Book Review: The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

You might have heard of a book called Anatomy Essentials (out of stock already) that was released by ImagineFX some time back. That was a 224-page anatomy drawing book that has since gone out of print.

After that, ImagineFX released another book on anatomy drawing called How To Draw and Paint Anatomy: Creating Life-Like Humans and Realistic Animals which has only 112 pages — missing half of the pages from the original. A quick look at some preview pages showed me that the content inside are roughly similar, except for the missing portion. (Update: See reader comment below.)

It's now 2013 and that 224-page book is back in stock. This time printed by printed and distributed by Basheer Graphic Books. It's called The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy.

The book's divided into several sections, namely Gallery, Draw, Muscle, Move, Animal and Digital.

The Gallery section has several artist profiles such as Donato Giancola, Marko Djurdjevic, Brom, Brian Froud, Aleksi Briclot and others. The profile covers briefly on their careers, nothing on anatomy, strangely, even though this is an anatomy book.

The next section on Draw covers drawing tips such as posing and postures, light and shadow form, and even includes drapery.

Muscles section talk about the muscles in different parts of the body. The Move section covers the body in motion. Animal section is handled by Marshall Vandruff. The last section Digital has some digital painting tutorials on human characters.

Much of the content are written by Ron Lemen and they have appeared in the ImagineFX magazines. All the anatomy tutorials and lessons are conveniently collected in this single volume. Other guest artists include Chris Legaspi, Justin Gerard and a few others.

This book is not structured like other anatomy books that go from head to toe. Instead, it picks out all the different parts of the bodies and talks about them. The more technical details are missing, details like the width of the head is five times the width of the eye, names of muscles, bones. While it's not structured, the content is still really insightful. The instructions are clear and the illustrated examples are great. The pages are packed with lots to learn.

And a CD containing the videos and workshop files is also included.

This as a good book that complements other anatomy books that are already out there.

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This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook or visit their website.

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

The Complete Guide: How to Draw and Paint Anatomy

This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook or visit their website.

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7 Comments

Hey Parka,

Hey Parka,
The 'Anatomy Essentials' was released in two parts originally; ImagineFX Presents Anatomy: Vol 1, & 2. Both were "bookzines" hence the smaller size. After they sold out, they released the large 224pg combined version, and as you discuss here, now the reprinted of that book.

However, volume 1 has been reprinted recently and is available here;
https://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/design/imaginefx-presents-anatomy/

I do not know if they will reprint Vol 2 also, but you could always contact my favourite magazines to find out if they will also be reprinting. As I stated prior, the 224pg book is an amalgamation of the two anyway.

Good shout, love the blog as always.
Cheers,
Andy.

Hi Teoh,

Hi Teoh,
Do you know how can one buy a copy from Basheer? There wasn´t any mention to this book at their Facebook page, and do they have an online shop?
Thanks anyway for the the great post and review!

Thanks for posting this

Thanks for posting this review. Have been deliberating between this book and many other similar anatomy books. AFTER a long thinking at the book store, decide to plunge and bought this book. Reason being, not really for the colorful graphics (though it helps to please the eyes..haha), but it is less "dull" compare to those i seen on the book shelf where too much scientific description on the body parts and how are they connected..For those missing gaps, guess i need to consult other books but this will help to get me interested and frame my mind better...

I did not know there are two versions one is the 100+ pages and the other 200+ pages one, no wonder i noted the different book covers which share similar names.

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