Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist

by Stephen Rogers Peck

Book Overview

Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist remains unsurpassed as a manual for students. It includes sections on bones, muscles, surface anatomy, proportion, equilibrium, and locomotion. Other unique features are sections on the types of human physique, anatomy from birth to old age, an orientation on racial anatomy, and an analysis of facial expressions. The wealth of information offered by the Atlas ensures its place as a classic...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195030958
• ISBN13: 9780195030952
• Release Date: February 1982
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.4" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Great quick referance for drawing .

Mostly focusing on bone, and muscle structure this guide is excellent for finding what you need quickly. Easy to use but detailed I can usually find what I'm looking for in a couple seconds.

a hidden treasure: The highest authority in the CLASSICAL TRADITION

Copyright 1951? Wow, what a stimulating discovery, and what fun! Besides the skeletal and musculature illustrations, "Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist" is full of Peck's own drawings of basic anatomical features. These are not just the "final" drawings, like the master prints in Hale, but the beginning "rough sketches". I find this delightful because every beginner needs some inspirational guidance in drawing's first steps. A simple rough sketch of a nose, with shading; or bones drawn as a simple hinge joint, an arm or leg.... Peck's general reduction of the human figure to basic shapes is of inestimable help. The reader may just find himself saying, "Hey, I can do THAT!!!" And that is the wonderful thing about PECK's book. Peck has impeccable credentials and must be compared to Robert Beverly Hale. Peck's is not merely an alternate duplication of the same material Hale covers. There is a 'personal' touch in Peck; but the problem with any/all anatomy books, for beginners, is that they are simply intimidating, in their detail, their precision, their absolute realism. PECK overcomes this anatomical intimidation. I would venture that PECK ought to be included in at least the first several "drawing" books that one acquires. Sometimes it seems that several pages offer more practical instruction to a new student than entire chapters in the books coming out in recent years with gimmicky titles. "Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist," in combination with any beginning book on figure drawing is a must. With Famous Artist's School, Willy Pogany, Walt Reed, Jack Hamm, Viktor Perard and similar instruction, any ................... book-buyer / beginning artist will find themselves advancing steadily. I rate this in the top 4 of figure drawing books for the beginner. The chapter on "Distinctions of Age, Sex, And Race" is highly useful. PECK may be in danger of getting shoved aside with time and the publication of new pablum texts containing nothing new or vital; but PECK has written a timeless text that commands respect. CARPE DIEM [Seize the day!] I rate this book a very deserved 5 stars*

A Complete Artistic Decomposition of the Human Form

This book is fantastic. I have not seen (ever) a better description of human anatomy, bodily motion and the methodology for capturing both in artistic media. This book describes every detail of the human anatomy from multiple angles.In the section describing the bones, it shows you how the bones look for all ages and each sex. It shows you how the bones move, and work together. It shows you what the bones look like from the underside.In the sections covering muscles, it shows you how fat is stored in the muscle, how the the muscles move, how blood vessles show through the muscle and how the muscles layer.There are detailed portrayals of proportion, motion, emotion and prospective, all in photos and drawn graphics - not just in words.As I said, I've never seen a better book for describing the human body to an artist, and I've been on the look-out for more than 20 years.

Very well done. An excellent reference for the artist.

This anatomy book covers areas of the body which other books of its type overlook. If you need to draw a knee, this book tells you how. It contains some photographs of models to give a visual reference from where the drawings were derived. If you are looking for photographs for reference, this may not be your book. The poses are straight forward and simple, giving a basic view at the human figure. It is an excellent book to have on the shelves. I own a large number of anatomy books, some sketck oriented, some photographic. This is by far the most used of my collection. I highly recommend it.

This book is an excellent resource

This atlas of human anatomy is unlike any other 'anatomy for artists' I've ever seen; it is by far the best. It is a wealth of information about the human body. Pecks book unpacks the human body as the three dimensional and dynamic structure that it is. He covers the physics of how the body is built how it moves, grows, ages, gains weight and the distinctions of race. This book utilizes many types of drawings, paintings, photographs, and diagrams to illustrate the human body, AND it explains every muscle, the derivation of its latin name, its origin, insertion and action.