Classic Human Anatomy in Motion: The Artist's Guide to the Dynamics of Figure Drawing

This is an excellent companion to the author's previous book, 'Classic Human Anatomy'. While the previous book focuses on detailed anatomy information, this book has more on applying anatomy in drawing the figure. I really like the chapters on landmarks, planes/structure, and movements with lots of nuggets of information that enable you to depict the human figure convincingly. The chapter on gesture drawing explains 8 different gesture drawing styles which will be particularly helpful for beginning and experienced artists alike.

There's some overlapped anatomy contents between the 2 books, but 'Classic Human Anatomy in Motion' gives you better overview of joints, bones, and muscles besides further information on movements. For example, there is an in-depth discussion on face muscles in various facial expressions. Plus extra drawings and diagrams provide different views (front, side, 3/4) of anatomical parts in motion.

The book is well designed with beautiful and colorful drawings on quality paper.

In short, 'Classic Human Anatomy' is anatomy-in-theory. 'Classic Human Anatomy in Motion' is anatomy-in-practice. Applying anatomy in drawing the human figure requires patience and effort in building knowledge and getting better with proper practice. The author has done a great job with both books.

The most comprehensive artist anatomy book out there- no other even comes close to comparing. The illustrations, her way of explaining proportion while using analogies is fantastic. I love referencing this when doing a figure/facial drawing/painting- more for the advanced artist, but I can see a beginner being able to grasp it quite well. Very pleased.

I'm always looking for new books to help improve my creative and artistic skills, so when this anatomy drawing book became available, I was really excited. My figure drawing is always slightly disproportionate, so I was hoping this book would help SHOW me how to correct that.

When I received the book, I quickly opened it and found lots of WORDS and not a lot of examples. As a visual learner trying to improve my art, I was baffled and confused by the lack of art in this book. Because of this, I set the book aside, hoping my next impression might be more favorable to actually reading through this 300+ page book.

Alas, my first impression stuck with me. The words may be very useful and helpful to some, but I can't imagine that too many artists would add this book to their collection. I don't think this book will be of much use to me, so I'll try to find someone that will get use out of it.

Valerie Winslow teaches a master class in human anatomy as it relates to drawing the figure in this book. Along with her previous book I think it would be difficult to find more in-depth information on human anatomy and drawing anywhere else. Although it does require you READ - and there is a lot of text in both her books - to fully understand and grasp everything. Looking at the pictures - albeit beautifully illustrated - is not enough. If you're really, really serious about learning the human figure and ready to dive in deep - her books are for you!

"Classic Human Anatomy in Motion" is an anatomy book for artists who draw, paint, or sculpt human nudes. Much of the information can be applied to clothed figures, too, which is how I intend to use it. I appreciated that the nude figures were treated respectfully (rather than shown in sexually suggestive poses) and really were anatomically accurate.

This book contained many high-quality illustrations. Many of the illustrations showed the bones and muscles of the human body as you'd find them in an anatomy book. The author also pointed out which features can be seen on the surface and to look for them as reference points when drawing. She described the motions that each joint can do and how muscles work, so you can more realistically render the human body when it's in motion. To quote the book description, "each chapter builds an artistic understanding of how motion transforms the human figure."

Rather than having the reader repeat her drawings as exercises, the author described how to draw the figure you are interested in (from models, everyday life, pictures, or video). She suggested warm-up exercises and ways to suggest an active (rather than passive) figure. She gave some advice about working from your imagination, but she generally assumed that you'll have some reference to draw from as you work.

I'm familiar with human anatomy from my college days. I was impressed with the quality of this work, and it was a good refresher course for me. It has helped me understand how to apply that knowledge to my art. Overall, I'd recommend this book to artists who want to improve their depictions of human figures.

I received this as an ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Best anatomical reference for figure drawing EVERRR! You can get assistance with different views anatomically and also have drawings for references. Tough spot to catch? Open the book to a reference and it will help you visualize and correct your shortcomings in the specific area of your figure from multiple angles of illustrations. This is a reference book I will go back to over and over again.
The drawings in the book make excellent demos you can copy from for refining your drawing skills.
There is also a section about gesture drawing that is helpful to translate anatomical draftsmanship into expressive drawing
Love it! Big bang for your buck. Great for beginners of figure drawing and for intermediates like myself for refining your drawing skills

More of an anatomy based book than a drawing of movement Study.

Although I am an art student, I haven't yet taken a figure drawing class. Don't worry, it's on my list of classes I want to take. Now I just have to find a figure drawing class with a good teacher. All that aside, I am fascinated by figure drawing and would really like to learn more about it, so it's exciting when I find a figure drawing book that looks interesting.

Winslow's book starts out with detailed discussion and drawings of human anatomy. A helpful-looking section about structures and planes of the figure is next, and she then moves on to my favorite section about gesture and action drawing. After that she covers finding movement within apparently stationary figures and sequential movement, including the walk sequence. At the end of the book is a two-page recommended reading list that appears to cover most of the figure drawing and anatomy books I have seen listed here and there as really good ones. I'm excited to look more into both Winslow's book and the books she recommends.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I ordered and went through a lot of anatomy books until I found this one. It is totally the best one I have ever seen and used. It is a book of almost encyclopedic knowledge of bone and muscle structure, but it is not a dry medical tome, but is focused on the artistic practice. For a serious understanding of movement, pressure, rotation, and placement of the body in terms of its underlying structure, I highly recommend this book.

Extremely detailed. I haven't started practicing yet but just looking through the book I can see I'll not only learn how to draw the human body, both male and female, but the book shows, very well, things like how the muscles bend and curve with arms, legs and spine. I'd say it's more for people who already kind of know how to draw since it doesn't give step by step processes.