Artistic anatomy is a tough discipline. It can't be learned in a day. It took me several years and many books. You can learn anatomy from books, but buy wisely. Even if you can afford to buy books indiscriminately, you'll still have to trudge through them (like I did) only to find that some aren't worth the time. This is my list of favorites with comments.

Some of these books are also listed under other resource categories.

Inexpensive, complete and comprehensible. It shows all the bones and muscles with clear illustrations. I learned anatomy mainly from this book. It has the advantage that it is printed on cheap paper that takes colored pencils so you can go through it and "color code" all the muscles. By the time you've gone through the whole book and colored the deltoids red and the biceps yellow, you get fairly familiar with them.  —mv

An exhaustive artistic anatomy book. He uses all technical terms which makes it impossible for the beginner to understand. I got through it after having taught anatomy a dozen times, and it was slow going. It is the most complete (and expensive) of all the "pure anatomy" textbooks for artists. It does not teach you how to draw, so it is as applicable to sculptors as it is to draftspersons, but very valuable to all as reference.  —mv

This is unlike Rubins or Goldfinger's book in that it is not "pure anatomy" — it also teaches draftsmanship of the figure. It has a series of about forty "helpful hints" pages that are excellent for simplifying drawing problems.  —mv

Reed has unrefined anatomy but his approach is so sound and his teaching so unpretentious that I recommend it. It is similar to Peck's book, but with less emphasis on anatomy, more on general figure drawing.  —mv

Not really an anatomy book, though it has one chapter devoted to anatomy. This is the best drawing book I know. A solid "ten." 100 master drawings analyzed simply, clearly and with deep insight from a man who understood anatomical figure drawing as thoroughly as anyone in the 20th century, and who taught it as well as anyone in any century. Unfortunately, the sequel called ANATOMY LESSONS FROM THE GREAT MASTERS is not good — it has great pictures but lousy text because Hale didn't write it even though they used his name.  —mv

This book is a "ten" with flaws. It was taken from Hale's lectures at the Art Students League and has errors in it because the transcriber didn't understand the material. But it's still a great book. The writing is entertaining and enlightening. More than worthwhile.  —mv

Bridgman was Robert Beverly Hale's teacher and also Norman Rockwell's! His drawings are sometimes inconsistent, often sloppy and difficult for beginners to decipher, but in spite of such flaws you can learn a lot about how the forms of the figure "fit together." Plus, they are beautifully expressive drawings. Constructive Anatomy and The Human Machine are good to start with because they are fairly clear. The Complete Guide to Drawing from Life is a compilation that gives you the best of the smaller books. I've learned as much about how to draw the structure of the head from Bridgman as I have from any other source.  —mv

Don't try to read it — you'll just get frustrated. Look at the pictures and you'll learn how to use form in drawing the figure. The anatomy is stylized to the point of looking artificial — more like plastic action figures than real humans — but it is strong on showing how classic draftsmanship can be creatively applied to the human body.  —mv

ANATOMY FOR ARTISTS
Marshall Vandruff, Instructor

After over 900 hours of teaching artistic anatomy in college courses, I retired and boiled it all down to a concentrated summer course. I use over a thousand slides to show you every significant bone, muscle and form of the figure, and we take time to "draw notes" from the slides.

Check my upcoming schedule, join my mailing list, or email me if you have specific questions.

Unless BODY WORLDS moves into your neighborhood as a permanent exhibit, you won't get access to a more detailed flayed figure than Andrew Cawrse's sculpture. The medical version is expensive, but artists don't need it (I have it because I'm a teacher and want to feel important). Version 1, the "Student & General Purpose Model", dispenses with the color distinctions and gives you an as-close-to-real miniature human body as you can buy. In fact, it's a fascinating sculpted "collectible" even if you aren't studying anatomy. But if you are, you'll have the muscles in front of you, three-dimensional and accurate.  —mv

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