The Bottom Line
A photographic anatomy book that focuses on what an artist needs to know in order to understand how the human body works, rather than making you learn the anatomical name for every single part.
Pros
- Written by an artist for artists
- Tracing paper overlays superimpose bones on photos
- Artistic photos will inspire life painters
Cons
- Not for those squeamish about nude photos
Description
- Large format hardback book, 256 pages, published by Dorling Kindersley, www.dk.com
- Written by Sarah Simblet, an artist and art academic who teaches anatomy through drawing
- Includes 100 of her drawings
- More than 250 black-and-white and color photos taken specifically for the book
- Chapters look at the systems of body; bones and muscles; balance
- Drawing classes offer tips for observing and drawing the skeleton, head, hands, and feet.
- Master classes analyze a work by Ingres, Bacon, Hopper, Hans Holbein, Manet, Degas, Raphael
- Each master class has a photo of a model in the same pose as the painting for comparison
- Key terms list explains terms used frequently in the book
- A glossary explains further anatomical terms. Index.
Guide Review - Anatomy for Artists
If you've always been intimidated by anatomy books with their detailed drawings of what hides beneath our skin, then take a look at this anatomy book which uses transparent overlays to superimpose drawings of bones on photos of the human body, making it easier to relate to. It's written by an artist who teaches anatomy through drawing, so the emphasis is on understanding how muscles and bones look like and how they influence what we observe from the 'outside'. Needless to say the book contains a lot of photos of nudes, so if these are not your thing, don't open this book! But for artists who delight in the beauty of the human form, the photos, works of art in themselves, will be a source of knowledge and inspiration.
