The Figurative Artist's Handbook: A Contemporary Guide to Figure Drawing, Painting, and Composition

Hands down one of the best books I have purchased on figurative drawings. Its absolutely fantastic and everything's explained elaborately with Illustrated drawings .

A beautiful book with just about all you need to know about figurative art. Full of how to do, and beautiful illustrations and paintings. It’s a stunner and great value for money. I made the purchase on reading one of the reviews as you cannot see inside. A heavy book of 300 pages. A treasure, and a must for figurative artist of all levels. Double those star to 10.

I just love this book. The quality is superb! It’s large and has a strong binding that has held up beautifully through the many times I’ve read or just flipped through it to enjoy the artwork. It opens perfectly flat, so you can easily go back and forth between the book and your sketchbook.I would enjoy this book even if I didn’t want to improve my drawing skills. There’s a wonderful opening section that takes the reader through a brief but highly informative and thoughtful history of figurative art. All of the numerous examples are a nice size and take up most, if not an entire, page. Other art books are often lacking in this regard which I find incredibly frustrating. In this book, the sizes are large enough that one can truly understand how the figure has been portrayed in various time periods.He also provides numerous examples of his and others’ artwork throughout the book, and the final chapter discusses various contemporary artists and, through many large examples of their work, tells us about their own creative processes. It’s a wonderful fusion of art appreciation and practical applications which enables the reader to think about what they might want to apply in their own practice. It’s apparent how artists can make the techniques their own without having to worry about sacrificing their own voices. Zeller argues that through knowledge artists can augment their creativity by giving it a vehicle rather than detract from it.As far as the instruction goes, his technique is an insightful combination of various methods. It synthesizes classical and modern approaches which result in renderings that have life, breath, and movement. He provides numerous diagrams and walks the reader through his process step by step which makes the material much easier for one to grasp and apply.This book is appropriate for enthusiastic beginners and working artists who want to improve their technique or who are getting back into the game. As a beginner, I glean something new from each read-through. Somehow he manages to write the instructional portion of the book with lots of density and “meat” while still making it engaging and an extremely enjoyable read. As my skills are improving, I’m grasping nuances that I wasn’t yet ready for but that are speaking to me now, so it’s a source that I continually come back to.The book teaches figurative realism, but it’s much more inclusive than that. There’s a respect for modern approaches and abstraction, so one could use this book (or just enjoy it) no matter what his or her personal style or tastes are.I especially enjoyed the chapter on keeping a sketchbook. In it, he shows examples from numerous working artists. It once again highlights beautiful art with practical, user-friendly applications.It’s a wonderful book that teaches one about fine art through practical techniques, beautiful examples, and a spirit of inclusiveness that makes this book academic and yet approachable at the same time.Very well done!

Me ha encantado este libro , es un must para todos lo artistas principalmente estudiantes

This is a really well rounded book. It's beautifully illustrated and physically it's really pleasing too. After going over the most representative painting styles and biggest names in history, the author offers really useful techniques and an interesting approach to a rather daunting world for the painter. Great pictures and comments about today's contemporary masters become the cherry on the cake for this must have. I really like this. Thanks!

Well I am impressed! If I could rate more stars I would. What I like about this presentation of the figure is that it does not discriminate image representation. Meaning that it shows everything from very traditional new painting all the way to contemporary approaches to the figure. Reproductions are excellent, writing is good, but overall package is really really excellent and a very enjoyable experience. If you at all like painting the figure I would seriously consider buying and having for your library and for reference. While I find the book well made, of a good price, with excellent content, I feel that this is one of those books that will sell out quickly...and once that does...the price will go up as demand goes up. This is the kind of book that could be a great inspiration for art students to those who are exploring the figure. It does not diminish the effort required to make a really good painting but it also is not preachy or corny or roll your eyes kitschy...Respectfully it is a valuable addition to my library. Five stars is all I can award this book...but it exceeds this. I look forward to the next volume two of this book as it is a subject matter that has a lot of interest with lots of really good paintings and artists out there. (And please do not get silly and offended by the cover, it is just a picture, and a good one at that. It is what inside that really counts, really. Please do yourself a big favour and go buy the book...and maybe give to your friend or young or old aspiring artist of the figure. Lovely).