Rating: 
Summary: Hack art instruction at a rip-off price
Review: "The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition" by Anthony Ryder 1999,
List price $24.95 ISBN 0823003035 Ryder employs a teaching method which one reviewer has termed, INVISIBLE PROBLEM SOLVING, where the book is illustrated with finished illustrations, without showing the student any of the intermediate steps it took to arrive at the final work. It is becoming a common flaw in the rush to publish some of these How-To-Draw books. Displaying finished works does not impart knowledge to a pupil. The title term "contemporary perspectives" turns out be be little more than gimmick language for watered-down anatomical instruction. Perhaps we should be more demanding when the title includes words like: "COMPLETE GUIDE TO..." because the book must actually BE a "complete guide" and this book is not. The art work is flat, torpid, and uninspiring, lacking in dynamism and vitality. The models are listles and possess no dynamism, no life. It is not a book for beginners, because it doesn't begin with what Jack Hamm refers to as "simplified figurettes", and is termed elswhere as "human puppets" etc. The title claims the book is for "Artists" but anyone who is already qualified as an actual "artist" will already have covered the material in a first year of drawing instruction. The methodology of Invisible Problem Solving is the crux of the issue however, showing that the author is out of touch with his audience. For the weighty list price of $24.95, buyers should demand better.
Rating:
Summary: Hack art instruction at a rip-off price
Review: "The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing: A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition" by Anthony Ryder 1999,
List price $24.95 ISBN 0823003035 Ryder employs a teaching method which one reviewer has termed, INVISIBLE PROBLEM SOLVING, where the book is illustrated with finished illustrations, without showing the student any of the intermediate steps it took to arrive at the final work. It is becoming a common flaw in the rush to publish some of these How-To-Draw books. Displaying finished works does not impart knowledge to a pupil. The title term "contemporary perspectives" turns out be be little more than gimmick language for watered-down anatomical instruction. Perhaps we should be more demanding when the title includes words like: "COMPLETE GUIDE TO..." because the book must actually BE a "complete guide" and this book is not. The art work is flat, torpid, and uninspiring, lacking in dynamism and vitality. The models are listles and possess no dynamism, no life. It is not a book for beginners, because it doesn't begin with what Jack Hamm refers to as "simplified figurettes", and is termed elswhere as "human puppets" etc. The title claims the book is for "Artists" but anyone who is already qualified as an actual "artist" will already have covered the material in a first year of drawing instruction. The methodology of Invisible Problem Solving is the crux of the issue however, showing that the author is out of touch with his audience. For the weighty list price of $24.95, buyers should demand better.
Rating: 
Summary: An Approach to Drawing
Review: Although I wouldn't recommend Ryder's book to be the very first instruction book to use if you're just beginning to learn to draw, it definitely should be the second one. (If you're just starting to learn to draw realistically, I would recommend beginning with a book like Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," which, despite flaws, can give you faster results and motivate you to keep drawing.) Ryder doesn't say much more than the bare essentials about nuts-and-bolts technical matters (like what sort of pencils to use, etc.), but rather concentrates on describing a general approach to drawing- how to look at your model and transfer what you see to the paper. He does this with an economy of style that can get dense at times, but at the same time he avoids talking down to you or trying to make good drawing seem easier than it is. As he repeatedly emphasizes, it can take many hours of persistence and re-working to make a good drawing (or even a mediocre one if you're a beginner), and in fact it is that persistence- rather than some special ability- that makes it possible to draw well. Too many "teach yourself to draw" books aim you toward producing cartoonish or soft-focus drawings like you can buy from that guy with a portrait booth in the mall. The excellence of Ryder's drawings- which, as other reviewers have noted, are worth the price of the book by themselves- show that he probably has more important things to say and higher goals than most authors of art instruction books. Even if you don't understand everything right away, this books rewards re-reading as you progress and get a better hand-on sense the issues and techniques of drawing that Ryder talks about.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic Models At Last!
Review: Anthony Ryder created a wonderfully interesting and useful tool for the beginner or intermediate artist. The models were very refreshing, as he used men and women of varying body types (from rather thin to extraordinarily generous)as well as different ethnic and/or racial backgrounds. I reccommend this book because I have found it so helpful in my own drawing, especially because of how he emphasized that the human body is full and curving, regardless of how thin and trim.
Rating:
Summary: THE definitive work on quality figure drawing!
Review: As a practicing artist I have to say that this is the finest book of its kind I've come across. If you are serious about taking a traditional approach to figure drawing and want to produce artwork of the finest quality, this is the book to look at. If you just want to learn to do quick sketches then you might look elsewhere, since the approach discussed is time-consuming and painstaking. But it is THE way to go if you are serious about fine art. If I was only allowed to have one book on my shelf this would be it.
