Human Anatomy Made Amazingly Easy

From head to toe, the human form, in all its complexities, is visually simplified to such a degree in this remarkable workbook that even complete beginners will soon be able to draw accurate, well-proportioned faces and figures every time they try.

Avoiding complex charts of muscles and bones that are more helpful to doctors than to artists, this book’s refreshing approach teaches anatomy from a cartoonist/illustrator’s point of view. For example, there are many large and small muscles in the neck, all rendered in great detail in most anatomy books, but here, master teacher Christopher Hart shows only the four that are visible and need to be drawn. His clear instruction helps readers to visualize and portray shifting body weight in a pose without the need of a model, and instead of showing a mass of facial muscles and bones, he translates them into the simple planes an artist needs to draw a range of expressive faces.

From head to toe, the human form, in all its complexities, is visually simplified to such a degree in this remarkable workbook that even complete beginners will soon be able to draw accurate, well-proportioned faces and figures every time they try.

Avoiding complex charts of muscles and bones that are more helpful to doctors than to artists, this book's refreshing approach teaches anatomy from a cartoonist/illustrator's point of view. For example, there are many large and small muscles in the neck, all rendered in great detail in most anatomy books, but here, master teacher Christopher Hart shows only the four that are visible and need to be drawn. His clear instruction helps readers to visualize and portray shifting body weight in a pose without the need of a model, and instead of showing a mass of facial muscles and bones, he translates them into the simple planes an artist needs to draw a range of expressive faces.

Library Journal

Human anatomy is perhaps the most difficult of forms for the beginning artist to capture. Hart simplifies the process in an accessible manual that concentrates on line and forgoes the complexity of color. The book suffers, however, from the nature of Hart's past work. He is the author of seven books on cartoons and animation, and his subjects seem ready to don superhero costumes and save the universe. Sidaway's guide to the female nude is much more successful. He takes the reader from simple charcoal drawings to sophisticated watercolors in a dozen projects. Working from photos, the beginner can advance through the challenges of the three classic poses: seated, reclining, and standing. This is a fine addition to the genre, which already includes good sources like Giovanni Civardi's trilogy, Drawing Human Anatomy, Drawing the Female Nude, and Drawing the Male Nude (LJ 3/15/96). Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Christopher Hart is one of Watson-Guptill’s bestselling authors, with a proven track record of phenomenal sales totaling over a million copies. He lives in Westport, Connecticut.