Figure Drawing for All It's Worth

Beautiful examples and illustrations I will apply the information to my art work. I am building my art portfolio. I highly recommend it even shows you, perspective and thumbnails.

If you want to draw people for a living this is the first book you should buy and it should be the one you reference most often. Loomis takes the difficult task of drawing the human figure and breaks it down into manageable steps. The writing is as good as the artwork, Mr. Loomis explains the reasoning behind his methodology in clear precise terms. His professional advice feels like one magician passing on trade secrets to the next generation. The nudity is tasteful and academic enough that even young aspiring mature artistic teens should have this book in their art library. Everything by Andrew Loomis is a must read, buy this along with Fun With A Pencil and you have a solid education which will teach all you need to know for having a foundation as an illustrator. If I had only one artbook to take with me to a desert island this is the one I would choose. This is a wonderful time for young artists because of the latest reprints of Loomis' instructional books. I have seen many copies of the original volumes in libraries and I believe the reprints to be higher quality than the originals. Going to art college my friends and I had to settle for third and forth generation photocopies made from borrowed copies; it was impossible to buy copies of Loomis' books. Now thanks to these wonderful reproductions Mr. Loomis is training up a whole new army of artists!

Most books on figure drawing go something like this: Step 1-sketch the figure; Step 2-fill in all the details. That's a HUGE step from the sketch to the detailed drawing!!! Many so-called figure drawing instructional books are simply portfolios of the author's artwork with very little instruction. Tsk. Loomis is different. He goes through all the intermediate steps you need to draw a figure. You learn to draw "manikins" from your imagination, with body parts in the proper proportions, and in all kinds of poses. He also teaches you how to draw the figure in perspective. Once you master that, he covers all the anatomy you need to know in order to create realistic figures. Finally with all that mastered, he covers clothing & shading the figure (value) along with how to draw some of the more complex body parts like heads, hands, and feet. As a professor I can state confidently that the step-by-step teaching approach in this book is the best that you can find, outside of maybe taking a class. But even most figure drawing classes don't cover the material in this book! To summarize you learn the fundamentals of drawing figures: proportion, anatomy, perspective, values, color, and knowledge of mediums and materials. The only drawback for today's students (who I find mainly want to draw Manga and Anime-style characters) is that the drawing style is dated. But if you master the fundamentals in this book you can easily adapt them to other genres. - Professor F., past-Director of UNM's Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media Program

I have a 1947 vintage edition of this book that used to be my mother's (she was a talented commercial illustrator who died from cancer when I was a teenager). So I've had this book for 40yrs, and in all that time of adding to my library of artistic books, I've never found a better general reference for learning to draw figures (though Willy Pogany's 'Drawing Lessons' book of 1946 comes pretty close). It has excellent sections on the basics of perspective, light and shade, anatomy, proportion and composition, and the examples of Loomis's pencil craft and penmanship are superb. Now granted, this is an old book, entirely in black and white, stylistically mannered and from the point of view of a realist illustrator of a bygone era, rather than a of a fine artist (for whom the drawings might lack some degree of artistic expressionism or abstraction), but it is nevertheless, one of the finest books available on the subject of figurative drawing; even after all this time. I value it so highly, I've just bought a second copy so that when I eventually disappear, my two artistically oriented kids won't have to fight over this particular part of my library.

So I purchased this book after reading Mythology: The DC Comics Arts of Alex Ross in which i discovered that Alex Ross studied Andrew Loomis' book in order to improve both his shading and anatomy. The book arrived on time. I've never purchased an art book before but I was surprised to find out just how easy it was to follow. From learning about shading and how it applies to the human figure to creating form and learning how to apply it on a live model this book was truly a guide into anatomy drawing. I am currently in my first anatomy class and to my surprise my teacher uses a lot of the measurements and technique that Loomis sets for the reader. The book was written in the era of commercial art so Loomis refers to it a lot in the book but regardless it helps the reader understand how he came up with the ideas that he shares and on how to apply them to his own style. Loomis does a great job in guiding the reader instead of commanding him/ her about techniques or tips. I would recommend this book to anybody who is starting to get into figure drawing or who wants to improve their art, overall.

I have been struggling with learning how to draw the human figure in order to create my own stories. I heard a lot about Andrew Loomis when I was looking for how to draw heads. This book has useful information and drawings that can be used for reference but only for those who are almost out of the beginner phase of drawing. The systems introduced were a little complicated for me when first learning how to draw the human figure so I took a break to read other books that are a little easier to understand. When coming back to finish this book my understanding of the information provided in this book slightly increased. I would say it is a good book for every artist to have in their library but may not be that friendly to beginners but the drawings make great references if you understand the terminology. Since there are other artist that explain these topics in a simpler, much up to date way, I would start with those then come back to read this book.

This is the first time I've ever heard of Andrew Loomis or any of his books. I must say I am completely impressed. This is exactly the type of instruction book I was looking for. This will not tell you which lines to put and where when you are drawing the human figure. It will, however, help you with ratios (my biggest issue), different angles, age groups, and how to make it all look realistic. The tips are really well written and simple to understand. There may have been one or two points with that I disagreed with, but that was not essential to my overall appreciation of the book. It is a rather large book. Not thick, but large. I hadn't looked at the description to see its dimensions, but it's not a problem. In fact, I love the size of it. It makes the sketches inside more clear and they don't have to use a miniscule type for the words. Just let it be known it is about the size of your average coffee table book. Worth the purchase and helps the drawing of the human figure tremendously.

