Anatomy and Figure Drawing Books for Artists
Submitted by Parka on
These are some anatomy and figure drawing books for artists. They consist of reference books and instructional books. See those self-made sketchbooks at the top? I'm practicing my anatomy drawings as well as doing these reviews at the same time.
This list will be constantly updated with new and older books. I hope this list will be helpful to you.
Those marked with FAV are some of my favourite books. They are great for beginners as well.
List of Anatomy and Figure Drawing Books for Artists
- Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis (2011)
- Force: Animal Drawing: Animal Locomotion and Design Concepts for Animators by Andrew Loomis (2011)
- Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis (2011) FAV
- Expressive Figure Drawing: New Materials, Concepts, and Techniques by Bill Buchman (2010)
- Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton (2009) FAV
- The Human Figure: A Sourcebook for Artists and Designers (2009)
- Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures by Walt Stanchfield and Don Hahn (2009)
- The Art and Feel of Making it Real: Gesture Drawing for the Animation and Entertainment Industry by Mark McDonnell (2009)
- Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life by George Bridgman (2009)
- Figure Drawing for Dummies by Kensuke Okabayashi (2009)
- Anatomy Drawing School: Human, Animal, Comparative Anatomy by Andras Szunyoghy and Gyorgy Feher (2008)
- Human Anatomy for Artists by Andras Szunyoghy and Gyorgy Feher (2008)
- The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression by Gary Faigin (2008)
- Classic Human Anatomy: The Artist's Guide to Form, Function, and Movement by Valerie L. Winslow (2008) FAV
- Drawing Hands by Carl Cheek (2008)
- Force: Character Design from Life Drawing by Mike Mattesi (2008)
- Figure Drawing Without a Model by Ron Tiner (2008)
- Anatomy for Artists: A New Approach to Discovering, Learning and Remembering the Body by Anthony Apesos (2007)
- Drawing Drapery from Head to Toe by Cliff Young (2007)
- Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators by Mike Mattesi (2006) FAV
- Henry Yan's Figure Drawing by Henry Yan (2006)
- The Best of Bridgman: Boxed Set by George Bridgman (2006)
- Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier (2005)
- Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure by Barbara Bradley (2003)
- Anatomy for the Artist by Sarah Simblet (2001)
- Anatomy Lessons From The Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle (2000)
- Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery by Burne Hogarth (1995)
- Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists by Joseph Sheppard (1992)
- Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form by Eliot Goldfinger (1991)
- Drawing the Living Figure by Joseph Sheppard (1991)
- Drawing the Human Head by Burne Hogarth (1989)
- Albinus on Anatomy by Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1989)
- Drawing Lessons From the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale (1989) FAV
- Drawing Dynamic Hands by Burne Hogarth (1988)
- Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm (1982)
- Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck (1982)
- Heads, Features and Faces by George Bridgman (1974)
- Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgman (1973)
- The Human Machine by George B. Bridgman (1972)
- The Book of a Hundred Hands by George Bridgman (1971)
- Bridgman's Life Drawing by George Bridgman (1971)
Limited previews and downloads
If you find any books you like, you can support the authors and publishers for making them available by purchasing from them.
Limited previews from Google Books
- Figure Drawing for Dummies by Kensuke Okabayashi (2008)
- Kinetic Anatomy by Robert S. Behnke (2006)
- The Artist's Guide to Human Anatomy by Gottfried Bammes (2004)
- Anatomy for Artists by Diana L. Stanley (2003)
- Drawing the Human Body by Giovanni Civardi (2001)
- Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing From Life by George B. Bridgman (2001)
- Drawing the Draped Figure by George B. Bridgman (2001)
- Figure Drawing Step by Step by Wendon Blake (1998)
- Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists by Joseph Sheppard (1992)
- Realistic Figure Drawing by Joseph Sheppard (1991)
- Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form by Eliot Goldfinger (1991)
- The Figure: The Classic Approach to Drawing & Construction by Walt Reed (1984)
- Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm (1983)
- Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artists by Stephen Rogers Peek (1982)
- Heads, Features and Faces by George B. Bridgman (1974)
- Constructive Anatomy by George B. Bridgman (1973)
- The Book of a Hundred Hands by George B. Bridgman (1971)
- Anatomy for Artists by Reginald Marsh (1970)
- A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students by Arthur Thomson (1964)
- Art Student's Anatomy by Edmond John Farris (1961)
- Bridgman's Life Drawing by George B. Bridgman (1961)
- The Human Figure by John H. Vanderpoel (1958)
- An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists by Fritz Schider, Max Auerbach (1957)
- Anatomy and Drawing by Victor Ferard (1899)
Downloads
- placidchaos.com Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis FAV
- Drawing The Heads & Hands by Andrew Loomis
- Dynamic Anatomy by Burne Hogarth
- Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogarth
- Figure Drawing without a Model by Ron Tiner
Photos
Photos of anatomical parts
Tags:
- instructional art book reviews
- figure drawing
- anatomy
- gesture drawing
26 Comments
Hey Parka, The "Wizard" books
Submitted by David on
Hey Parka,
The "Wizard" books in the main picture..are those from the magazine publisher Wizard? As in the comic book Wizard? I used to buy them when I was young and ignored mostly everything in the magazine except the 'how to draw' section.
