An Authoritative Comprehensive Guide for Contemporary Figurative Artists At a time when
renewed interest in figurative art is surging throughout the art world author Robert Zeller
presents The Figurative Artist's Handbook-the first comprehensive guide to figure drawing and
painting to appear in decades. Illustrated with Zeller's own exquisite drawings and paintings
as well as works by nearly 100 historical and contemporary figurative art masters the handbook
is also a treasure trove of the finest figurative art of the past and the present day. Included
are Michelangelo Pieter Brueghel the Elder Peter Paul Rubens Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Gustav Klimt Edward Hopper Andrew Loomis Andrew Wyeth Lucian Freud Odd Nerdrum Eric
Fischl Bo Bartlett Steven Assael John Currin and many others. Original and thoroughly
modern in his approach Zeller brings together three figure-drawing methods long thought to be
at odds synthesizing these seemingly incompatible techniques to achieve a cohesive and
complete understanding of the human figure. Although all three methods underlie contemporary
fine-arts practice and education no artist's handbook has ever combined them before: The Study
of Gesture (Disegno): Rooted in the Italian Mannerist style of the 16th and 17th centuries the
gestural method emphasizes life rhythm and movement in the human body. The Structural
Approach: A mainstay of 20th- and 21st-century art instruction this method applies an
architectural perspective to the body using a block conception for anatomically sound solid
figures. The Atelier Method: Based on the training provided by 18th- and 19th-century art
academies the atelier approach creates sensual smooth renderings based on meticulous study of
the figure's surface morphology in light and shadow. Covering all the basics as well as many
advanced techniques The Figurative Artist's Handbook is aimed at both students and experienced
artists. A practical how-to guide it provides in-depth step-by-step instruction and-rare
among figure-drawing books-features sections on composition portraiture and painting.
Chapters on creativity and on using a sketchbook help readers hone their artistic vision and
evolve ideas from the initial inspiration to the fully developed work. Also included is an
extensive section highlighting the great movements in figurative art throughout history-from
ancient Egypt and Greece to the present.