This book has been absolutely great. It’s another tool in my belt. Ide recommend the book to beginners or the artist that’s further along the road. There’s bound to be something in here that anyone could find useful. It’s basically everything you need to know about the body and nothing you don’t. Loomis takes a more proportional approach rather than going step by step through the lengthy and unnecessary process of learning all the bones, and the muscles and the this and the that. He’s concise, but doesn’t hold back information. The book is simple, but doesn’t lack depth. Ide happy buy it again, buy it for an aspiring artist, and even pay double for it. This book is truly worth every penny and the effort it took to write a review as it’s not something I often care to do. Please enjoy!

Allgemein: Dieses Buch von Andrew Loomis ist ein Goldstück! Der Preis ist völlig gerechtfertigt, wie ich finde, denn die Erklärungen und Tipps sind wirklich gut und hilfreich. Vor allem sind es die kleinen Details, die mir geholfen haben. Um dieses Buch wirklich nutzen zu können, bedarf es guter Englischkenntnisse, da andernfalls der Lesefluss und das Verständnis durchaus schwer fällt. Loomis beschreibt nicht nur bekannte Techniken, sondern gibt Tipps, die mir persönlich viel gebracht haben. Er beschreibt ja selbst, dass er viele Dinge in seinem Buch festhält, die so nicht festgehalten wurden und ihm in seiner Karriere geholfen haben. Ich finde auch noch einmal klasse, wie sehr er betont, dass Zeichner keine Geheimnisse voreinander haben (brauchen) und es wichtige Dinge gibt, die beim Zeichnen zu beachten sind (und gar nicht mal so einfach zu befolgen sein können). Das Buch & dessen Qualität: Das Buch ist etwas größer als A4 und das ist auch gut so. Dadurch erkennt jeder die Zeichnungen sehr gut, es ist Platz für Notizen (ja, durchaus sinnvoll) und lässt viele Details erkennen. Gerade bei solchen Büchern finde ich das unglaublich wichtig, dass der Leser viel erkennen kann, ohne sich anstrengen zu müssen. Das Buch ist gut durch strukturiert und ein roter Faden ist erkennbar. Arbeitet der Leser jedes Kapitel durch und übt, wie er es empfiehlt, wird dieses Buch jeden Zeichner weiterbringen können. Inhalt: Es gibt darum, Figuren zu zeichnen. Das beschreibt Loomis wunderbar (ihr könnt heraus lesen, dass ich begeistert bin ;) ) und mir persönlich hilft das Buch sehr. Ich selbst bin noch nicht weit, habe das Buch aber so ziemlich vorher durchgelesen (und selbst das hat mir einiges gebracht). Ich finde es sehr toll, welche Haltung er zu Künstlern und Zeichnern hat und was er zur dieser "Szene" zu sagen hat. Loomis beschreibt alles sehr ausführlich und einfach erklärt, ist aber auch sehr ehrlich und direkt, wenn der Leser etwas lieber sein lassen sollte. Fazit: Der Preis ist völlig gerechtfertigt. Das Papier ist fest, die Schrift gut lesbar und die Zeichnungen gut erkennbar. Die Erklärungen sind gut und einfach, sofern man Englisch gut beherrscht. Ich finde es super und kann es jedem empfehlen, der sich verbessern möchte, was das Figuren Zeichnen angeht.

Got as gift, recipient was very happy with it, exactly what he wanted and high praise for the author as an artist and quality of book.

This is an essential book if you want to learn figure drawing. The author’s style is EASY to read and FUN keeps you engaging. Drawings are easy to understand and to draw along. Understanding of basic proportions hight and width of male and female figure. Bones, muscles and shading the form. Simple Excise on every chapter.

This book has been the most sought-after work on figure drawing for decades. Since it has been out of print, old copies have been changing hands for high prices. This new edition has been a long time coming, but what a joy to see it at last! This is a facsimile copy, which means that it has been created from an original print of the book, rather than from the original artwork and page layouts. Even so, the results are excellent, and the illustrations are crisp and clear. Loomis was an illustrator, author and art instructor at the American Academy of Art. This book was published in 1943 and, ever since, has been the standard work on the subject. It covers all aspects of figure drawing, explaining detail and with unequalled clarity, how to draw the figure. As you might expect from the cover artwork, he focuses almost entirely on the nude male and female figure, but also spends some time looking at how the techniques may be applied to drawing children. The final ten pages look at how to draw the clothed figure. Obviously, it looks at how to draw the head and the hands, but for this I would get a copy of Loomis' separate book on the subject, "Drawing the Head and Hands", which is also being reprinted (around October 2011). Loomis' style of drawing has a distinct 1940s look about it. Some of the hairstyles, complexions and poses are redolent of the times, but this does not age the work at all. It merely reflects our changing ideas about supposedly typical male and female figures. The content remains fascinating, insightful, compelling and inspiring. His drawings are lovely things, always delicate and lively. The final few pages, about working as an artist, are amusing rather than useful to today's artists, but it's all part of the original 1943 publication. I have a large collection of books on figure and portrait drawing, and I have been after a copy of this book for decades. It has been well worth the wait. It is a must-have. And now that I have a copy, I will be throwing out a few books that this one happily replaces!

本書は魅力的なルーミス氏のイラストをまじえて人物描写のプロセスをわかりやすく説明しています。 はじめは基礎的な遠近法をつかった人物描写、それから一般的な人物のプロポーションの説明（老若男女の違いなど）、骨格、筋肉構造の説明、人体のムーブメントなどが記載されています。そして見るだけでも楽しいルーミス氏のイラストがたっぷりです。