Mastering Drawing the Human Figure From Life, Memory, Imagination: with Special Section on Drapery

by Jack Faragasso

This book was written to foster the creative spirit of the artist and to aid in the development and the continuation of realistic representational art. It is for all who love to draw the human form. It is for those who have never drawn a line, for those who are students who can draw to a certain degree, and for those professional artists who are proficient in drawing. This book shows step by step how to construct and draw the human figure and face as well along with all it's features.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Reference

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Denise Acerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a concise distillation on Frank Reilly's painting methods. The author makes the information very accessible and presents it in a very logical progression. Particularly helpful is chapter 6 "Light and Shade" in which Faragasso gives detailed explanations and graphs on how to scale values to create different lighting effects. It is absolutely my favorite book on painting!

[Helsean K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although there are quite a few good points mentioned in the text of this book, I cannot say the same thing about the drawings. Especially chapter 10 onward! They are certainly NOT "simplified"! If anything, they are even more complicated and in most cases, not in an accurate way! One can use them as an example to understand what the author is talking about, but it's a big NO-NO to use as reference!
The author keeps mentioning that this book is an structural approach and not literal, but the way I see it, these "structural" approaches only add more complication and don't solve anything! Figure drawing is a hard subject on its own! There's no need to make it even more complicated by using 'rules' and so-called 'guidelines' (not to be confused with guiding lines used to construct the figure in place) that will never take the place of correct observation and confidence in executing the lines! Talking of lines, in my opinion, they are not strong enough in the drawings shown in this book. The portraits look mediocre too and lack proper structure and contrast.
Beginners might find some very useful information in the first few chapters, but I was personally expecting more from a book called MASTERING the figure. I wouldn't recommend this book...

[Darcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars