Rating: 
Summary: michelangelo ,leonardo beware!
Review: this is a wonderful must buy book by robert beverly hale , renowned art teacher,his understanding of the works of the great masters is truly astounding. what you can get from this book? all artists who wish to become masters of drawing the human figure can find a system to grade yourself for your entire lifetime compared to the great masters.that means you will never be easily satisfied by your own work, and you have the luxury of studying from a vast collection of drawings from almost all the well- known figure artists of the last six hundred years.each artist has his own strength and weakness . hale has very intelligently pointed out the strengths but misses out on the weaknesses thats where you got to have many more books on anatomy and drawing to cross refer and also finally you have to try identifying these strengths and putting them down in your style while doing life drawing or imaginary drawing. you have to understand that we are at an advantage compared to all the artists featured in this book(even though hale would like you to beleive otherwise) because of the vast resources available to us in the form of great master works and anatomy books ,medical and artistic.buy this book and chart the path to great figure drawing. finally i beleive that its possible to acheive unparalled success at figure drawing through regular training in a systematic manner.anyone with any questions can email me .im an animator and an advanced student of figure drawing.
Rating:
Summary: michelangelo ,leonardo beware!
Review: this is a wonderful must buy book by robert beverly hale , renowned art teacher,his understanding of the works of the great masters is truly astounding. what you can get from this book? all artists who wish to become masters of drawing the human figure can find a system to grade yourself for your entire lifetime compared to the great masters.that means you will never be easily satisfied by your own work, and you have the luxury of studying from a vast collection of drawings from almost all the well- known figure artists of the last six hundred years.each artist has his own strength and weakness . hale has very intelligently pointed out the strengths but misses out on the weaknesses thats where you got to have many more books on anatomy and drawing to cross refer and also finally you have to try identifying these strenghts and putting them down in your style while doing life drawing or imaginary drawing. you have to understand that we are at an advantage compared to all the artists featured in this book(even though hale would like you to beleive otherwise) because of the vast resources available to us in the form of great master works and anatomy books ,medical and artistic.buy this book and chart the path to great figure drawing. finally i beleive that its possible to acheive unparalled success at figure drawing through regular training in a systematic manner.anyone with any questions can email me .im an animator and an advanced student of figure drawing.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing on many levels; plausible for the serious artist
Review: This is an extroardinary study of the anatomical knowledge and ideas implemented by the greatest (anatomically informed)figure drawers artists of all time. It is quite inticing and the author is obviously intelligent enough to handle the analyzations of the pictures supplied, but the tips and exercises involved would be fit for somebody who views drawing as more than a hobby (for in that case one might be discouraged by the incredible extent of the anatomical knowledge of the "Great Masters").
Rating:
Summary: The Best There Is.
Review: This is the best book for the art student that has ever been written, or ever will be written.
Rating:
Summary: A necessary book for advancement
Review: This may not be the very best "first" book of drawing instruction, but it ranks among the books that any figure-drawing student must eventually study. Perhaps after working through Jack Hamm's books, the next step up would be to acquire Hale's text. When some satisfactory skill is achieved, read Hale. Hale is definitely not for the "drawing on the right side of my ambition" crowd.
Hale's credentials speak for themselves, and his work places him far beyond the herd of drawing authors that rely upon gimmicks such as catch-phrases about YOGA, or ZEN, RIGHT-BRAIN, or INNER THIS or INNER THAT, or "revolutionary approach" in the title to push bland intruction to increase sales. Rather, Hale's work is striking because it reflects the singular focus of an artist who can teach figure drawing without mis-directing the student with irrelevancies.
Hale is also humble, in that he directs the student to genuine Masters of drawing: Durer, Rembrandt, Cambiaso, Rubens, Bruegel, da Vinci, Degas, and Carracci, rather than filling a book with his own drawings. He writes, on page 33:
"BY SIMPLY DRAWING A CUBE, you can understand some of the significance of line in creating the illusion of reality."
