How to Draw the Human Figure : A Complete Guide - Hardcover

John Raynes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0752568299 ISBN 13: 9780752568294

Publisher: Parragon, 2001

Synopsis

PEOPLE HAVE been drawing one another since time immemorial — the simple figures inscribed on the walls of prehistoric caves are eloquent testimony that this is an activity that is virtually as old as humankind itself. The beauty of drawing as an expressive medium is its simplicity — all that is needed is a surface, an instrument with which to make marks, and a subject to draw. Sadly, many beginners remain fearful of picking up a pencil and making that first attempt to render the human figure — they are so convinced that artistic skill is an innate gift that they scarcely dare believe that competent draughtsmanship is a skill that can be learned. In this beautifully illustrated book, John and Jody Raynes set out to overturn this preconception. They demystifv the process of figure drawing and show how even relatively inexperienced beginners can learn to translate the evidence of their eyes into compelling lines on paper. The emphasis is upon looking and believing in what you see. While not pretending that there is any instant substitute for practice and hard work, the authors are at pains to stress, “Draw truthfully what you see and the likeness will come.” The book is constructed as a series of 68 projects which are creatively linked so that basic drawing skills, methods of perception and the principles of simple human anatomy are first established, and then the reader is introduced to more advanced ideas involving the use of colour, perspective, varying lightfall and increasingly complex types of composition. The final sections deal with character and the ways in which students can use their developing ability to reproduce form and movement on paper so as to communicate the aspects of people that make them unique — their individual personalities. Throughout, the book is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of original drawings and illustrations

Edition details

• Publisher: Parragon
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752568299
• ISBN 13: 9780752568294
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160