Skip to main content

Review: Classic Human Anatomy in Motion: The Artist’s Guide to the Dynamics of Figure Drawing by Valerie L. Winslow



Review: Classic Human Anatomy in Motion: The Artist’s Guide to the Dynamics of Figure Drawing
Valerie L. Winslow
2015
Watson-Guptill

I only wish I had this volume when I studied anatomy in college.  The basics are presented here so clearly they seem natural.  Knowledge of this sort helps to see what exists before you from the surface through to skeletal structure beneath.  
Classic Human Anatomy in Motion: The Artist's Guide to the Dynamics of Figure Drawing 
The author examines the human body form by region and structure in order to facilitate the discussion of motion later for her reader.  An arm can move in a particular fashion and all the surface contours develop from that.  Visualizing the hip structure helps place joints and proportions appropriately.  A facial expression requires particular muscle groups contracting and jaw movements that involve other associated structures.  Intuitively, all this is obvious, but making the transition to the art surface can lose much of the intent of the artist, and the information contained in this book can raise awareness of form and function.  Does the more abstract form need this?  I think so just to know how to bend the reality without losing the identifying marks of motion and form.  

This book contains numerous drawings and sketches with the mediums used for each within the narrative. I found them quite helpful.  The author suggests several different exercises in the last chapter for those that wish to work on action poses.  She also includes a list of suggested readings that cover a variety of specialized information.   
    
An accomplished artist may not need this book, but the rest of us that are either on the way to that status or just wanting to improve our hobby skill could definitely benefit from this book.

I received this book form the publisher in exchange for a review.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot by Mo Isom

Review: Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot Mo Isom Baker Books 2018 I picked this one up after I’d seen a video promo by the author, http://moisom.com/sexandjesus#.   Sounded like she had something to say.   She does.   And even if you don’t think it applies to you it does in ways that aren’t necessarily related to sex, but just as a human being with desires.    Isom subscribed to many of the conversations that govern relationships in general, and those with men, for her generation, the millennials.   This book is not her life story, but it does describe some moments that were important to her journey then and now.   Her openness to share those times surprised me.   Her point without spoiling the book is that she had not understood what linked sexual intimacy to ordinary life, the why’s, if you will.   Was it not taught, discussed?   Or was she not interested in hearing might be a valid...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense by Dr. Larry Crabb

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense Dr. Larry Crabb Baker Books 2018 I chose this book because the title intrigued me.   When God’s Ways Make No Sense.    There have been plenty of times when that seemed truer than I’d like to admit.   Are we even allowed to say something like that?   Even if we think it.   So, an author willing to take on that topic had my attention. And mostly because I wanted his take on what to do about it? As it turns out Crabb pretty much gave away his case very early on in his book with a single scripture quote.   The basic idea is God is GOD and we are not.   His motives and actions are incomprehensible to mankind and He owes no explanation for them either.   Crabb admits near the end of his book that he is not a theologian which I knew going into this book, but his arguments are theology.   Or at least I think so.   I found his repeated circling the topic a bit frustrating. ...
1 comment
Read more

Review: The World of Jesus: Making Sense of the People and the Places of Jesus’ Day by Dr. William H. Marty

Review: The World of Jesus: Making Sense of the People and the Places of Jesus’ Day Dr. William H. Marty Bethany House Publishers 2013 If you have ever tried to keep track of who is who during the period that is the between the testaments time and afterward you will have a good appreciation for what Dr. Marty has done with this short book.   It’s still like reading a soap opera plot but at least this help keep the characters sorted out.   The political and social changes came fast and frequently back then with the land of the Jews right in the midst of it all.   For me this is a reminder that it was not any easier back then in that region than it is today.    So if you are looking for a place to start an exploration of that period this might be a good overview to pick up first.    This book was provided in exchange for a review by the publisher.
Post a Comment
Read more