomy, this book concentrates on how the position and movement of muscles and bones affect the surface forms of live models. The effects are masterfully demonstrated in over 170 of Joseph Sheppard’s own drawings of many different live models in front, back, and side views, and in various standing, sitting, kneeling, crouching, reclining, and twisting poses.
Each drawing is accompanied by two diagrams, one for bones, one for muscles, which specifically show how surface forms are created by the definitive shapes beneath the skin. The superb quality of Joseph Sheppard’s drawings, the wide range of poses he illustrates, and the effectiveness of his approach in this book — now in its first paperback edition — will help artists at all levels improve and refine their skills in drawing the living figure.
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Steven Larsen –
Between the simplified cartoon anatomy books, popular today, and the detailed treatments inspired by medical textbooks, is this fine work. This book is built from the ground up for artists. By focusing on surface anatomy, showing its relation to underlying muscle and bone structure, and then presenting it all with a multitude of useful and expertly done drawings, Sheppard has produced what may be the finest anatomical artist reference.
Most professional artists recommend Bridgeman’s works. I don’t doubt the usefulness of Bridgeman to a true working professional, but for me, and maybe other amateurs, the concepts in Bridgeman never seem to reveal themselves. Sheppard will be useful the first time you open the book and will certainly clear much of the confusion in figure drawing.
Daniel Unrau –
Sehr viele und detaillierte Aktzeichnungen! Der Muskel- und Knochenaufbau wird jeweils mittels zwei weiterer Zeichnungen erläutert! Der einzige Nachteil meiner Meinung nach: Es hilft nicht so sehr bei der Konstruktion einer Zeichnung, wie andere Werke (Jack Hamm’s “Drawing the head & Figure”). In Kombination aber sehr zu empfehlen.
NAT –
Very nice book you learn a lot
Shante’ Young –
Great reference material. Fast delivery !
Luko –
Very good
Moonlight –
This one is so far among the best books I bought on the subject of drawing nudes. I am shock with review such as “I am disappointment with this book” of course not giving the reason for disappointment. If some expect to buy a book that by reading it and staring only, they become nude drawing artists, such a book does not exist. For serious students/artists, this is a must.
This book has great drawings of nude figures, three per page of same figure, one showing the muscle, another skeleton and a finally finished figure. All we need to know before drawing a nude on one page. Does not get better than that. Fantastic book to learn from. I also find the finished figures drawings in this book great to use to practice gesture drawings. I recommend this book to anyone who knows what it takes to become and artists of nude figures and is willing to work for it. I love this book and I am very happy with my new purchase. I bought a new copy for $8.98 via Amazon from Alpine Butterfly. It came fast and it was very well packed.
ian –
A great reference, has helped me improvemy drawing skills
Edward Alston Jr –
The faces to the drawings are pretty lame, but if you want more visuals references to study the anatomy of the body, and have a different interpretation of what the muscles may look like in different poses compared to other references you may have, then this book isn’t bad at all.
Amazon Customer –
This books goes into great detail explaing the role humanly anatomy plays in why people look the way they do in different poses.
ｍ –
モデルさんのポースを付ける時の参考に購入。
左ページに素描、右ページに骨格と筋肉。
多くのポーズを実際に、描きました。
大変勉強になりました。
いい本です。
お薦めします。
Bernardo L. –
Muito bom!
T –
Joseph Sheppard’s other book Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists is a much more useful book. It’s far more detailed. This one isn’t bad but it’s just not great.
David Diamond –
THIS BOOK IS A “MUST HAVE”. It is not the only drawing book that you need in your personal library, but it is one of the most essential.
The book includes about seventy well-drawn male and female nude drawings, grouped by type of pose (standing, crouching, twisting, etc.). Each of the seventy poses is drawn three times —
(1) as an annotated finished drawing,
(2) as an annotated (identically sized) skeleton in the same pose, and
(3) as an annotated (identically sized) muscle diagram in the same pose.
The anatomy is at a level of detail designed for the figure-drawing artist, not for the medical illustrator. As such, only those muscles and bones that are significant to a particular pose are labeled, and are described with simplified nomenclature.
I remember complaining to my instructor that I could discern the rib cage in our male model, but not in this rounded-back posed female model. This book is the ideal reference for seeing the support infrastructure in such situations.
Although there are many approaches to figure drawing, understanding the effects that underlying anatomical infrastructure have on surface anatomy is essential to realistic drawing. In addition to this book, you should also have other books in your figure drawing library, that cover croquis, circles & guidelines, tonal masses, planes, gestures, cylinders, lighting, proportions, contours, and other techniques. But Joseph Sheppard’s “Drawing the Living Figure” will be your primary anatomical reference.