The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective On the Classical Tradition [Paperback]

Ryder's technique ain't easy to follow, either. His method of boxing in the thin air around the figure and layering inward, somehow coming up with a finished, correct drawing, is difficult, if not impossible to follow. Again, the author himself states that the technique is hard to learn. By the time I got through tearing my hair out trying to copy it, I just set the book aside and went back to the way I was drawing figures before. I followed my own methods, and the only thing I got was better.

And I guess that's the key to learning how to draw the figure. There ARE no set, generic, step-by-step formulas to follow that could be published in some book. The best you can do is pick up a good anatomy book (Simblet's 'Anatomy for the Artist' is a wonderful resource). As an artist, you have to PRACTICE to find the method that's right for you; hence, no figurative work by any two artists is exactly the same. The only way to find that method is to start with the basics and work your way up, finding your own style and comfort zone in the process. Ryder's book is not going to help. Spend in practice what you'll save in money by not buying this book.

The techniques described are time-consuming and require a steady eye and hand - not something the average beginner has a lot of, with five or twenty minute poses and a wobbly easel.

But if you can get a model to hold the same pose for hours, possibly over several sessions, and you have some experience in figure drawing, then you may find this book extremely valuable.

Anthony Ryder talks the reader through the techniques, step by detailed step, aiming for understanding rather than slavish repetition. His method is logical and elegant, and if understood and practised, may result in some extremely good drawings.

Don't expect overnight success, however - there is a lot that is required before you can even start with this book. You'll need to know basic techniques with your media, be able to judge angles and proportions, have a good understanding of anatomy, and probably be able to handle a model in adopting the same pose session after session.

There is a good reason why most of the drawings in this book are of reclining models. Standing poses simply cannot be held for the amount of time it takes to achieve the same results. You'll need at least half an hour just to achieve the basic outline, probably more.

But having said all of the above, I must now state that this book is proof positive that Ryder's techniques work, are reproducible and can result in images of stunning beauty.

You still have to select a model and a pose, and this is another basic skill required, but Ryder is obviously a master at this, and the book is filled with drawings of the nude that are simply breathtaking in their beauty. Model, pose, arrangement and execution are all perfect. Classically elegant.

This is a book that rewards the eye as much as the mind, and it is a feast for both. If you aspire to greatness in your figure drawing, then buy this book, study it, and apply the lessons.

Recommended for artists of moderate experience. Highly recommended.

Ryder employs a teaching method which one reviewer has termed, INVISIBLE PROBLEM SOLVING, where the book is illustrated with finished illustrations, without showing the student any of the intermediate steps it took to arrive at the final work. It is becoming a common flaw in the rush to publish some of these How-To-Draw books. Displaying finished works does not impart knowledge to a pupil.

The title term "contemporary perspectives" turns out be be little more than gimmick language for watered-down anatomical instruction.

Perhaps we should be more demanding when the title includes words like: "COMPLETE GUIDE TO..." because the book must actually BE a "complete guide" and this book is not. The art work is flat, torpid, and uninspiring, lacking in dynamism and vitality. The models are listles and possess no dynamism, no life.

It is not a book for beginners, because it doesn't begin with what Jack Hamm refers to as "simplified figurettes", and is termed elswhere as "human puppets" etc. The title claims the book is for "Artists" but anyone who is already qualified as an actual "artist" will already have covered the material in a first year of drawing instruction.

The methodology of Invisible Problem Solving is the crux of the issue however, showing that the author is out of touch with his audience. For the weighty list price of $24.95, buyers should demand better.