The Human Figure
The Human Figure book cover

The Human Figure

Paperback – June 1, 1958

Price
$9.95
Format
Paperback
Pages
144
Publisher
Dover Publications
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0486204321
Dimensions
6 x 0.5 x 9.25 inches
Weight
8.9 ounces

Description

From the Back Cover This great classic is still unrivalled for its clear, detailed presentation of thousands of fundamental features of the human figure. Every element of the body (such as the overhang of the upper lip; the puckering at the corners of the mouth; the characteristic proportions of the head, trunk, limbs, etc.; the tension between connected portions of the body; etc.) is carefully and concisely pointed out in the text. Even more helpful are the 430 pencil and charcoal drawings that illustrate each feature so that you are, in effect, shown what to look for by a master teacher. The result is the only art instruction book which not only illustrates details of the body but directs your attention at every stage to a host of subtle points of shading, curvature, proportion, foreshortening, muscular tension, variations due to extreme age or youth, and both major and minor differences in the structure and representation of the male and female figure. Comprehensive discussions and drawings cover the eyes; nose, mouth and chin; ear; head, trunk, back and hips; neck, throat, and shoulder; shoulder and arm; hand and wrist; leg; foot; the complete figure; and other interdependent groups of structures. This is the human figure as the artist, art student, and art teacher must know it in order to avoid many deceptive errors unfortunately common in much modern portraiture, painting, and illustrative art. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Foreword by George Bridgman.

Features & Highlights

  • This great classic is still unrivalled for its clear, detailed presentation of thousands of fundamental features of the human figure. Every element of the body (such as the overhang of the upper lip; the puckering at the corners of the mouth; the characteristic proportions of the head, trunk, limbs, etc.; the tension between connected portions of the body; etc.) is carefully and concisely pointed out in the text. Even more helpful are the 430 pencil and charcoal drawings that illustrate each feature so that you are, in effect, shown what to look for by a master teacher. The result is the only art instruction book which not only illustrates details of the body but directs your attention at every stage to a host of subtle points of shading, curvature, proportion, foreshortening, muscular tension, variations due to extreme age or youth, and both major and minor differences in the structure and representation of the male and female figure. Comprehensive discussions and drawings cover the eyes; nose, mouth and chin; ear; head, trunk, back and hips; neck, throat, and shoulder; shoulder and arm; hand and wrist; leg; foot; the complete figure; and other interdependent groups of structures. This is the human figure as the artist, art student, and art teacher must know it in order to avoid many deceptive errors unfortunately common in much modern portraiture, painting, and illustrative art.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(188)
★★★★
25%
(156)
★★★
15%
(94)
★★
7%
(44)
23%
(143)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Not for everyone

Nelson Shanks refers to the illustrations of this book as examples of simplifying the human form into patterns of light and dark. While the illustrations do accomplish this, the book is by no means a reference manual for rendering the human body. Also, most of the illustrations appear washed out in my copy of this book. If you are interested in beautiful examples of sensitive charcole renderings of the human figure, this book is outstanding. If you want a visual reference work on the under-structures of the human form, you can find better books than this one.
For anatomical reference, I highly recommend: "Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life" by George B. Bridgman, and "The Human Figure: An Anatomy for Artists" by David K. Rubins.
104 people found this helpful
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Poor Reprint

New reprint. The pictures in this book are scans of scans of scans. The pictures are grainy, fuzzy, and sometimes different than what is in the original version. The poor scans almost make this version unusable. If you can find an original, get it.
22 people found this helpful
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One of the "Standard Texts" for master artists

This book is still "standard issue " for masters like Nelson Shanks - and still in the store at the Art Students League in New York. Why? because its one of the best resources out there for people who want to become master artists - Books like "drawing on the right side of the brain' are great for people who want to learn how to draw. But becoming a master is something different (I am not belittling Drawing on the right side of the brain -its a great book) some people find its hard to believe that a cheap edition (and yes I wish the reproductions of the drawings were better) can provide as much 'knowledge' as a slick, more expensive book - its a longer harder path and more challenging - but follow the principles in this book , and copy the drawings (particularly on the head) and you'll be on your path to becoming a master drawer.
18 people found this helpful
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Not what I was expecting

This book was recommeded by William Maughan in his book The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head. I thought Maughan's book was great and was hoping this would be more of the same. Unfortunately not. Essentially all this book is is a written discripion of various parts of the body, written in very arcane language, with a few pencil sketches of body parts. The descriptions of the body parts do not even refer to the sketches. Definately not for beginners and experienced artists should not waste their time trying to parse the erudite language of this book.
8 people found this helpful
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A little more clarity, please............

Vanderpoel's explanations of how he determines proportion is so convoluted as to make it virtually incomprehensible. I'm sure he was incredibly talented as an artist, but his instruction reads more like a book on geometry than one on drawing.
5 people found this helpful
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... copy of the book from the local library and loved it so much that I decided to own one

I used extensively a copy of the book from the local library and loved it so much that I decided to own one. I ordered the same Dover edition and was disappointed to find out that the quality of the print is much worse than the copy from the library. The bad rating is only due to the poor reprint, the book itself is great
5 people found this helpful
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A Classic for Drawing the Human Body

If you read knowledgable reviews for books on figure drawing, the two authors they consistantly recommend are Vanderpoel and Bridgman [Construction of Anatomy, to start]. He begins with facial features: eyes, nose, ears, lips and chin, and then goes into the rest of the body. Each chapter is stand-alone, so if one part of the anatomy is giving you fits, just flip to those pages. I carry the book with me, along with my sketchpad. In fact I have to order another copy because my mother, an artist for decades, is taking my copy home with her.
5 people found this helpful
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Too technical and not enough visual

I found this book way too technical. There are drawings with no reference numbers or ways to relate to the author's extensive commentary, so I found it hard to relate what he was saying to what I was seeing. The author definitely knows his anatomy and his drawing skills are impeccable, but way too much talk and not enough visual for my taste.
4 people found this helpful
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This is a really good book, which is a lot more text than ...

This is a really good book, which is a lot more text than illustration. It goes into great detail about how to draw facial features and present the surface of the body in a drawing. I am learning to do portraits and figure drawing, and honestly found this over my head. I am a hobbyist, this is academic and more for the very serious art student.
3 people found this helpful
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Poor quality

This is a very poor quality for a book that is suppose to teach drawing skills. The illustrations that it refers to throughout has been copied so many times that the shaded areas are now represented by coarse dots (bad quality copying, like when u copy from a copy). How can one learn and understand what it speaks about if the examples it refers to is faded and poor?

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND!!!
3 people found this helpful