That is so refreshing because it stands in diametrical opposition to the FAD THEORY books which have become the fashion of the day. FIVE STARS is deserved.
Rating:
Summary: A necessary book for advancement
Review: This may not be the very best "first" book of drawing instruction, but it ranks among the books that any figure-drawing student must eventually study. When some satisfactory skill is achieved, read Hale. Hale is definitely not for the "drawing on the right side of my ambition" crowd. Hale's credentials speak for themselves, and his work places him far beyond the herd of drawing authors that rely upon gimmicks such as catch-phrases such as YOGA, or ZEN, RIGHT-BRAIN, or INNER THIS or INNER THAT, in the title to push bland intruction to increase sales. Rather, Hale's work is striking because it reflects the singular focus of an artist who can teach figure drawing without mis-directing the student with irrelevancies. Hale is also humble, in that he directs the student to genuine Masters of drawing: Durer, Rembrandt, Cambiaso, Rubens, Bruegel, da Vinci, Degas, and Carracci, rather than filling a book with his own drawings. He writes, on page 33: "BY SIMPLY DRAWING A CUBE, you can understand some of the significance of line in creating the illusion of reality." That is so refreshing because it stands in diametrical opposition to the DRAW-WHAT-YOU-FEEL genre of instruction which has become the fashion of the day. FIVE STARS is deserved.
Rating:
Summary: A necessary book for advancement
Review: This may not be the very best "first" book of drawing instruction, but it ranks among the books that any figure-drawing student must eventually study. When some satisfactory skill is achieved, read Hale. Hale's credentials speak for themselves, and his work places him far beyond the herd of drawing authors that rely upon gimmicks such as catch-phrases such as YOGA, or ZEN, RIGHT-BRAIN, or INNER THIS or INNER THAT, in the title to push bland intruction to increase sales. Rather, Hale's work is striking because it reflects the singular focus of an artist who can teach figure drawing without mis-directing the student with irrelevancies. Hale is also humble, in that he directs the student to genuine Masters of drawing: Durer, Rembrandt, Cambiaso, Rubens, Bruegel, da Vinci, Degas, and Carracci, rather than filling a book with his own drawings. He writes, on page 33: "BY SIMPLY DRAWING A CUBE, you can understand some of the significance of line in creating the illusion of reality." That is so refreshing because it stands in diametrical opposition to the DRAW-WHAT-YOU-FEEL genre of instruction which has become the fashion of the day. FIVE STARS is deserved.
Rating:
Summary: 'THE' book for the student of classical figure drawing
Review: This wonderful book by R.B.Hale is one of the most profound works ever written concerning not just classical life drawing but also the principles underpinning all good drawing. I am a working artist,illustrator and drawing teacher who studied at one of the few really good traditional art schools in the world (we did nothing else but draw and paint the figure, the plaster cast and still lives), and this book was recommended as a worthy text. At first I ignored it because of one silly remark old Robert Beverley makes on the first page where he states that he supposed that there is no one living today who could draw as well as the worst artist included in his book. I felt that this was absolute codswallop, and still do, but once I gave him a chance to speak he completely changed my understanding! Many people feel that if you can copy something exactly as you see it then you are an accomplished artist. This might be true in this era where drawing is hardly the number one subject in school. The beauty of Hales book is that he expounds the subtle and brilliant secrets of masters of the past, most of whom came from a time pre-camera, when drawing and consequently painting was a true science, a deep and profound study of 3D form, underlying anatomy, exquisite subtleties of tonal light CREATED IN THE ARTISTS HEAD and not neccessarily what was seen ( real light moves constantly anyway!) So, if you are a dedicated and passionate art student or artist who is prepared to humble yourself and really learn to draw, then this book and indeed all of R.B.Hales books including his 'Artistic Anatomy' with Paul Richer is for you. Please feel free to write to me with any questions regarding classical drawing.
Rating: 
Summary: Lessons from the Masters
Review: Very generic, some nice figure drawing but on the whole not worth the expense.
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