 Has lots of good tips with great examples |
| Review Date: November 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Parka, Singapore |
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R15VDDXP6EDE6X The approach covered is primarily concerned with the use of line, development of form, and the simplified design of anatomy. It doesn't go into contour drawing, shading and expression.
The many illustrated examples are aimed at helping students develop a feel for the form and volume of figures they draw. To that aspect, I think it does a very good job.
The use of simple geometric shapes as drawing guides are simple to understand. Not only that, Michael Hampton also builds onto to those simplified mannequins with lots of clearly illustrated muscles. The muscle groups are visualised very distinctly in the examples. They are colour-coded to bring attention those that affect form when the body is in different positions.
I like the part on finding landmarks -- bones that are near the skin. Colour-coded and shown very clearly, with rotating views from front to back.
The book does have head drawing but the focus is on the form rather than the details of the features, although the examples do show the details. It still covers enough for for anyone to draw a decent head.
One thing that's missing is the mention of figure proportions, like how many heads tall a body, length of an arm, etc. That I think will complete the book. There's nothing on bones and you won't learn how muscle works, but this isn't an anatomy reference book. That said, having an anatomy reference book to go along will be extremely helpful.
This is a useful book for artists learning to create and pose their own figures. Highly recommend for beginner and intermediate artists.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.) |
GREAT BOOK ON FIGURE DRAWING AND FORM ANALYSIS
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| Review Date: September 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: A Reader From Southern California, Orange County, California, USA |
| Figure Drawing: Design and Invention is a must have for any artist trying to learn or refine the art of figure drawing. If drawing solid figures with life and conviction is your goal, this is your book. The overall message is drawing from the inside out (as opposed to flat contour line drawing) by combining strong gesture lines with solid three -dimensional forms to achieve a sculptured and lively figure drawing. This book also teaches the lost art of analyzing form and constructive anatomy. Michael Hampton gives a simple procedure on how to approach the drawings from the ground up using ideas such as line of action, rhythm, and tilt to act as an anchor for adding basic forms and shapes on, and finally anatomy. Muscles are more easily learned when they are reduced to basic shapes that are easy to memorize and locate on the figure. This book reveals shapes for all the major muscles and bones of the human form. Artists interested in any discipline that involves the figure will greatly benefit from the lessons and ideas brought forth in this book. |
Excellent!
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| Review Date: December 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Joseph M. Sapulich, |
| This is an excellent book on the fundamentals of figure drawing focusing on form, balance and anatomy. If you can only afford one book on the subject this is it. If you have a collection of figure drawing books this will be on the top of the pile. The way the author builds the form around the skeletal structure and helps you memorize muscle placement by breaking everything into understandable forms that flow together is wonderfully explained and detailed. If you are a teacher make sure your students get a copy. If you are a student make sure you read this and practice drawing the the sketches in the book. Once you gain understanding of this material branch out to Bridgman and the others----you'll be able to "see" those drawings with greater awareness. |
If Joe Weatherly had written a figure drawing book instead,...
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| Review Date: December 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Laurence A. Clark, |
| then Michael Hampton would probably have written an equally beautiful and useful one on drawing animals. As contemporary "how-to-draw-books" go, these two are among the few that I enjoy and use on a regular basis (Glenn Vilppu, Tom Nguyen, Louis Gordon, Valerie Winslow, to name but a few) that I find are clear, concise, and based on the long standing renaissance approach to drawing (Albrecht Durer, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Angelo, et al) that mainstream artists seem to have only recently "rediscovered," and that comic book artists had somehow kept alive (Hogarth, Kirby, Frazetta, Wallace, Eisner, Adams, and so many more who deserve recognition) through the mess and madness of "mainstream modern art." As some other reviewers have noted, Michael Hampton (in no way do I mean to imply that he has plagiarized others material) has amalgamated several of the best "traditional" presentational approaches (Vilppu, Bridgman, Bammes) and simplified them into a wonderfully clear and useful format. |
IM IN LOVE!
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| Review Date: November 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Kenneth G. Hunter Jr., Greensboro,NC |
| This book is a must buy for any art student worried about constructing the figure. It owns ANY BOOK "EVER" put out on drawing the figure. This was one of those things that kept bugging me because other books just never cut it. Bottom line buy it. Also, he even held a copy for me before I bought it. THANKS MICHAEL! |
Excellent constructive figure drawing book
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| Review Date: December 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Gary Gandy, |
This book is the best constructive figure drawing book I have read. The author proceeds from gesture into structure into anatomy, using simplified geometric forms to construct the figure. Other very helpful topics are covered as well, such as exaggeration, rhythm, bony landmarks, and a brief foray into shading.
The book itself looks like the happy love child of Vilppu and Bridgeman, with Gottfried Bammes in there as well. Clear and concise text is located across from the drawings that they explain, and there are a staggering number of straight-forward drawings and multicolored diagrams to explain each concept. The slightly simplified anatomy covered is very thorough, but a full anatomy text such as Goldfinger or Peck will still be required for highly detailed work.
I have two complaints for the book. One is the strange absence of proportions for the figure and its components. The other is the lack of an index, which would have made searching through the text easier. Otherwise, this is exactly the type of book I wish I had found when I started drawing. Combined with an anatomy reference and a book on value shading, this would be an excellent set for the beginning to intermediate artist.
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