Maybe wrong place? Which anatomy book to buy?

[KonnA]

Well, the title really explains it. I have encountered some money and I've never owened an anatomy book to study from and I'll definetly need a super strong knwoledge for anatomy. I want to be a character designer/Concept Artist. Well I hope so probably won't get there but an anatomy book is a must. Whats the BEST? Thanks!

[squidmonk3j]

"Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form" by Eliot Goldfinger is excellent.

...just don't waste your money on "Anatomy for the Artist" by Sarah Simblet. i notice it popping up on most search engines, but it's more of an art book than a good educational source.

[maths82]

here's my favourite..accurate system, and of course, its dynamic, lots of movement and body in motion.
dynamic anatomy - hogarth (http://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Anatomy-Practical-Art-Books/dp/0823015513)

[Arshes Nei]

Peck http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Human-Anatomy-Artist-Galaxy/dp/0195030958/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234549574&sr=1-1

Now the question is, are you looking for a figure drawing book or Anatomy, because I disagree with Hogarth teaching anatomy if looking for basic study, and Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy is good more for comics and cartooning. But because it's so exaggerated, you will end up with odd proportions, and you want the basic ones down before you go into exaggeration.

This book was recently released: http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Human-Anatomy-Function-Movement/dp/0823024156/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234550284&sr=1-1 It encompass as much information as Peck's book but I do admit the print quality and illustrations in it are more clear. Lots of words though, so if you're a visual person, you may not like this.

Other books:
http://www.amazon.com/Human-Anatomy-Artists-Andras-Szunyoghy/dp/084160178X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234550582&sr=1-4

Now if you're looking for figure drawing I'd say go for Bridgman or Loomis in which you can find pdf versions online (mostly for the latter) Bridgman books are still in print and cheap. Be aware it's rather sketchy so if loose examples bother you, you may not like it. Gottfried Bammes is another one that's rather good and covers a lot but the good books are still in German, and again you'll be lucky if you find a PDF version online (I'd support buying the book regardless of the language, it's very good).

[KonnA]

So MANYZ ;D

[KonnA]

Damn Im confused

[KonnA]

Okay I'm going to need clarification.

I always look in peoples sketchbooks and then they have pages upon pages of studies. These are usually of arms, legs, or torso's. They are sometimes comprised of a collaboration of muscle studies, bone studies and normal skin studies. Do they draw those studies from anatomy books? If not what are anatomy books for, are they just to read about the body. If so, this will definetly not help me, I can't draw from just having read that the arm can bend so for or what not. Lol. Well what will I need?

[rpace]

Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist (http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Human-Anatomy-Artist-Galaxy/dp/0195030958/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234555919&sr=8-1) is the best general purpose and readily available bones-to-muscles-to-flesh book I know. There are more erudite and expansive books as well as simpler and cheaper, but the Peck book is never wasted,

I do have to advise against any anatomy reference by Hogarth. His books are abysmal. Often his anatomy is not just wrong, but actually imaginary. Muscles he was ignorant of just never get drawn and his sense of proportion is ludicrous. I keep a copy of his Dynamic Hands book just to keep as a reminder of how bad Hogarth's books are.

Anything you learn from a Hogarth book will have to be unlearned later if you want to actually draw well.

It's a sad world we live in where Hogarth's books are readily available and Loomis's aren't.

~Richard

[Arshes Nei]

Okay I'm going to need clarification.

I always look in peoples sketchbooks and then they have pages upon pages of studies. These are usually of arms, legs, or torso's. They are sometimes comprised of a collaboration of muscle studies, bone studies and normal skin studies. Do they draw those studies from anatomy books? If not what are anatomy books for, are they just to read about the body. If so, this will definetly not help me, I can't draw from just having read that the arm can bend so for or what not. Lol. Well what will I need?

There is a slight distinction between the two because of the following:

Some Anatomy books are very specific in learning muscles and underlying bone structure. They also talk about how muscles move, bones move, etc. However, they may not cover technique such as contour drawing, gestures etc... Although some books may cover topics of "drawing" which is good, you may miss out if you don't pick up the how to draw books and may only rely on just an anatomy book, without understanding drawing techniques. Some books may cover a bit of both.

Some figure drawing books may only concentrate on surface anatomy and just getting the basics down. They may be more on technique. Henry Yan is a technique book for life drawing. That doesn't mean it can't be an applied technique for doing other things, but if you're looking for major muscle groups, you will NOT find it in his book.

Bridgman for example, doesn't cover females very well in my opinion. Hogarth seems to only concentrate on one body type. I found information in the Peck Book covering this. I also found another book by Ron Tiner that covered body types rather well compared to other figure drawing books I encountered.

So the answer is yes. They study from books and draw from life.

