Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'll admit that Anthony Ryder's drawings are beautiful. They're a fine example of what years of practice in the art of figure drawing can accomplish. However, as a reference for those looking for practical techniques to improve their own figurative skills, this book is useless. It's more of a catalog of the artist's work than a guide to drawing the figure. Ryder reveals through his text that he has his own, EXTREMELY particular technique, one that demands inhuman amounts of patience and stamina (he said himself that he can spend weeks working on one figure) and eyeball-splitting attention to detail with millions of tiny pencil marks. This is fine for Ryder, but not necessarily for everyone else. Follow his techniques, and you end up producing drawings that look like they were done by Anthony Ryder, not yourself. Think of an art professor who posts one of his or her drawings on the wall, explains to the class exactly how it was produced (whether with stippling, smudge sticks, etc), and tells everyone to draw the exact same thing in the exact same manner. What do you get? Well, duh, you get a couple dozen drawings that are pretty much the same.

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.

If you are looking for an introductory book to ease you into being a whiz in life class, this is not it.

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.

"The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition" by Anthony Ryder 1999,
List price $24.95 ISBN 0823003035

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.

As other reviewers have said, this is a good to excellent book for those with some experience in drawing. The works presented, the methods, and the explanations are fine. There is a wealth of information in this book. However, I give this book a 4 stars because:

1. It would have been more helpful to have examples of the Envelope and Block-in techniques leading to the Contour WITHOUT overlays. In other words, to see the building blocks/steps as they would actually appear on paper while one is doing a drawing.

2. The drawings reveal outstanding technique and fidelity to the models--notwithstanding that even Ryder makes some errors in some of his drawings. However, although this is figure drawing rather than traditional life drawing (involving different levels of time and detail), I feel that the realism and technical skill draw too much attention to themselves. One goes "wow" at just about every work but there is a major aesthetic element missing--call it, expressiveness, soul, whatever.

Still this book is a MUST READ.

I bought this book a few weeks ago. Agree that this book is not for beginners looking for "formulas." Ryder is basically just using that good-old, erase and redraw until it looks right method, which is the only way to go for high realism anyway if you ask me. This book was most useful to me as shading reference material since I draw from imagination mostly. The book needs some more poses to be a better reference guide, but that may not be a major goal of the book, although it should be. Beautiful models, beautifully modeled. A great book to get you motivated to try harder for sure.

Tony Ryder is perhaps one of the most talented American artists in Modern Realism. His oil paintings of figures, portraits, and still life are brilliant, but he is also a skilled technician in figure and portrait drawing using pencil. This volume, "The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition", is, in my opinion, a good choice for those who want to improve their figure drawing technique. The book describes Tony Ryder's protocol for pencil drawing of figures: block-in, contour, and drawing on the inside with an understanding of gesture, light, shadow, and form. This method is extremely painstainking and requires great patience: according to Ryder, he spends an average of twelve three-hour sessions for each complete drawing (i.e., 36 hours per each finished drawing!). The book also contains dozens of his excellent, inspiring figure drawings of models from diverse ethnic groups. However, this book is not for those new to drawing: it lacks the lesson plans and exercises needed for beginners. If you are a real beginner to drawing, perhaps you should start with Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain".

I have studied numerous drawing books and by far this book I have owned. I often reread and reference it to inspire me, and i can honestly say my work has improved immensely.

I had been a portait artist for about a year and the face is not a problem to me but the figure was a time-cosuming challenge, that is until I was opened to Anthony Ryder's technique of envelopes, blocking-in and contours. It made drawing the figure so much easier, well proportioned and realistic. Using cylinder and blocks just doesn't do it for me.

The rendering is awesome and it already has an impact on my art.
This is not to say I simply copy his style but rather to combine his with mine to produce even more amazing results.

Lastly this is NOT your beginner basic learn-how-to-draw book. You should have sound drawing ability inorder to tackle this book. So don't complain if it doesn't instruct you step-by-step on drawing the hand or head 5 eye-widths apart(a pretty bad method anyhow). You'll learn to draw the figure as a whole and not as broken down indivual figure elements.

I am a guy who has been drawing all his life, but has never gone to an art class or drawing session. I've bought books from Bridgman, Hogarth, Rubins, Tiner, and now Ryder. I must say that the previous books really help me with anatomy, foreshortening, and perspective. Reading these authors is like having them as teachers standing over you. Now, Ryder took my level of drawing to a new level...realism. His methods WORK!!
But, it's not instant in any way. Realistic figure drawing takes time and patience. The masters never rushed their work. True art takes focus and time. The classical masters knew this and so do the contemporary ones, like Ryder. Have fun with learning!!

I began learning figure drawing last autumn using the constructive, anatomical approach. My main references were Bridgman and Peck. I've always been a little suspicious of the "holistic" approach to learning art. However, I kept seeing Ryder's book recommended so I decided to take a chance.

The chance paid off; this is a great book and the top-down approach to figure drawing has improved my drawings in only a few days of work. Anthony Ryder has a real gift for teaching drawing.

Having said that, I still recommend studying anatomy -- it's a great help to know what's "under the skin." My recommendation is to buy this book, copies of Peck and Bridgman, a little plastic skeleton, magazines with lots of pictures of people, and then practice, practice, practice...

I love The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition by Anthony Ryder. Buy it and you will find that you can live (draw) without. I would probably buy any book written by him.