Life Drawing for Artists: Understanding Figure Drawing Through Poses, Postures, and Lighting (For Artists)

by Chris Legaspi

Life Drawing for Artists teaches a contemporary approach to figure drawing that includes both the familiar poses—standing, sitting, lying down—but also how to capture figures in movement and in more dynamic and engaging positions.

Author Chris Legaspi is a dedicated, life-long artist and admired instructor who is known for his dynamic figurative drawings and paintings, and as a successful illustrator in the entertainment industry. Whether you are an aspiring illustrator, art student, or a professional artist looking to develop your abilities, Life Drawing for Artists shows how to build your skills by combining fundamental building blocks, such as gesture lines, shape and design, structure, value control, and edge or line control.

You'll focus on different skills while working on both quick timed drawings and longer detailed drawings. The book covers important topics, such as drawing different views, understanding perspective, foreshortening strategies, and how to deal with various lighting conditions. The examples and tutorials explore virtually every pose scenario, as well as many active and dynamic movements.

Breathe drama into your figures as you master the fundamentals with this fresh approach to life drawing.

The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.

• ISBN13: 9781631598012
• Publish Date: 24 December 2019 (first published 10 December 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Rockport Publishers Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Life Drawing for Artists is a new tutorial and technique guide by Chris Legaspi. Due out 24th Dec 2019 from Quarto on their Rockport imprint, it's 176 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a beautifully presented book, well designed and with a logical format. It is aimed at artists who are engaged in, or preparing for, life drawing. The introduction (~13% of the content) provides an overview of tools and supplies, the purpose and usual structure of a session, and the use and maintenance of some simple supplies. The following chapters cover some general fundamentals, processes, perspective, and some exercises for skill building and instructions for further exploration. There is a short author bio, acknowledgements, and a basic index.

Although it's a simple book which allows the learner to utilize widely available materials for skill building, it contains a lot of valuable information, and I could well see this book being used to advantage in a classroom setting. It is aimed at intermediate to advanced artists working mostly in graphite. There are some tutorials showing how to break down references in perspective and transfer them realistically to the page.

A very useful book. It would make a good addition to the artist's home reference library, a classroom or other formal setting, or gift (with supplies) for an artist.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.