This book is written by illustrator and instructor Barbara Bradley. She shares many tips in this volume to help any artist accurately portray the clothed figure. Many of her drawings and sketches, all in pencil, are included in the chapters. Artists from novice to expert are sure to find something of use in this book.
Barbara Bradley begins with general drawing tips, such as explaining how to properly hold a pencil, and sett up a workspace. Next, She moves onto talk about different body types, proper prospective, and creating accurate proportions.
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Book Review
Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure - By: Barbara Bradley
Everything is simplified to convey a large amount of helpful information on how to easily create acurate sketches. Each page is filled with sketches of examples to help you on your way. One thing I personally liked about this book is that she illustrates the relationships between how the body bends, and it's affect on clothing. Different types of folds are described and pictured and great detail. Also, there are suggested exercises included that provide a way to practice the techniques. She discusses briefly how to experiment with different mediums and paper. While She does discuss light sources and tonal value, not much time is devoted to those subjects.
I also enjoyed her suggestions for drawing heads and hands. Perspective and proportion of the head and facial features are discussed first. Then, she shows wonderfully how the position of the eyes and brows affect the emotion of a subject. This is a great section for the beginner, since she offers some general tips to remember, and shows many different sketches for varying emotions.Next, she elaborates on the different shapes of noses and mouths. There are a full two pages devoted to drawing hands, that includes several tips, and drawings of hands in different positions. Pencil artists will also find the information she provides on how aging effects head and hands useful. One sketch in particular that was interesting showed the progression of a woman's head from age 25 to 85. It really illustrated how the facial features change. Finally, she devotes an entire chapter drawing children. Children have different proportions then adults, and she gives some tips for drawing them correctly.
The sketches throughout the book are really nice to look at. They all have a sense of movement. She draws many different types of clothing from all time periods, and emphasizes how it should sit on the body. Also included are sketches of different shoes, hats, and more. One thing I was a bit disappointed in, is that the pictures appear to be somewhat unfinished sketches. As a result, they do not have a nice clean look, neither do they illustrate fully how the proper tonal values should be established for a realistic look. However, the information included is still of great value.
In conclusion, definitely pick up this book if you want to expand you knowledge about drawing people. You will find lots of useful information and tips on getting proportion and perspective right. Plus, the information she includes on basic shapes of bodies, facial features, and hands is sure to get you started right. Just keep in mind that this book does not delve into presenting true realism, but it gives you all the basic elements to master drawing figures. This gives you a good foundation for any other artistic pursuits.
