Customer Reviews

Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an artist and sculptor I have found this book a valuable addition to my anatomy reference library. It has what almost every other artist anatomy book is missing. Well lit Photos that correspond to illustrations of skeletal and muscular structures. The facial muscular system is better described and laid out than I have ever seen in artistic reference material. My main beefs with this book is the lack of variety with the models. I would like to see examples of fat distribution as well as the focus of muscle and well defined males. I would also like to see the same attention given to female anatomy as was done for male anatomy. I do realize this would double the size (and price) of the volume but for reference of this caliber I would readily pay for it. I have also found the accompanying texts are heavy in medical lingo that doesn't serve the average artist, but the images well than make up for the text. Over all an excellent reference book.

Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form

I recently created an ecorche (flayed figure) in clay and this anatomy text was indispensable in it's making. Goldfinger takes you through the anatomy and gives you a good idea of the three dimensional form of each muscle. While this approach is methodical and perhaps unexciting, it is authoritative and gives you confidence in your understanding.

He depicts the anatomy from several views unlike some texts that will show a front and a side but perhaps not the inner side view of a leg or an arm. Three cross sections of the muscle and it's accompanying structures help you understand it's form and how it relates to other muscles and answers simple questions like the diameter or bulk of a muscle. Each cross section at different points along the muscle's length are related to the side, front and back views which are on the same spread of pages, helping you put it all together. I haven't seen another anatomy book do this as well.

I've also found some answers to questions regarding the form of muscles that I didn't get from studying medical anatomy. The author is a sculptor and it shows in his approach to envision anatomy in three dimensions. While no artistic anatomy text can give you everything you need (I own twelve) this one is highly recommended.
Rick Kogucki, July 19, 2010.

Length:: 0:20 Mins

This book is a reference guide to the human anatomy for artists.

The approach here is a part-by-part look at the different section of the body. Each area focused has illustrated muscles and bones with accompanying photo of a model by the side. We can clearly see where different layers of muscles are attached to the bones The photo reference is very useful and provides clarity than using illustrations alone.

The downside is the author isolates the parts too much. If the topic is on the arm, only the arm is shown with very little of the shoulder. Amazingly, there are no full body illustration showing the muscles. The only full body illustrations show the schematic form, e.g. muscle boundaries. So while every part is explained and illustrated well, it's still a bit difficult to get the whole picture.

Most of the examples are static. The body is not doing anything. Again, it's hard to see how the body really works when place in different positions like walking, sitting or twisting. Well, this is a reference book, for bodies in different positions, it's better to get a figure drawing book that focuses on poses and gesture drawing.

Also, a great bulk of the examples are for male bodies. It would have been perfect if more female bodies were included for comparison.

The accompanying text is comprehensive in explaining the structure and how the parts work.

Ultimately, this is a very useful reference guide for any artists who wish to look up any part of the body. It's recommended for beginner to advanced artists.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

this text served me extremely well as i learned figure drawing and is the best anatomical reference i have ever seen, a genuine encyclopedia of anatomy. however, artists should be warned that the approach is analytical (anatomy is broken down into its elements) rather than illustrative (anatomy is presented as pictures of different poses). goldfinger (a sculptor) attempts to explain surface form structurally, from the inside out -- starting with individual bones, then joints, then all visible muscles, facial features (eye, mouth, nose, ear), fat pads, surface veins and arteries, skin folds and finally a gallery of "mass conceptions" of the head, hand and full figure as blocks, continuous planes, cylinders, ovoids and photographed models. (some internal musculature is omitted because it does not affect surface form, but there is extensive information and photo documentation on the facial expression of emotions, largely based on the classic research by ekman and friesen.) this "inside out" approach also determines the content of the 1 to 3 page descriptions of each bone and muscle. in the section on muscles, four diagrams show the skeletal muscle attachments, isolated muscle form, form within surrounding muscles, and surface appearance in lean models, usually from two different points of view. schematic diagrams analyze muscle form into its basic shapes, or show the mechanical effects of muscle contraction. the text is often heavy going but presents unusually detailed and clear explanations of muscle attachments, action, form and interaction with other muscles or joints. there is also much information not available anywhere else, and all sex differences in anatomy (for example in the abdominal musculature and hip bones) are described in the text. goldfinger's goal is to provide the artist with the information necessary to identify the bones and muscles contributing to surface form in any model, any physique or any pose, and i have never found it to fail that purpose. for a breezier and visually more attractive approach, simblet's book is preferable.

Obviously, no one book can completely cover the subject of human anatomy, but this is the most complete reference for muscles that I know of. Basically, every muscle has it's own section: a page of illustration & photos, and a page or two of text. As a result, virtually everything about the muslces is clear, and I cannot say this about other books.

There is also information on bones, facial expression, and drawings that simplify the structure of the body. However, I reccomend the book mainly because of how well it covers muslces. This is an especially nice reference if you can also study a real skeleton and live models

This is an extremely exhaustive book and well worth the price. As far as I know, there exists no more comprehensive book on how every muscle interconnects in the human body -- it is truly an encylopedia of the human anatomy.

A few things keep me from giving it a 5 star review.

1: Goldfinger's illustrations are fair, but not masterful, particularly those of the human face.

2: Strangely, there are almost no fully rendered full-body illustrations or even any fully rendered "body part" illustrations -- almost all the good sketches are of isolated body parts alone. For example, there isn't any fully rendered muscular illustration that encompasses both the upper arm AND the lower arm(!) There ARE full body illustrations, but only in a more schematical form.

3: There are no "application" illustrations of the anatomy in case studies such as bending, posing, flexing, etc. Most of the examples are in prone positions.

Granted, much of this information can be taken from any number of other anatomy books, particularly Richer's "Artistic Anatomy," which this book is largely based on and I also highly recommend.

