Anatomy for the Artist, Hardcover

Unlock your inner artist and learn how to draw the human body in this beautifully illustrated art book by celebrated artist and teacher Sarah Simblet.

This visually striking guide takes a fresh approach to drawing the human body. A combination of innovative photography and drawings, practical life-drawing lessons, and in-depth explorations of the body's surface and underlying structure are used to reveal and celebrate the human form.

Combining specially-commissioned photographs of models with historical and contemporary works of art and her own dynamic life drawing, Sarah leads us inside the human body to map its skeleton, muscle groups, and body systems. Detailed line drawings superimposed over photographs reveal the links between the body's appearance and its construction. Six drawing classes show how to observe different parts of the body and give expert guidance on how to draw them. Inspirational master classes on famous works, ranging from a Michelangelo study to a Degas painting, show how artists have depicted the human body over the centuries. Each master class includes a photograph of a model holding the same pose as in the painting, to highlight details of anatomy and show how the artist has interpreted them.

Understanding anatomy is the key to drawing the human body successfully. As well as being the perfect reference, Anatomy for the Artist will inspire you to find a model, reach for your pencil, and start drawing.

Sarah Simblet is an artist and the author of Anatomy for the Artist, Botany for the Artist: An Inspirational Guide to Drawing Plants, and Sketch Book for the Artist, among others. She is an instructor at Oxford University's Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and at London's Royal College of Art.