Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books in figure drawing & how I use it.
Review: In my opinion, perhaps it is best to review this book in two aspects: a) what & how they are covered in the book and b) how I use this book.WHAT & HOW THEY ARE COVERED IN THIS BOOK: This book covers every part of a human body and how to draw them. These include proportions, balance, light & shade, head, torso, arm, hand, pelvis, leg, foot, and drapery. Not only does each section show how to draw these human organs, their anatomical aspects are also discussed in sufficient detail. Illustrations are drawings by the author, going from simplified to realistic expressions of the organs. Movement, gesture, and balance are the most useful and interesting aspects discussed for each organ as well as for the whole body. These aspects are usually not as clearly covered in other anatomy books as in this one. This is a special strength of this book compared to others. HOW I USE THIS BOOK: Although the approach I use to do life figure drawing is more like that described in "The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing : A Contemporary Perspective on the Classical Tradition" by Anthony Ryder (also read my review on this book), this book is valuable to me for the following reasons: - Certain poses that are impossible to set sufficiently long for a detailed rendition, either due to their complexity or time restraint, that a live model cannot maintain. In this case, quick sketches or incomplete drawings are done from a live model; the rest will be done based on an understanding of human anatomy. This is when this book becomes a big help. - Even when drawing from a life model, certain features are not clearly visible or existent in the same model. For instance, a beautiful face does not always come with an ideal body proportion. Obviously, in the final painting using a model, it is sometimes the artist's job to figure out what to use from the model and what to implement from an understanding of human anatomy. In my opinion, it is dangerous to "invent" what you don't see in your painting, since they will appear unnatural. However, to diminish this risk, a good understanding of human anatomy is a powerful tool to the artist for this task. This book is a good and reliable companion for me to tackle this difficult task when it comes to anatomy. To keep it short, I'd like to say that, "I don't read this book. I STUDY IT." STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This book is excellent for those artists who need practice drawing the human figure because the book has so many progressive pictures to look at and utilize. The section for "hands" is very good showing the artist, by example, how to go about starting each finger and on to the thumb and how to attach them to the hand. Each of the sections on the figure is self contained with several sketches with varying views (top, side,etc.) I have a hard time with specific components of the figure and this book has made everything very clear and helpful.
Rating: 
Summary: little or no value
Review: This book would best be an introduction to artistic anatomy for junior high school students. I don't consider it a serious book for real artists. The main thrust of this book is to simplify the shapes of the human body as much as possible. It also gives a small amount of anatomical information. And it just stops there. I was expecting a lot of advice and guidelines for constructive figure drawing, but it wasn't there at all. Also the drawings are very crude and ill-proportioned. There are other books that have FAR more information on anatomy and/or advice on figure drawing. This book is very lacking in content and intelligent writing. If this book really is used in many universities, that would actually be another reason for me to look down on it, since universities are generally bad at teaching traditional artistic skills and mainly promote modern art dogma.
Rating:
Summary: must have life drawing book
Review: This is a book anyone who is serious about drawing should not have in their library. It's a great resource to learn about anatomy for artist. Very comprehensive in scope to make one's drawing aesthetically beautiful. The book isn't just about life drawing, it's strong in drawing foundations which every artist should have.This book will also save you lots of time collecting books on life drawing because it covers the major areas of figure drawing. This is a book that comprise from all 6 of bridgeman's books. his other books are great for portability but i recommend this one so you don't have so many books laying around.
Rating:
Summary: What a bargain!
Review: You are getting alot in this book! George Bridgman is the master at constructive anatomy. If you are taking or want to take a lifedrawing course, get this book! It is invaluable for visualizing human anatomy as 3dimensional shapes! I am an animator and find this book indispensable - especially for doing gestures and quick studies!
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book.
Review: You MUST have an in-depth knowledge of the human anatomy (particularly the bones and muscles) before you buy this book. I bought this book on the account of the previous reviewers who I assume (just now, unfortunately) are professionals or fine-arts students. Most of the analysis refers to scientific names of bones and muscles. I understand this is a good thing BUT most of the time, there are either (1) no visual references to these bones and muscles on the page where the analysis is made (i.e. sometimes you have to move forward a few pages to determine what is being discussed) or worst, (2) there are no visual references at all. I don't blame the author considering this book is a compilation of his individual works which may have been complete unto themselves. I blame the publisher for not taking the time and effort to add value to the book by labeling the visuals themselves (perhaps by asking Mr. Bridgman's former students to do it for them) and for making sure the pages are in the correct order. I get the feeling this book was hurried out of the press. I have downloaded Mr. Loomis book "Figure Drawing for All It's Worth" and if you're a beginner like me, it's a better deal (heck, it's free) because the text are clearer and the visuals cleaner. Please consider my rating a beginner's gauge rather than a professional's or a fine-arts student's. I'll just probably use this book as a visual reference rather than a self-study guide...
Rating: 
Summary: Not for beginners!
Review: You MUST have an in-depth knowledge of the human anatomy (particularly the bones and muscles) before you buy this book. I bought this book on the account of the previous reviewers who I assume (just now, unfortunately) are professionals or fine-arts students. Most of the analysis refers to scientific names of bones and muscles. I understand this is a good thing BUT most of the time, there are either (1) no visual references to these bones and muscles on the page where the analysis is made (i.e. sometimes you have to move forward a few pages to determine what is being discussed) or worst, (2) there are no visual references at all. I don't blame the author considering this book is a compilation of his individual works which may have been complete unto themselves. I blame the publisher for not taking the time and effort to add value to the book by labeling the visuals themselves (perhaps by asking Mr. Bridgman's former students to do it for them) and for making sure the pages are in the correct order. I get the feeling this book was hurried out of the press. I have downloaded Mr. Loomis book "Figure Drawing for All It's Worth" and if you're a beginner like me, it's a better deal (heck, it's free) because the text are clearer and the visuals cleaner. Please consider my rating a beginner's gauge rather than a professional's or a fine-arts student's. I'll just probably use this book as a visual reference rather than a self-study guide...
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