I guess I'll do a few google searches and find out!
@David Yup, the are the
Submitted by Parka on
@David
Yup, the are the magazine publisher Wizard. The titles are Wizard How To Draw: Advanced Techniques, How to Draw: Storytelling and How to Draw: Getting Started.
ISBNs are 0977861341, 0977861309 and 0979256402 respectively.
They teach more comic drawing techniques.
Missing in this very
Submitted by Brian Smith on
Missing in this very comprehensive list though are my two favourite anatomy/drawing books: Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist (Galaxy Books) by Stephen Rogers Peck which is now in paperback reprint (hard cover when I was taking anatomy in college; and a more recent book: Anatomy for the Artist by Sarah Simblet and John Davis. This truly delicious anatomy book has many features not found in other artists' texts.
@Brian Smith Thanks for the
Submitted by Parka on
@Brian Smith
Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely check them out.
-- did you get a refund as I
Submitted by Thorsten on
-- did you get a refund as I bought one of 'em? :)
@Thorsten Which book did you
Submitted by Parka on
@Thorsten
Which book did you buy?
drawn to life :)
Submitted by Thorsten on
drawn to life :)
@Thorsten Well, someone
Submitted by Parka on
@Thorsten
Well, someone ordered a Vol 1 so I suppose that's you. Thanks!
Hey I placed in my website
Submitted by Anonymous on
Hey I placed in my website free anatomy books PDF chec out her: www.artofuldis.com/index.php?tab=9&tab2=17&tab3=0&tab4=0&a=1
hey parka, you may be
Submitted by msc on
hey parka, you may be interested in these two books:
Life Drawing in Charcoal, by Douglas R Graves
www.amazon.com/Life-Drawing-Charcoal-Douglas-Graves/dp/0486282686
The Sketch, by Robert S. Oliver (out of print)
www.amazon.com/Sketch-Robert-S-Oliver/dp/0442262493
btw, thanks for the reviews!
Submitted by msc on
btw, thanks for the reviews! ;-)
Hey Parka, if you had to
Submitted by Sarah on
Hey Parka, if you had to choose only one anatomy book from these you had reviewed. Which one would you choose?
I want to buy one, but i'm in doubt..
@Sarah Probably Classic Human
Submitted by Parka on
@Sarah
Probably Classic Human Anatomy: The Artist's Guide to Form, Function, and Movement by Valerie L. Winslow
Hey, its a nice list you have
Submitted by Plamen on
Hey, its a nice list you have made. I just want to advise you to find the book - Die Gestalt des Menschen by Gottfried Bammes. i had a look at some of the books you have listed and I believe and strongly recomend Gottfried Bammes. It is very well explained and the images are very descriptive.
cheers
I've bought a few anatomy
Submitted by Ryan on
I've bought a few anatomy books from your review blog so when I saw this listing I felt I had to tell you www.amazon.com/Figure-Drawing-Andrew-Loomis/dp/0857680986/ref=sr_...
Figure Drawing For All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis is coming back into print. (Finally!!!) Maybe Titan Books can give you an advance copy for review.
Hey Parka- if you could
Submitted by Anonymous! on
Hey Parka- if you could choose, say, 5 or 6 books from this list, which would they be? I can't purchase every book, however tempting. Thanks in advance!
Also, what are your favorite Ghibli-related books? I'm trying to research what Miyazaki took inspiration from, as well as his 'Art of' books.
@Anonymous! I would recommend
Submitted by Parka on
@Anonymous!
I would recommend the following as a start: