Dynamic Anatomy

by Burne Hogarth

Book Overview

Praised by critics and teachers alike for more than 40 years, Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy is recognized worldwide as the classic, indispensable text on artistic anatomy. Now revised, expanded, and completely redesigned with 75 never-before-published drawings from the Hogarth archives and 24 pages of new material, this award-winning reference explores the expressive structure of the human form from the artist's point of view. The 400 remarkable...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823015521
• ISBN13: 9780823015528
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 2.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.6" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful general guide for students

The book is a great introduction to figure drawing techniques. Most of the illustrations are of extremely idealized forms, but the book includes a really interesting chapter on the validity of eschewing the classical ideals of human proportion in art. HOWEVER, this book should probably be paired with one focused more heavily on musculature and the skeleton.

Dynamic Anatomy

This is a very good reference book for learning to draw the human figure in action. I am a commercial artist and designer, but have worked for many years on non-figurative projects. I am focusing on figurative work again, primarily in the game, fantasy and science fiction field. My goal is to draw entirely from imagination without having to use reference material, and this book by Burne Hogarth and his Drawing Dynamic Hands are helping me to reach this goal. The illustrations are very well done with good explanation and many drawings showing the figure in action. The muscles are heroic in proportion, which helps in identifying them. As an artist, you can choose to emphasize them or not... but knowing the structure is very important. I have had many life drawing sessions and have always been taught to "draw what you see", but over the years I have come to the conclusion that "drawing what you know" is equally important, both for time efficiency and quality of the finished illustration or painting. I highly recommend this book for any artist that is serious about drawing the human figure in action.

anatomy with an attitude

burne hogarth was not only a good draughtsman but also one of the most insightful with regard to the history and science of drawing. to appreciate this book one has to have an open mind(which for an artist is the only way to be)then you would see that he has learned human anatomy quite thouroughly then altered it to suit his line of work (drawing tarzan and the likes) and simultaneously he has also used this derivation of his to teach drawing to his students.this is not a realistic anatomy book which gives you a documentary reference for the human figure, but its a book which simplifies realistic anatomy for amatuers so that they get over their fear of anatomy drawing and later study anatomy just as the author did and make his or her own style.he has stylised and simplified all muscles and altered or even merged some.one of the attractions of this book is the section called the nine principles of foreshortening. this book as with hogarths other books are products of a lifetime of drawing comics and teaching,the author makes it very clear that the figures in the book are his ideal (which neednt be yours)he strongly recommends you to do your own research and not use this book as an encyclopaedia.i have heard a lot of criticism of hogarths style,that it is too strong and will influence other artists to become mere carbon copies,to refute this i must tell you that michelangelo copied and studied works of massacio, ghirlandiao,donatello,but ended up better than any of them.drawing is highly dependent on master pupil tradition, in this age where there are no great masters living in our neighbourhood(unlike michelangelo) we have to look up to the books by people like hogarth . as a teacher hogarth ranks as one of the best along with robert beverly hale,george bridgman and paul richer.

An all-around great book

Dynamic Anatomy is an excellent book. It teaches all about human anantomy. I escpecially reccomend it if you have some trouble with hands. The book containes lots of detailed drawing primarily for the male figure. Though sometimes the angles of of his figures are a bit weird(sometimes you just can't see were all the muscles are)it still gives you a great visuall concept. I also highly recommend Dynamic Figure Drawing another one of his books.

A worthy reference...

Being an aspiring comic book artist, I found Burne Hogarth's reference to be invaluable in the field of figure drawing.Like most anatomy books, Dynamic Anatomy illustrates the relevant muscle groups in Hogarth's inimitable style. Unlike some anatomy books, however, this doesn't have skeletal references which most art schools would instruct as the basis of figure drawing.Moreso, he provides some tips to effectively draw each major part of the anatomy, plus the discussion about foreshortening towards the end of the book is worth as much as the majority of the content.Still, for what its worth, I found the book pretty well done and would recommend it to folks who do figure drawing (especially in the illustration of characters with superhuman physiques).

Perhaps the best ever "how to" book on creating action poses

The inimitable Burne Hogarth breaks down, with startling simplicity, the secrets and tricks behind inventing YOUR OWN dynamic action poses! Once you've mastered his techniques, you REALLY WON'T ever need reference again! As an artist (15 years illustrating), I can whole-heartedly reccomend this book to any other artists (especially aspiring comic and sequential artists), struggling with the difficulties of posing the human figure in deep perspective (and making it look right).While I'm not a big fan of Hogarth's style (all the drawings... hundreds of them... are rendered in his style), I was nonetheless SO blown away by the techniques he revealed that I went and bought ALL the other Hogarth books.For the experienced artist... the benefit is this: Burne Hogarth doesn't try and teach you how to draw like HIM. He shows you how to use what he knows, to better serve your OWN art. And his tricks are time tested! Well worth the investment.