Rating: 
Summary: It does a body good ;-)
Review: As other reviewers have said, this is a good to excellent book for those with some experience in drawing. The works presented, the methods, and the explanations are fine. There is a wealth of information in this book. However, I give this book a 4 stars because: 1. It would have been more helpful to have examples of the Envelope and Block-in techniques leading to the Contour WITHOUT overlays. In other words, to see the building blocks/steps as they would actually appear on paper while one is doing a drawing. 2. The drawings reveal outstanding technique and fidelity to the models--notwithstanding that even Ryder makes some errors in some of his drawings. However, although this is figure drawing rather than traditional life drawing (involving different levels of time and detail), I feel that the realism and technical skill draw too much attention to themselves. One goes "wow" at just about every work but there is a major aesthetic element missing--call it, expressiveness, soul, whatever. Still this book is a MUST READ.
Rating:
Summary: Pour épater la galerie
Review: Des images léchées. Des rendus à couper le souffle. Des dessins irréprochables. Mais... Si vous voulez apprendre à dessiner, ce livre n'est pas pour vous. Je m'explique: Si vous vous attendez à un livre explicatif où on décrit étape par étape tout le processus pour en arriver à une oeuvre achevée, vous risquez d'être déçus. M. Ryder a étudié avec des maîtres réputés et enseigne lui-même d'ailleurs (voir son site internet) mais j'ai eu l'impression, en lisant ce livre, d'avoir été laissé dans le mystère. Plusieurs étapes du processus de dessin ont été escamotées ou restent -volontairement?- nébuleuses (la fameuse "enveloppe" par exemple). De plus, vous n'apprendrez pas à dessiner au sens propre du mot. Vous apprendrez à reproduire, ce qui est légèrement différent. Tous les dessins de Ryder sont d'après modèles. Rien sorti de sa tête, si on peut dire. Bref, si vous cherchez un livre motivant qui vous pousse à vous dépasser, ce livre peut vous servir. C'est son principal mérite, d'après moi. Si vous aimez ce livre, vous serez peut-être interessés par un de ses professeurs: Ted Seth Jacobs. Tous en anglais.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Figure-Drawing-For-Beginners book
Review: Displaying finished works does not impart knowledge to a pupil. There are so many good books in print on figure drawing that "contemporary perspectives" make this just a pretty picture book.
Moreover, my scrutiny becomes more demanding when the title includes words like: "COMPLETE GUIDE TO..." because I will hold the author to that standard. The book must actually BE a "complete guide" and this book is not.
Rating:
Summary: You guys get it all wrong! HERE is how you should read it.
Review: First of all, I am the person who wrote a review for this book quite a while ago with the review title, "Beginners to expect some learning curve. Great book though!", back on Feb 27, 2001.
I also am one of the 'born-artists', as people who know me say so. Drawing comes to me as naturally as the needs (and pleasures) of eating, sleeping, communicating, and mating. (You see my point.) Although I am not making a living being an artist, I have been drawing and (more recently) painting ALL my life. Go figure. About figure drawing, each session comes with pleasure. I have no problems rendering the likeness of a life model (human included), as well as achieving light effects and such. As I said, 'it' comes naturally to me. (And I have never had any formal training in Art.) My approach in figure drawing (or anything drawing) is rather simple: I LOOK, I SEE, I DRAW WHAT I SEE. That's all! I keep my mind (and eyes) open when looking at the subject and draw. NOTHING bother me; no prefixed methods, be it Anthony Ryder's, Douglas Graves's, Joseph Sheppards's, Paul Richer's, Robert Hale's. NOBODY's! (By the way, how do I know about these writers, you ask? I read them all. I also have a copy of their books for myself. But do I copy their approach? NO WAY!
Leonardo da Vinci (my idol) said something to the effect that if you try to copy other artists' styles, the best you can become is an inferior artist. Do I want to be inferior after all the efforts trying to make ME the best? About the book, it is a GOOD book. But as any other books, once you make it A BOOK, you have to worry about writing, grammar, composition, etc. THE PROCESS OF DOING THAT SOMETIMES KILLS THE ESSENCE OF THE BOOK. As readers, we should read BETWEEN lines and try to get the essence that might have been buried or lost under piles of formats and presentation. Then, apply what you read to yourself. THIS IS A GOOD BOOK. I am not saying that I will learn to draw like Ryder, though. I will use some good and, more importantly, applicable advice from him to improve my own techniques, but I will NEVER draw like Ryder, only better! That's how you read this book. Oh, and by the way, as an artist who is struggling in looking for (and afford) life models to draw for long hours, as Ryder did, I doubt that many of us would have opportunities to do what Ryder did, spending hours (even days) working on the same pose of a model. This may be one of the main reasons I think Ryder's approach is not attracting many readers. My final famous last words: STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Anthony Ryder's complete guide to Figure Drawing.
Review: For some time now I have been looking for books that will help me develop my drawing skills. I've got to say that this book impressed me a lot. Not only are the drawings beautiful (and worth the money by itself), but the way the author teaches is both inspiring and pratical. Sick of those art books that say a lot of nice things about art but dont teach you anything? Or those books that don't teach you enough? This is the one you want then!
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