Nevertheless, as a reference guide to the human body, this book has no peer. If you truly want to understand how the muscles of the body interconnect, there is no better alternative. This book is obviously a labour of love.

This is an extremely exhaustive book and well worth the price. As far as I know, there exists no more comprehensive book on how every muscle interconnects in the human body -- it is truly an encylopedia of the human anatomy.

A few things keep me from giving it a 5 star review.

1: Goldfinger's illustrations are fair, but not masterful, particularly those of the human face.

2: Strangely, there are almost no fully rendered full-body illustrations or even any fully rendered "body part" illustrations -- almost all the good sketches are of isolated body parts alone. For example, there isn't any fully rendered muscular illustration that encompasses both the upper arm AND the lower arm(!) There ARE full body illustrations, but only in a more schematical form.

3: There are no "application" illustrations of the anatomy in case studies such as bending, posing, flexing, etc. Most of the examples are in prone positions.

Granted, much of this information can be taken from any number of other anatomy books, particularly Richer's "Artistic Anatomy," which this book is largely based on and I also highly recommend.

Nevertheless, as a reference guide to the human body, this book has no peer. If you truly want to understand how the muscles of the body interconnect, there is no better alternative. This book is obviously a labour of love.

I agree with the previous reviewer. I was required to buy it for a class and it is heavy and expensive. Some muscle groups are shown under load to emphasis structure, but mostly it is pretty motionless.
I was unhappy with the lack of female models and examples of differences between the "standard" male form and the female. A female forearm shows different musculature than a male one, but you would never know it from this book. This book is heavily male-body centric. I am hoping someone creates a female-based anatomy book for artists. Too much on the market is just like this one, although I think he does a good job of showing the very individual parts.
There is a section on facial expressions which at the time was very useful. However, you are better off buying a cheaper anatomy book and getting Gary Fagin's "The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression" which is an excellent value.

I am giving this book five stars because it is a wonderous work. The photography and illustrations are clear and instructive. The descriptions leave nothing out that you could wish to know about the different muscles and bones. It really is amazing. Towards the back of the book are some fascinating sculptures breaking the bodies surfaces into planes of varying degrees of complexity. Everything in the book is of a very high quality.
The only real negative I have to say is really not about the book. It is that the artist can get bogged down in studying this book forever trying to learn every muscle and how it connects. This is useful information but you don't need to know but a tiny fraction of what is in this huge book. And this book is not instructive on teaching you how to draw this anatomy. That is not the fault of the author. That is not the intent of this book.
Human Anatomy for the Artist is an exhaustive reference volume you might want to own just in case you want to know everything there is to know about a specific body part. It is also a beautiful book anyone would be proud to own. You will learn a lot from this book every time you pick it up. It will not necessarily help you become a better artist. You will need to learn classic drawing techniques to do that. Your knowlege of anatomy will help you see forms on the model and help you understand them. Combining anatomy with an understanding of how to render forms by understanding light and shadow, proportions, lines, gesture will give you additional power in your drawings. Just remember anatomy is only one very small part.

Detailed -- and disappointing. There are too many written
descriptions, too many line drawings, too much wasted space (large
margins, half-blank pages) and not enough photographs. The first
photograph appears on page 65. Prior to that, over half the pages are
primarily, or entirely, text. A randomly selected passage (p. 37):
"The tibial platform is divided into medial and lateral condyles.
Their top surfaces have elongated shallow facets. These facets
articulate with the medial and lateral condyles of the femur..."
Much of the text throughout the entire book is of this type.

Other
minuses include the paucity of body positions, and the dearth of
ethnicities and body types. Although the body PARTS are seen from the
front, back, and side, there are no bodies DOING anything. There are
no old people, no children, no fat people, no thin people, and except
for one light-skinned black man, no people of races other than
Caucasian. There is very little depiction of male and female
differences, although there is some descriptive text of them.

While
the book description says it includes genitalia, there is extremely
little of it -- hardly enough to mention. There is one photo of a
circumcised penis from the front, and one from the side; and the same
of an uncircumcised one. There are two frontal views of the
"female pubic region", one shaved and one unshaved, both
with legs tightly together. All of these photos are on one page, and
that is the extent of the "genitalia", unless you want to
include the page with female breasts. This page has four photos:
female breasts from the the front, in 3/4 profile, and from overhead,
and one male nipple. Oh yes -- genitalia is also included in the two
pages (only two!) of full body photographs. These two pages contain
eight photos, four male and four female. Each sex is seen from the
front, back, 3/4 front profile and 3/4 back profile. (These same
views are given of a male head, but there are no corresponding photos
of a female head.)

The book goes through the body part by part, the
usual format being one page of illustrations facing a page with
corresponding descriptive text. The illustrations usually include a
drawing of the underlying skeletal structure of the body part under
investigation, and next to it two more drawings, one of which adds
just one muscle, while the other adds the entire muscle group; finally
there is a photograph of the part. The photographs are rather small,
often less than an inch and a half wide. (Many of the margins are two
and a half inches wide.)

One plus is the 39 pages devoted to facial
expressions, although, again, more than half of these pages are
text-only (again with large margins and lots of blank space), and even
the pages of illustration contain only one or two expressions per
page, usually a front and a side view of the same expression, in the
usual format of skeleton + muscle drawings + photograph.

This is not
really a bad book, just not worth the money. I wouldn't have bought
it if I had examined it first. A better choice for the working artist
(especially if s/he is anywhere near the "starving"
category) would be Stephan Rogers Peck's "Atlas of Human Anatomy
for the Artist". Peck's book ... has much of the same
information as the ... Goldfinger book, and includes many useful
features not found in the more expensive book. Check out the reader
reviews on it!