Complete Guide to Life Drawing

A4 size and with 312 pages this a very comprehensive book. The trouble with books of this size is that they don’t lie flat and I wish it was spiral bound. The book is divided into sections: Proportion, Rest & Movement, Legs & Feet, Torso & Shoulder Girdle, Arms & Hands, Head & Neck and Building Up the Whole Figure. Bammes leaves no stone unturned. The book takes the student stage by stage and builds up the required skills. Unlike other books on Life Drawing which are full of finished pictures this book actually uses shaded drawings and broad brush sketches to demonstrate the principles. It’s excellent and I hope I get through it all before I die.

A superb guide to life drawing, I've bought many drawing books recently, in a search for sound drawing knowledge that's well explained and this has it in spades. There's plenty of detail about understanding proportions, which as someone looking to improve my life drawing was very welcome, also of the construction of the body and its elements, and is never quite as 'medical' in its dealing with muscle groups as other books I've bought. One of my top top three drawing books without doubt.

I found this a very good book indeed. It is thorough, well organised and takes you through steps which allow you to see how Bammes understands life drawing and achieves what he does. One of the best such books I've come across and I've been interested in life drawing for many years and seen a number.

Whether or not that this is a 'complete guide to life drawing' or not not really depends on your skills or ambitions in your development as a sketcher/artist. I would say that is not a book for a beginner (like me) who just wants to have a go and see where their skills may lie. I did expect that there would be a section on materials etc and general advice on simple techniques etc. The book, however, is very much 'academic' and concentrates almost exclusively on the physical aspects of the human form; detailing measurements, ratios, stances, muscles and bones. Notwithstanding, the illustrations and reproductions in the book are excellent and to the advanced student this material will be of great interest. For dabblers/beginners, the book book may, perhaps, be a bit daunting.

Brilliant. Pretty much what I've been looking for to answer questions on anatomy and give me ideas for model poses. Lots of illustrations, exercises and intelligent text.

I bought, probably, 30 books on this subject until I finally got this one. This is the one to buy! Exellent!!! My constant reference, inspiration, and a practice guide> Recommend from all my heart!!

I've decided to buy this book after my research many life drawing books. I found photos of pages of this book on flickr and it gave me opportunity sure that this book is really what I want. I highly reccomend it for all my friends.

Brilliant book- not too strictly classical and therefore not at all dry - lots of reference pictures from different artists and good practice ideas.

全身の構造、プロポーション 比率 簡単な身体の各部位から重心の位置・傾斜 動き、骨格・筋肉の構造が掲載されている。 古典の画家たちの作品も多数ある。 身体の構造を理解する事で、説得力のある作品が 描ける。

sempre dello stesso autore di DIE GENSTALT DES MENSCHEN ..... ANCHE QUESTO UN OTTIMO LIBRO CHE COMPLETA IL PRECEDENTE e si può consultare ogni volta che si vuole CON PARTICOLARE RIGUARDO ALLA FIGURA FEMMINILE lo consiglio a studenti e appassionati per eseguire al meglio i disegni della figura umana femminile

Les ouvrages sur le dessin avec modèle vivant ne sont pas courants. Celui est bien conçu à la fois pour découvrir le sujet et pour progresser

This is a beautiful well written book is about observation, anatomy, life drawing, years of study and a resource of the human form. It deals with seeing relationships between forms and negative spaces. It requires the person drawing to really look at the model and observe the position of the body in a fresh comparative way. This book has a strong sense of proportion which is often a concern with beginners. If you are looking for a good reference book, this is it.

My favorite guide to life drawing I own till now. There are many good drawing books on the market but personally I find this one very helpful. Bammes is a very good teacher. He really speaks my language. It is a good book to follow when one starts drawing. Really simple explicative suggestions, exercises to do while learning. I can't speak for the advanced artists but for me it worked just fine. It worked so fine that I bought "The Complete Guide to Drawing Animals" by the same author, too. :)