The other thing to note is that you don't have to buy every book out there. There's these things called "libraries" check out the books and read them, you'll probably find useful information in one book that isn't covered by another.

Does it seem overwhelming? Well yes, in a way human figure drawing has been a big subject for a long time. The more you draw the more you learn, the more you think you learn, the more you realize you have to learn. However, that's what makes it fun in a way too. It's puzzle solving. You'll encounter lots of trial and error.

If this seems overwhelming to you, I do ask you to read at least one book called Art & Fear (I often mention it a lot) but http://painting.about.com/od/productreviews/fr/Art_and_Fear.htm

It addresses a lot of the fears you have right now or even feeling overwhelmed.

Also note books will not replace what other part is needed, and that's lots and lots of practice. The more you draw, the more you get the mistakes out of the way so you can learn to eventually do it right.

[KonnA]

There is a slight distinction between the two because of the following:

Some Anatomy books are very specific in learning muscles and underlying bone structure. They also talk about how muscles move, bones move, etc. However, they may not cover technique such as contour drawing, gestures etc... Although some books may cover topics of "drawing" which is good, you may miss out if you don't pick up the how to draw books and may only rely on just an anatomy book, without understanding drawing techniques. Some books may cover a bit of both.

Some figure drawing books may only concentrate on surface anatomy and just getting the basics down. They may be more on technique. Henry Yan is a technique book for life drawing. That doesn't mean it can't be an applied technique for doing other things, but if you're looking for major muscle groups, you will NOT find it in his book.

Bridgman for example, doesn't cover females very well in my opinion. Hogarth seems to only concentrate on one body type. I found information in the Peck Book covering this. I also found another book by Ron Tiner that covered body types rather well compared to other figure drawing books I encountered.

So the answer is yes. They study from books and draw from life.

The other thing to note is that you don't have to buy every book out there. There's these things called "libraries" check out the books and read them, you'll probably find useful information in one book that isn't covered by another.

Does it seem overwhelming? Well yes, in a way human figure drawing has been a big subject for a long time. The more you draw the more you learn, the more you think you learn, the more you realize you have to learn. However, that's what makes it fun in a way too. It's puzzle solving. You'll encounter lots of trial and error.

If this seems overwhelming to you, I do ask you to read at least one book called Art & Fear (I often mention it a lot) but http://painting.about.com/od/productreviews/fr/Art_and_Fear.htm

It addresses a lot of the fears you have right now or even feeling overwhelmed.

Also note books will not replace what other part is needed, and that's lots and lots of practice. The more you draw, the more you get the mistakes out of the way so you can learn to eventually do it right.

Thanks Arshes Nei. You have kept posting in my threads to help me and I really appreciate it. Really feel in the future however I expand on my art it could all be down to you. Look out for me. Haha.

[Arshes Nei]

Thanks Arshes Nei. You have kept posting in my threads to help me and I really appreciate it. Really feel in the future however I expand on my art it could all be down to you. Look out for me. Haha.

I think a lot of us have been in your situation. When I thought I learned everything, I ended up hitting here and CG Society, and realized I knew nothing at all (compared to what I could learn here). Since then between webmistressing, my other job I've been putting what I'm learning here into studies. I feel a lot better about myself than when I actually went to art college.

[rattsang]

when i was leaarning anatomy i found this site (http://www.visiblebody.com) more useful than anything else, the reason being

1. its totally free
2. its a 3d (and therefore complete) representation of the female figure
3. each individual muscle or bone ect can be turn off or made transparent, so its easier to see wedging forms and where all the muscles start and terminate.

i spent many hours studying this site and it helped me greatly, one down side is you have to regiester it with an email address but i just set up an account for it instead of using my real email.

[RogerAdams]

Scour the net for Kevin Chen drawings. He generously posts his anatomy demos and notes online. Here's a link to get you started: http://analyticalfiguresp08.blogspot.com/

[Zaxser]

Mentler has good stuff online, and three seperate, awesome threads on this site.

Bridgman is good, and you can find it in a torrent if you're not above such things.

Loomis is a good basic start, Hogarth isn't as terrible as some people say, but should be dodged in favor of Loomis if at all possible. And it is. Someone will post the noobgrinder link soon, probably.

You might want to try using the search button in the future. This question has asked, in one form or another, many, many times.

[Spirit]

I am a beginner in anatomy as I have decided to start learning it as well, last week I spent days looking at as many different anatomy books as I could before actually buying one. The best one I found is "Anatomy for Artists" by Barrington Barber. It gives you all the information an artist needs to know, a perfect amount of detailed, written information, along with many studies of the whole figure, and then has a section for each part of the body. Also, at the end of each of these sections, it features some studies of 'master artists' like Da Vinci and many others. I think that it is a really good book for artists studying anatomy, and stood out from the many I looked at.