Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointed with the lack of quality information
Review: After purchasing this book I was very disappointed with the information the way it was presented. This book is extremely biased towards using male subjects as the so-called norm.What is dangerous about this type of book is that it teaches artists only about stereotypical male anatomy. The skulls depicted are all male caucasian skulls. Therefore it would lead people to believe that the alpha-male skull is a generic skull, which to me is simply biased ignorant thinking. Personally, I was hoping for a resource that would not only give information about male & female skull differences and body differences, but also to compare and contrast differences between the races. Not only does it leave out the differences between the male and female skeleton and musculature, but it bases all of its drawings on caucasian male anatomy, which to me is very incomplete. Also, the book skimps on discussing proportions. I have seen amateur websites that do a better job discussing facial proportions than the information covered in this book. Lastly, I am giving this book a 2 because about the only good point about it is that is does a good job describing muscles. Personally, for a serious artist I would look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many parts, not enough bodies
Review: Detailed -- and disappointing. There are too many written
descriptions, too many line drawings, too much wasted space (large
margins, half-blank pages) and not enough photographs. The first
photograph appears on page 65. Prior to that, over half the pages are
primarily, or entirely, text. A randomly selected passage (p. 37):
"The tibial platform is divided into medial and lateral condyles.
Their top surfaces have elongated shallow facets. These facets
articulate with the medial and lateral condyles of the femur..."
Much of the text throughout the entire book is of this type. Other
minuses include the paucity of body positions, and the dearth of
ethnicities and body types. Although the body PARTS are seen from the
front, back, and side, there are no bodies DOING anything. There are
no old people, no children, no fat people, no thin people, and except
for one light-skinned black man, no people of races other than
Caucasian. There is very little depiction of male and female
differences, although there is some descriptive text of them. While
the book description says it includes genitalia, there is extremely
little of it -- hardly enough to mention. There is one photo of a
circumcised penis from the front, and one from the side; and the same
of an uncircumcised one. There are two frontal views of the
"female pubic region", one shaved and one unshaved, both
with legs tightly together. All of these photos are on one page, and
that is the extent of the "genitalia", unless you want to
include the page with female breasts. This page has four photos:
female breasts from the the front, in 3/4 profile, and from overhead,
and one male nipple. Oh yes -- genitalia is also included in the two
pages (only two!) of full body photographs. These two pages contain
eight photos, four male and four female. Each sex is seen from the
front, back, 3/4 front profile and 3/4 back profile. (These same
views are given of a male head, but there are no corresponding photos
of a female head.) The book goes through the body part by part, the
usual format being one page of illustrations facing a page with
corresponding descriptive text. The illustrations usually include a
drawing of the underlying skeletal structure of the body part under
investigation, and next to it two more drawings, one of which adds
just one muscle, while the other adds the entire muscle group; finally
there is a photograph of the part. The photographs are rather small,
often less than an inch and a half wide. (Many of the margins are two
and a half inches wide.) One plus is the 39 pages devoted to facial
expressions, although, again, more than half of these pages are
text-only (again with large margins and lots of blank space), and even
the pages of illustration contain only one or two expressions per
page, usually a front and a side view of the same expression, in the
usual format of skeleton + muscle drawings + photograph. This is not
really a bad book, just not worth the money. I wouldn't have bought
it if I had examined it first. A better choice for the working artist
(especially if s/he is anywhere near the "starving"
category) would be Stephan Rogers Peck's "Atlas of Human Anatomy
for the Artist". Peck's book ... has much of the same
information as the ... Goldfinger book, and includes many useful
features not found in the more expensive book. Check out the reader
reviews on it!
Rating:
Summary: Too many parts, not enough bodies
Review: Detailed -- and disappointing. There are too many writtendescriptions, too many line drawings, too much wasted space (largemargins, half-blank pages) and not enough photographs. The firstphotograph appears on page 65. Prior to that, over half the pages areprimarily, or entirely, text. A randomly selected passage (p. 37):"The tibial platform is divided into medial and lateral condyles.Their top surfaces have elongated shallow facets. These facetsarticulate with the medial and lateral condyles of the femur..."Much of the text throughout the entire book is of this type.Otherminuses include the paucity of body positions, and the dearth ofethnicities and body types. Although the body PARTS are seen from thefront, back, and side, there are no bodies DOING anything. There areno old people, no children, no fat people, no thin people, and exceptfor one light-skinned black man, no people of races other thanCaucasian. There is very little depiction of male and femaledifferences, although there is some descriptive text of them.Whilethe book description says it includes genitalia, there is extremelylittle of it -- hardly enough to mention. There is one photo of acircumcised penis from the front, and one from the side; and the sameof an uncircumcised one. There are two frontal views of the"female pubic region", one shaved and one unshaved, bothwith legs tightly together. All of these photos are on one page, andthat is the extent of the "genitalia", unless you want toinclude the page with female breasts. This page has four photos:female breasts from the the front, in 3/4 profile, and from overhead,and one male nipple. Oh yes -- genitalia is also included in the twopages (only two!) of full body photographs. These two pages containeight photos, four male and four female. Each sex is seen from thefront, back, 3/4 front profile and 3/4 back profile. (These sameviews are given of a male head, but there are no corresponding photosof a female head.)The book goes through the body part by part, theusual format being one page of illustrations facing a page withcorresponding descriptive text. The illustrations usually include adrawing of the underlying skeletal structure of the body part underinvestigation, and next to it two more drawings, one of which addsjust one muscle, while the other adds the entire muscle group; finallythere is a photograph of the part. The photographs are rather small,often less than an inch and a half wide. (Many of the margins are twoand a half inches wide.)One plus is the 39 pages devoted to facialexpressions, although, again, more than half of these pages aretext-only (again with large margins and lots of blank space), and eventhe pages of illustration contain only one or two expressions perpage, usually a front and a side view of the same expression, in theusual format of skeleton + muscle drawings + photograph.This is notreally a bad book, just not worth the money. I wouldn't have boughtit if I had examined it first. A better choice for the working artist(especially if s/he is anywhere near the "starving"category) would be Stephan Rogers Peck's "Atlas of Human Anatomyfor the Artist". Peck's book ... has much of the sameinformation as the ... Goldfinger book, and includes many usefulfeatures not found in the more expensive book. Check out the readerreviews on it!
