So it’s important, after learning the fundamentals, to broaden our horizons and master different heights and weights.

With that said, this book will not only show you the overall shape of the body but also goes through joints, muscles, and bones in a very simplified way. Even though this is not a recent book, it still holds up very well. In fact, many professional artists still highly recommend this book if you’re starting to learn figure drawing and anatomy.Even though it’s more on the technical side of learning, I love Bridgman’s gesture. The way the author builds up the form and shapes of the body is beautiful! This book does have a section about them, covering the most important aspects so you can better draw your figures, which I feel is more than enough!

It is important to learn about them, but, personally, I don’t think it’s something you need to dwell on for a long time if it isn’t interesting for you. Ohh this book! It’s at the top of my list of books about art and even artists. I have a pretty extensive library of art books. I do because I am an artist myself and because I love art. It is what drives me, excites me and has helped me evolve as a human being. I hope that’s not too dramatic but I believe art brings us to an understanding of who we are. That and finding our breath. Overall I think this is a really good book to have at home, either if you’re a beginner or an advanced artist. You’re always learning something new. Constructive Anatomy, by George B. BridgmanIt’s a very visual anatomy drawing reference book that can help you better understand the human body, especially if you’re more into technical and down to the detail teaching methods! While still maintaining some complexity, this book does the same. You’ll learn about human proportions, with different examples, how the body works in different perspectives, actionable and dynamic poses as well as both standing and sitting poses.

All in all, this is a must to have at home, both to learn or to refresh your memory from time to time. Even if Bridgman is too technical for me, visually it’s amazing work and I’ll always learn something from his books! You’ll learn a lot by seeing other people’s studies and art, but you also need to study from real life. So observing pictures of people are a good way to do that. And this book is great for that. It’s very well organized, going from the overall shape of the body to explaining each part of it, step-by-step. Not only that, but it shows different shapes that you can use. There is no true way of drawing the human body. You can use different kinds of shapes and still produce a faithful drawing of a person.It’s a very comprehensive book, full of references both from real life and studies/drawings. For that reason, I think it’s a very good addition to your art book collection, either if you’re a beginner or a more advanced artist! Morpho: Fat and Skin Folds: Anatomy for Artists, by Michel Lauricella I also think it’s important to try our hands and learn from different types of bodies since they’ll use different shapes and proportions. Of course, not all of us have the same process, but I still believe it’s important to have lots of visual examples when it comes to learning anatomy! The Morpho books are all very good and I recommend all of them. There are several volumes that will teach you about the overall figure, more static or dynamic poses, or even specific areas of the body.

As an extra, this book also comes with additional photos of couples kissing, people wearing hats, and even illustrations that show the skull anatomy and muscles. Eyes, mouth, nose, ears, hair… You need to know how to draw each of these along with their positions and proportions. It is very visual and shows us different body styles, as well as faces and ages. In my opinion, the Morpho books are very good to draw studies from. What I most enjoy about Andrew Loomis’s approach is that he keeps everything simple. If you’ve watched my drawing courses before you know that I like to teach in a simple way, so drawing is enjoyable for everyone. You’ll understand how each part of the body connects with the next. You’ll learn not only about the surface of the body but also its muscles, bones, and joints.

If you’re torn between a few or just want one anatomy drawing book, I highly recommend the Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth, by Andrew Loomis. It’s a great book both for beginners and veteran artists. My favorite thing about this book is that it uses a basic process of learning through line and shape. Exactly the same kind of process I use and that always helped me understand the human body.