Product Description
The power of the image of the nude--the expressivity of the flesh--has inspired artists from the beginning. An understanding of human form is essential for artists to be able to express themselves with the figure. Anatomy makes the figure. Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form is the definitive analytical work on the anatomy of the human figure.
No longer will working artists have to search high and low to find the information they need. In this, the most up-to-date and fully illustrated guide available, Eliot Goldfinger--sculptor, illustrator, scientific model-maker, and lecturer on anatomy--presents a single, all-inclusive reference to human form, capturing everything artists need in one convenient volume. Five years in the making, and featuring hundreds of photos and illustrations, this guide offers more views of each bone and muscle than any other book ever published: every structure that creates or influences surface form is individually illustrated in clear, carefully lit photographs and meticulous drawings. Informed by the detailed study of both live models and cadavers, it includes numerous unique presentations of surface structures--such as fat pads, veins, and genitalia--and of some muscles never before photographed. In addition, numerous cross sections, made with reference to CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and cut cadavers, trace the forms of all body regions and individual muscles. Information on each structure is placed on facing pages for ease of reference, and the attractive two-color format uses red ink to direct readers rapidly to important points and areas. Finally, an invaluable chapter on the artistic development of basic forms shows in a series of sculptures the evolution of the figure, head, and hands from basic axes and volumes to more complex organic shapes. This feature helps place the details of anatomy within the overall context of the figure.
Certain to become the standard reference in the field, Human Anatomy for Artists will be indispensable to artists and art students, as well as art historians. It will also be a useful aid for physical and dance therapists, athletes and their trainers, bodybuilders, and anyone concerned with the external form of the human body. With the renewed interest in figurative art today, this will be an especially welcome volume.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 24 reviews)

Human Anatomy for Artists

The book is very informative. I'm using it for a figure sculpture class and we have studied the bones and the muscles. Very pleased with the service of Amazon.
October 07, 2008

anatomy reference

This book is invaluable for reference. At 1st I was 'so so' about the illustrations but as I started to require detailed information for the sculpture I was doing showing the muscles - i discovered the exact information I needed was contained in this book and the more anatomy I do the more it is this book i use.
July 20, 2008

Just Perfect

'Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form' by Goldfinger is just perfect, especially if you want to know where the muscles actually attach to bone, something many anatomy books for artists simply don't cover. The Goldfinger book, for each muscle or group of muscles, has one or more side-by-side series of illustration and photos that shows:

- the naked bones in a given area with highlights that show you the surface areas where an individual muscle attaches, even if that muscle is an underlying muscle that normally is completely covered by surface muscles.

- the muscle or muscles in question attached to their bones in isolation (no other muscles illustrated).

- all the muscles in the given area to show the relation ship between them and the muscle that is the subject of the series, even if the muscle in question is virtually covered up.

- a photo of a well-toned human model in the same pose as the illustration series with labels to the various muscles.

- one or more cross-sections (up to five or more) of the area being illustrated with each muscle labeled to show clearly how the muscles over-lap and lay across each other and the underlying bone.

- if necessary, the model will be shown in a pose that shows how an underlying, virtually hidden muscle is important to the artist when the subject is in a certain pose (e.g., an underlying muscle can lift and change the form of the surface muscles when it is in contraction and/or the body is in a certain pose).

- a series of 'mass' diagrams that may be of use in building a 'shorthand' for the muscle or group in question.

- It's not just a picture book. It has a lot of descriptive text for each of the series of illustrations, and covers aspects important to artists, such as the different types of muscle fibers, etc.

I counted at least 17 of these series dealing just with attachments to the clavicle, but I might have missed some since the organization is by area (trunk, neck, upper arm, forearm, etc.) and there are a lot of attachments to the clavicle from more than one of these areas. Also, there may be more than one series dedicated to a given muscle or group of muscles so that it is shown from back, front, side, and/or above, sometimes. The illustrations are as good or better than the best I've ever seen in any other anatomy book, especially ones for artists, which can be sketchy to a degree.

I really don't think you need a library of anatomy books if you get just this one.

April 16, 2008

all tech

This is just what I needed just gives me all the mechanical functions of the body. Only thing is the examples are of the male body only there isn't much on the female. Anatomy of male and female are the same in some ways and other they are not, not just the sex organs, but the skeleton and chemical balances that go on. Just thought there could have been more about the females as well.
October 31, 2007

Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form

Excellent book, quick delivery at a competitive price. Excellent value. I'll use the book for years to come.
October 18, 2007

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