Figurative Artist's Handbook: A Contemporary Guide to Figure Drawing, Painting, and Composition

It is my habit to have books (about the exact same subject) pile up on the shelf...and Zeller's work definitely stands out as one of the most interesting, well-written, useful books on drawing the human figure. On the one side, the tips given to the reader are concise yet straightforward, and overall the book is imbued with all the insight stemming from the author's own experties on the other.The sections about figure drawing are introduced by a brief overview of the role of human figure in Art History (not exhaustive, yet by all means stimulating). This first chapter does contain very few minor inaccurancies (i.e. Michelangelo's alleged homosexuality, which is a theory based on retrospective analysis of his works, both artistic and literary - rather than a fact, and thus absolutely questionable).Apart from such details, all drawings and masterpieces singled out are outstandingly beautiful and perfectly suited to illustrate the author's words.Last but not least, I wish to point out the magnificent style Zeller displayed in this work: his language is refined, resounding, yet by no means fussy.For all these reason, I strongly reccomend this book to all those who wish to plunge themselves into figure drawing.

A really impressive and helpful book for the student/advanced artist who wishes to develop their facility in life drawing.Not really a beginner's guide, but a very useful reference and practical method handbook, beautifully illustrated by examples of Zeller`s own drawings and those of contemporary masters and educators; there are over 100 excellent drawings and paintings reproduced – many in colour - making it a pleasure to peruse and study.Virtually all the artists are American, but they represent the high standards and aesthetics of figurative art upheld by artists who have chosen to work in this exacting tradition in the Post Modern art world.This volume should be on the shelves and in the studios of everyone and anyone even remotely interested in the serious study of figurative art – it's one of the best books on the subject I've been lucky to acquire.

this arrived with me yesterday, and its a really beautiful book. i have the hardback version and its a work of art. lots of quality images throughout and the contents ive read so far is all very clear and well thought out. the main thing i can talk about in this review, seeing as ive only read a few dozen pages but having taken a long close look all through, is how beautiful its put together. its a really packed with images, both instructional and reproductions of classic works, the images are beautifully printed. Im totally over the moon with this, i love this book. As far as i know its the authors first book, and after seeing this im hoping its not his last. i highly recommend. its beautiful.

There are an AWFUL lot of books on Figurative Drawing available on Amazon. You could bankrupt yourself trying to buy them all, and burn your eyes out trying to read them all. Some are wonderful, some are dire.In a nutshell, this is one of the best. It's a cliche, I know, but if you can only afford one book on figure drawing, this is probably the best one to get. it's all here - a history of the art (strangely fails to mention Lucien Freud though), along with a series of engagingly-written lessons, tips, and tons and tons of glorious illustrations.I can't imagine any serious artist buying this and being disappointed.

Excellent. A really informative guide. Very, very handy indeed, especially for someone like myself without the luxury of a muse/ life drawing classes, instruction or art education. The author and contributors shed light on many aspects of figurative drawing and painting and having this book as a reference has already been very valuable to me in my own making.

This is the perfect book to aid you in life drawing. I found it very informative & detailed. I've recently been doing life drawing classes & this is a great reference for techniques

Very good explanatory book

brought for a present very well receved