Classic Human Anatomy: The Artist's Guide to Form, Function, and Movement

If I could rate higher than five stars, I would! Over the years, I've collected TONS of anatomy books in an attempt to improve my figure drawing skills. The figure is one of my absolute favorite things to draw. As I'm working on écorché for an anatomy class I'm taking, so I finally pulled this book off the shelf (I've had it since January, 2016). As I worked through the bones and muscles in the section on the torso, I had to pause and get up to write this review because there is no doubt. This is THE best book on anatomy that I've ever studied. And of all the books that I have on my shelf (more than two rows on a large shelf)! I've always wondered what happens to this bone or that bone and this muscle or that muscle when the person is in a position other than standing with weight distributed on both feet. I haven't gone through all sections, but in the torso section, the author illustrated movement showing the bones and/or muscles and how they act in that movement. I've attached a couple of pictures, one of the clavicle and its movement and the other of the muscles of the scapula and how they react. If anyone else is like me and wondered these things, this book is a must-have for figure drawing enthusiasts! With that said, it's not for the beginner. It focuses more on how bones/muscles work together and what's going on under the skin than it does on actual drawing assignments like many of the other books that I have. They served their purpose. This book builds on the skills acquired from the how-to-draw books and/or classes. However, if you purchased it and you're a beginner, and you feel it's not a good purchase for you, for whatever reason, I'd suggest that you keep it, if you plan to continue studying the figure because one day soon, this book will be a precious gem in your collection. If you are seasoned but looking for "something more", this book is definitely a great buy.

Very detailed, well illustrated, and extremely well written, this book is a must for anyone wanting to learn some anatomy to enhance their artistic experience. Couldn't ask for a better resource for anyone learning art. With easier to understand anatomical explanations and visually captivating yet also informative diagrams/images, this book truly encapsulated a complete anatomy learning experience while also appealing to any level of reader whether your a beginner or someone more experienced. Shipping from Amazon was also very fast and the book arrived in perfect condition!

Classic Human Anatomy: The Artist's Guide to Form, Function, and Movement is a anatomy reference book for artists. The bodies, muscles and skeletons are well illustrated and explained. The different layers of muscles are shown individually as well as a whole. Where the muscles are attached to the bones (even those hidden) are shown. The illustrated examples are plentiful and comprehensive. The writeup is well researched and written clearly. It has all the technical speak, including pronunciation, but still easy to understand when read. Every anatomy part and every muscle shown is explained in terms of functionality. There are some drawing tips but not as much compared to dedicated instructional anatomy books. For example, it doesn't teach much on drawing twisting torsos. As such, this will be a great companion to other instructional anatomy books, especially so for those that focus on poses and have less details on the underlying human form. Overall, this is a highly recommended anatomy reference book, for beginner to advanced artists. For the price, I think it's really worth the money. (More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

Arguably, one of the most common obstacles an artist faces when attempting to record the world around them is the fact that it is constantly moving. More often than not, the subject will defy the artist's wants and succumb to change instead. I found this guide particularly helpful for that problem as it not only illustrates how something looks, but why it looks the way it does. The human body is presented in such a way that it is not only a shape to be copied down onto a piece of paper, but an intricate mechanism that can be understood and predicted--regardless of all the ways it may move and change. It offers an amazing amount of anatomical knowledge and suggests the infinite ways such knowledge can be used expressively, blurring the line that is often drawn between art and science. Obviously, I am very pleased with my purchase. I would recommend it to anyone looking to better understand the human form and the way it interacts with its ever-fluctuating environment, and I would especially recommend it to artists looking to turn that knowledge into something beautiful.

My only concerns about the book were there aren't many side views. For example, the whole skeleton figure is only shown front and back. Another thing that bothered me was the organization of each section. Say you want a full list of names for the torso bones, you'll have to flip through at least several pages to find them all. It makes studying a pain in the butt. That aside, the book has everything else a person drawing the human form would need to know/ understand. All the different movements of the jaw, the different angles one can pivot their leg in the hip socket, and a better understanding of drawing the hands and feet. I give this book a double thumbs up. If your teacher assigns it for you, it's not a waste of money. This is the kind of book I'd hold onto for future reference.

