Complete Life Drawing Course

Rating:
Summary: A great how to book for figures and life drawing
Review: I wish I'd found this book before I'd bought other, less complete and helpful ones! This book shows techniques and all media and is a bargain! I was glad I got it to review before I took a figure drawing class because it helped me to do much better.

Rating:
Summary: concise and informative
Review: It presents a lot of information very succintly. The book begins with a section on the human body: bones, muscles, movements and balance and progresses into 8 lessons on learning the basics of catching the nude form. It then provides 8 lessons on various ways to draw light (including a couple that have been covered in a basic design class I am taking), 8 lessons in picture making, and additional projects to try.

I have also been attending a figure drawing group, and have found the instruction contained herein is invaluable to understanding what 'information' is needed for short poses and long poses, and all of the ways one can accurately capture the essence of the human form.

Rating:
Summary: concise and informative
Review: It presents a lot of information very succintly. The book begins with a section on the human body: bones, muscles, movements and balance and progresses into 8 lessons on learning the basics of catching the nude form. It then provides 8 lessons on various ways to draw light (including a couple that have been covered in a basic design class I am taking), 8 lessons in picture making, and additional projects to try.

I have also been attending a figure drawing group, and have found the instruction contained herein is invaluable to understanding what 'information' is needed for short poses and long poses, and all of the ways one can accurately capture the essence of the human form.

Rating:
Summary: another "fast food" art instruction...No Thank You!
Review: The standard to which Diane Constance ought to be held is contained in the choice of words for the title: "The COMPLETE Life Drawing Course" [Caps mine, -BB] So is this a "complete" art instruction in figure drawing? No, it isn't. It's just another art "how-to" book sacked up and shoved over the Fast Food counter to go.

Diane Constance gives a terse and peremptory glossing over of the fundamentals of figure drawing, and most pointedly, we are obligated to ask ourselves: "Do we need another HOW-TO figure drawing book at his time?" "Are the published figure drawing books woefully inadequate?"

Well, in fact, some of the popular titles published today are woefully inadequate. Unfortunately, Diane Constance's book "Complete Life Drawing Course" must join the ranks of those cloned texts that offer the same trite superficialities over....and over....and over yet again. At a suggested retail price of $19.95 this book better deliver, and it doesn't, so what's the point? Really great art instruction is already in print, with good anatomy sections included, for far less money.

Rating:
Summary: another "fast food" art instruction...No Thank You!
Review: The standard to which Diane Constance ought to be held is contained in the choice of words for the title: "The COMPLETE Life Drawing Course" [Caps mine, -BB] So is this a "complete" art instruction in figure drawing? No, it isn't. It's just another art "how-to" book sacked up and shoved over the Fast Food counter to go.

Diane Constance gives a terse and peremptory glossing over of the fundamentals of figure drawing, and most pointedly, we are obligated to ask ourselves: "Do we need another HOW-TO figure drawing book at his time?" "Are the published figure drawing books woefully inadequate?"

Well, in fact, some of the popular titles published today are woefully inadequate. Unfortunately, Diane Constance's book "Complete Life Drawing Course" must join the ranks of those cloned texts that offer the same trite superficialities over....and over....and over yet again. At a suggested retail price of $19.95 this book better deliver, and it doesn't, so what's the point? Really great art instruction is already in print, with good anatomy sections included, for far less money.

Rating:
Summary: Begins well but is quite incomplete.
Review: This book starts off with an excellent pictoral discussion on anatomy, with both male and female models in many various posings.

Unfortunately, once one moves past this excellent beginning, the book rapidly becomes unusable by most artists studying their craft outside of a classroom or studio environment...which means the vast majority of artists will find this book of very limited use, and good for theory only.

Far from explaining all media, it shows only a two-page layout of basic tools of the trade...this is a pen, this is a brush, this is an oil crayon, etc...and then moves into the "exercises" which turn out to be essentially useless, as they require the artist to have a live model present. It is astounding to me that with such a beautifully laid out and well written beginning, and such well done exercises, that the author should choose to omit photographs of the models she worked with in the creation of the book. Nowhere at all does the author state that one needs a live model to complete or even perform the exercises that comprise the majority of this art book...and during the exercises, she even suggests asking the model to make various poses. I found this unbelievable...how can you write an art instruction book of this nature and not mention the need for a live model?...and extremely disappointing, as well as very, very frustrating. Now, the book is essentially useless to me in all but theory.

If you are currently, or planning to, take a figure drawing class which will feature a live model, then this book is for you. It is very well written and the photographs, instruction, and exercises are superb for the beginning or intermediate artist, or any artist venturing into anatomy for the first time.

However, if you do not have plans for such a class, I would suggest buying another book on anatomy and anatomically accurate life/figure drawing. As good as this book is at the beginning, sadly, it is not as useful as it could have been if only the author had thought to provide photographs instead of sticking solely to the requirement for a live model. A terrible shortsight in an otherwise excellent artist's book. Definitely a book to have to round out your artist's library. I wish I could like it more than I do, and will attempt to work with it using my own photographs of people in motion, and an artist's mannequin. Good luck!

Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: Wonderfully done! Starts out with basic anatomy and proportions and shows how these translate in a moving figure. Large clear photos cover both male and female anatomy. The majority of the book is then dedicated to teaching you to develop your own style through various media and then critique your work. A brilliant book for both beginning and intermediate artists. Would be cheap at twice the price. A definate must have!