The Bottom Line
An extremely useful book for artists starting figure painting that's full of tips, techniques, and inspiration.
Pros
- Deals with all essentials of figure painting.
- Contains loads of photos of models and paintings.
- Interesting history of the nude in painting.
Cons
- Uncensored photos may offend some people.
- Includes only the basics of anatomy.
- You'll wish there were another 100 pages to read.
Description
- Paperback: 192 pages.
- Publisher: Watson-Guptill, 1995.
- ISBN: 0823038963.
Guide Review - The Big Book of Drawing and Painting the Figure
This truly is a Big Book. It opens with an interesting chapter on the nude in art history, then takes you through every aspect of figure drawing and painting: the skeleton, proportions, approaches to modeling form, working with a model, poses, lighting, composition, colour, and more. It's profusely illustrated with photos of models, drawings, paintings, and works-in-progress in various mediums. The photographs showing the model, artist, and the work-in-progress enable you to compare the final work to the actual model. The last chapter takes you step-by-step through the entire process of painting a model, from selecting a pose and deciding on lighting. If you're starting figure painting, this book will be a great help and inspiration.