Rating:
Summary: Expenisve for What You Get
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer. I was required to buy it for a class and it is heavy and expensive. Some muscle groups are shown under load to emphasis structure, but mostly it is pretty motionless.
I was unhappy with the lack of female models and examples of differences between the "standard" male form and the female. A female forearm shows different musculature than a male one, but you would never know it from this book. This book is heavily male-body centric. I am hoping someone creates a female-based anatomy book for artists. Too much on the market is just like this one, although I think he does a good job of showing the very individual parts.
There is a section on facial expressions which at the time was very useful. However, you are better off buying a cheaper anatomy book and getting Gary Fagin's "The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression" which is an excellent value.
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive is the best way to describe it
Review: I am giving this book five stars because it is a wonderous work. The photography and illustrations are clear and instructive. The descriptions leave nothing out that you could wish to know about the different muscles and bones. It really is amazing. Towards the back of the book are some fascinating sculptures breaking the bodies surfaces into planes of varying degrees of complexity. Everything in the book is of a very high quality.
The only real negative I have to say is really not about the book. It is that the artist can get bogged down in studying this book forever trying to learn every muscle and how it connects. This is useful information but you don't need to know but a tiny fraction of what is in this huge book. And this book is not instructive on teaching you how to draw this anatomy. That is not the fault of the author. That is not the intent of this book.
Human Anatomy for the Artist is an exhaustive reference volume you might want to own just in case you want to know everything there is to know about a specific body part. It is also a beautiful book anyone would be proud to own. You will learn a lot from this book every time you pick it up. It will not necessarily help you become a better artist. You will need to learn classic drawing techniques to do that. Your knowlege of anatomy will help you see forms on the model and help you understand them. Combining anatomy with an understanding of how to render forms by understanding light and shadow, proportions, lines, gesture will give you additional power in your drawings. Just remember anatomy is only one very small part.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good foundation book.
Review: I found this book to be a useful text in terms of explaining the fundamental anatomical forms and articulation of the body volumes. It serves very well as a source for understanding the basic building blocks of the body. As a college life drawing teacher, I recommend it to my students without hesitation. It's a useful and interesting book with a pragmatic approach to presenting a clear way of thinking about the figure.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the beginning sculptor.
Review: I must say that this book does an outstanding job of showing the forms of the human body from the very basic geometric shapes to the under-the-hood groundwork. I love the attention spent on each individual muscle showing where it begins and where it ends. Very helpful when shaping the human body. Highly recommended to beginners in any art field.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the beginning sculptor.
Review: I must say that this book does an outstanding job of showing the forms of the human body from the very basic geometric shapes to the under-the-hood groundwork. I love the attention spent on each individual muscle showing where it begins and where it ends. Very helpful when shaping the human body. Highly recommended to beginners in any art field.
Rating:
Summary: comprehensive, well-organized
Review: Obviously, no one book can completely cover the subject of human anatomy, but this is the most complete reference for muscles that I know of. Basically, every muscle has it's own section: a page of illustration & photos, and a page or two of text. As a result, virtually everything about the muslces is clear, and I cannot say this about other books. There is also information on bones, facial expression, and drawings that simplify the structure of the body. However, I reccomend the book mainly because of how well it covers muslces. This is an especially nice reference if you can also study a real skeleton and live models
Rating:
Summary: comprehensive, well-organized
Review: Obviously, no one book can completely cover the subject of human anatomy, but this is the most complete reference for muscles that I know of. Basically, every muscle has it's own section: a page of illustration & photos, and a page or two of text. As a result, virtually everything about the muslces is clear, and I cannot say this about other books. There is also information on bones, facial expression, and drawings that simplify the structure of the body. However, I reccomend the book mainly because of how well it covers muslces. This is an especially nice reference if you can also study a real skeleton and live models
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