The amount of thought, time, and dedication that SEEMS to have gone into putting this book together is ridiculous. I'm probably going to end up referring to this book for years to come for practice and mastery of the human figure... The physical weight of the book, alone, tells you how deep and comprehensive this book is. Everything is VERY well organized. The illustrations are VERY well done. And it seems to have just the right amount of explanation and illustrations. You'll be able to learn every important bone and muscle through very detailed illustrations. And not just the forms... The book also illustrates the movement, expansion, and contraction of the major muscle groups in the body. And the end of the book even goes into teaching you how to simplify the form to create illustrations of your own.

I've seen and owned a lot of art anatomy books and they fall into 3 different catagories: 1. Essential, 2. Supplemental 3. Not worth your money. This book which is published this year (2009) would fall in the essential category. The information is paticularly useful for the beginner; There is a lot of hand-holding sort of speak. The information is presented in a clear, consise manner which is a god-send for such a difficult subject. A nice touch is that the author presented pronounciation keys for several of the muscles names. The pictures are also of high quality although I have seen better pictures in other books (Atlas of the Human Anatomy by Peck, Artistic Anatomy by Richer, and Die Gestalt des Menschen (German edition only) by Gottfried Bammes have much more impressive detail). The book artist is no slouch though. This book is a nice surprise and it stands out in a sea of bad anatomy books.

I bought this book with high expectations and it has exceeded my expectations. The author makes anatomy easy to learn with great examples both written and drawn out. Before you get started learning the bones and the muscles the author introduces keywords that describe the movements of the muscles. Once you understand those keywords the author introduces you to the bones, then the muscles. She divides the chapters into different sections of the body to make it easier to remember. If you cannot remember what the actual name for the muscle or bone is the author almost always included its alternative and common names. I’ve read many other anatomy books for artists, but none of them can compare to this one. This book explains the parts of the body clearly for everyone regardless their age to learn from.

J'ai déjà étudié plusieurs livres d'anatomie artistique et de dessin de la figure humaine, notamment ceux de S.R. Peck, Michael Hampton, Andrew Loomis et Bridgeman. Celui-ci est de loin le plus clair. Les différentes parties du corps humain sont illustrées par des dessins précis et lisibles qui en montrent parfaitement la forme, le volume et le mécanisme. Le texte est écrit dans un langage actuel et compréhensible par le non initié et explique les différents termes et concepts liés à l'étude de l'anatomie. Les fonctions des principaux os et autres tissus sont clairement expliquées. J'apprécie en particulier de pouvoir étudier les attaches et insertions des muscles, très utiles pour inventer des personnages réalistes sans référence. Le mouvement est également largement étudié, notamment les mouvements de la colonne vertébrale et des principales articulations ainsi que les mouvements de flexion et extension des principaux muscles. Il ne s'agit pas d'un cours de dessin, mais c'est à mon avis l'une des meilleures ressources disponibles pour l'artiste qui souhaite acquérir une bonne connaissance de la structure et des mouvements du corps humain - connaissance présentée de telle sorte qu'elle est très facile à comprendre et à mettre en pratique. Hautement recommandé.

By far the best anatomy book for artists. I used this and her other book for anatomy in movement for art school exams (3 years). These were the only books that I actually understood exactly how the muscles and bones work and look in order to improve figure drawing. This book is not dry or theoretical and has drawings of each muscle or bone by the author.

Escolhi este livro no meio de tantos outros que abordam o assunto de anatomia para artistas, em grande parte, pelo fato de ao contrário de muitos outros livros, este vinha com todas as partes a serem estudadas desenhadas! O que não só facilita o entendimento como também facilita na hora de tentar treinar o conteúdo do livro. O Livro dá uma breve introdução a história do estudo de Anatomia entre artistas, explica sobre todos os jargões técnicos a serem utilizados durante o desenvolvimento dos estudos e separa as partes do corpo para facilitar os estudos. No final do livro também explica um pouco sobre Figure Drawing e medidas mais utilizadas para corpos (8 cabeças, 9 cabeças, 7 3/4). Este é o meu primeiro livro de Anatomia para desenhistas, estou muito satisfeito e recomendo sem medo para quem quiser também seu primeiro livro de Anatomia para o mesmo fim.

Excellent and thorough resource for figure drawing artists. The book covers bone structure, muscle structure and proportions for the whole figure and then has subsections dealing with specific areas (arm, hand, torso, leg, foot, etc). Provides tips and illustrations on how these structures can be interpreted for drawing. Well worth the purchase.

excelente libro para mejorar en el dibujo de músculos, huesos y entender mejor las poses dinámicas, compra obligatoria para todo aquel artista que desea mejorar