From the Overview:
Knowing how to draw the figure is a great skill for any artist to have. If you are interested in working in one of narrative art such as film, comics, video games, or illustration being able to draw and invent figures is essential. Even if you’re more interested in expressing abstract ideas through fine art, having the skill to draw a figure in any pose opens up a whole world of expressiveness.
Learning to draw people can seem like a daunting task. The human body has so many muscles and features that trying to understand all the parts all at once quickly becomes overwhelming. Most often, artists who want to learn the human form begin by grabbing an anatomy book and trying to figure out what all the bumps are on the model. The really dedicated students may even memorize the names of the muscles. Unfortunately, having a medical understanding of the human body does little to help you draw it. The good news is that anyone can learn to draw the figure, and it’s a lot more fun than memorizing an anatomy book. If you start with the basics, you can begin to draw a simple figure today. As you learn more you will be able to add more detail and complexity to your drawings. And you will be able to invent figures and poses from your imagination.
In the beginning, it’s better not to pay attention to specific muscles. Instead, I teach with some fundamentals that are designed to build your spatial reasoning abilities and will lay the foundation for drawing from imagination. Each new chapter builds on the previous one to give you the skill needed to add complexity to your drawing. By the end of each chapter, you will be able to draw the figure with greater detail.
It’s important to have an overview of the process so you can see where you are going and how the concepts interconnect. The book is divided into five chapters (called “levels”) that will take you from a simple armature to detailed breakdowns of the different body parts. If you take your time to master the skills presented in each chapter, you will have an easier time in subsequent chapters.
Level 1
Armature, proportion and gesture drawing.
Level 2
Three-dimensional drawing and the simplified skeleton.
Level 3
Creating a simple figure using boxes, spheres, and cylinders.
Level 4
Understanding anatomy from an artist’s perspective.
Level 5
A step-by-step procedure for drawing the human form.
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