The Nude Figure

For thousands of artists lacking access to figure classes with live models, this portfolio of superbly photographed models provides a life-drawing studio right at home. An extensive compilation of traditional life drawing poses includes female and male figures in standing, seated, reclining, and action poses, each shown gracefully in circular movement, taking in all views: front, three-quarter-front, side, three-quarter back, and back. Each photograph is beautifully composed and lit, providing artists with all the nuances of muscle structure, line, and gesture to inspire fully developed figure drawings and paintings.

More than two hundred full-color photos of women in motion and at rest Standing. Seated. Reclining. Kneeling. Bending. Crouching. Running. World-renowned photographer Mark Edward Smith has captured women of every age and form in every type of movement, then gathered his striking, unusual images into The Nude Female Figure. An indispensable reference for artists who have limited access to live figure models, this remarkable book features striking images of shapely young women as well as elegiac photos of more mature women. The models in these full-color pictures include women of every type—slender women, not-so-slender women, pregnant women, and women of color. A special section shows closeups of the hands and feet. Each pose is beautiful, and the unparalleled attention to composition, lighting, and reproduction make it easy for artists to see the relationships between the parts of the body and to study the classic female figure. • A must-have reference for all artists • Beautiful composition and lighting by a world-renowned photographer and best-selling author—125,000 books sold • All in color for the first time—at same great price as The Nude Figure

In the world of contemporary pin-up art, few artists can capture the sexy essence of a gorgeous woman as well and as wonderfully as Jim Silke. For years Silke's signature luscious paintings and sensuous drawings have delighted the hearts and eyes of everyone who appreciates the beauty and grace of the female form, as portrayed in his other bestselling art books, including Bettie Page, Queen of Hearts and Pin-Up: The Illegitimate Art. This time, the pin-up master strips his subjects of dress and other distractions to better reveal the delicious details that are usually hidden from admiring eyes. And, as fans have come to expect from the gentleman genius behind the brush, Silke adorns his intoxicating imagery with sage insight and cunning wit, as he recounts his long and exceedingly happy career flirting with fine art and foxy women.

Giovanni Civardi breaks down the complex process of drawing the male nude, from making rudimentary choices about framing, lighting and the most appropriate drawing tools, to rendering detailed and anatomically accurate artworks. Civardis own masterful drawings provide an excellent touchstone for the artist wanting to explore the depiction of the male body, and his studies of numerous poses cover all aspects of life drawing. Civardi takes a pragmatic, almost scientific, approach to teaching the subject, combining basic physics with artistic interpretation. Drawing the Male Nude also touches upon the significant anatomical differences between the male and the female form, but these are also covered in some detail in the companion to this title, Drawing the Female Nude.

With over 270 unique examples, renowned artist Joseph Sheppard demonstrates how to draw the nude female realistically and with authority, to make each image come alive! In addition to basic drawing techniques, Sheppard provides insight into the procedure of drawing from life, from how to look at a model, to composition and emphasis necessary to create a compelling drawing. Drawing the Female Figure covers the most important aspects of the female figure in a variety of poses: anatomical points, proportion, attitudes and weight distribution, rendering, variations and types, foreshortening, and the figure in motion. With the keenest attention to detail, Sheppard demonstrates how to draw each facet of the female anatomy in standing, seated, kneeling, crouching, and reclining positions. With instruction and tips for every level of artist working with any medium, Drawing the Female Figure is the perfect addition to every creative person's library. Joseph Sheppard attended the Maryland Institute of Art and was awarded a Guggenheim Traveling Fellowship to Florence, Italy in 1957. His work has won numerous prestigious awards and is featured in nearly two dozen museums and collections worldwide, including the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, and the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit the author's website www.josephsheppard.com.

To draw is to understand what we see. In The Undressed Art, writer-naturalist Peter Steinhart investigates the rituals, struggles, and joys of drawing. Reflecting on what is known about the brain’s role in the drawing process, Steinhart explores the visual learning curve: how children begin to draw, how most of them stop, and what brings adults back to this deeply human art form later in life. He considers why the face and figure are such commanding subjects and describes the delicate collaboration of the artist and model. Here is a powerful reminder that no revolution in art or technology can undermine our vital need to draw.

Approximately 60 pages with 55 sepia toned images. This work is ENTIRELY pictorial. Contains artistic nudity - For ADULTS ONLY This work is a study of the female nude in a classical form. It is ideal for those wishing to expand their knowledge of an artistic presentation of the female nude. For those who are interested in such things, all the images in this book were created with a Mamiya RB67 camera and 50, 90, and 127MM lenses. All images were shot using Ilford Delta iso 3200 film to enhance the grain and precessed in D-76 developer. The author began photography and photo-journalism in early 1963 when he accepted an offer from his local newspaper to write about and photograph sports events at the Arizona high school where he was a junior. After a stint in the service, he had an opportunity to study photography and printing techniques with Bernard Hoffman, a true gentleman and scholar, and one of the earliest staff photographers for Life Magazine. Since that time he has had thousands of photographs and hundreds of articles published by more than 60 national and international periodicals. He was also a contributing editor for one of them for more than ten years. Topics ran the gamut from professional sports, medicine, archeology, and photography to science. After twenty years away from Arizona he returned in 1985 and it has been the base from which all his photographic excursions are launched. Along with many others he has embraced digital photography but can still be seen, from time to time, peering through the ground glass of a large format camera, hoisting a large medium format 6x7, or indeed still using a 35mm film camera. The photographer currently has fine art photography on exhibit at The Center for Fine Arts in Globe, Arizona, and is currently represented by more than ten stock photo agencies where he has more than 13,000 photographs available for commercial use.