Constructive Anatomy
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-10-02 09:54:51
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：George B. Bridgman
- ISBN：0486211045
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Summary
Countless artists and students since the 1920s have used this and other books by George B。 Bridgman （for nearly 50 years a teacher at the Art Students League in New York） for a solid foundation and understanding of human anatomy。 They have found， and continue to find， that his unique way of discovering the vitalizing forces in the human form and realizing them in drawing carries the student pleasantly over one of art's most severe hurdles。 Bridgman's superb anatomical sketches， of which there are nearly 500 in the book， also bring clearly to fruition his lucid theories of how to draw the human body in its structure and its complex movements。
Constructive Anatomy， an anatomical reference guide for the working artist， sculptor， and student， graphically shows important parts of the human body， both in motion and in repose — hand， wrist， thumb， fingers， forearm， arm， armpit， shoulder， neck， head， eye， nose， ear， mouth， chin， trunk （front， side， and back）， pelvis， hip， thigh， leg， knee， ankle， foot， and toes。 Drawings of bone and muscle structure of the working of the joints and the interrelation of the various parts of the body are mainly concerned with movement of all sorts — movements that are described in detail as well as illustrated。 The bending， twisting，and turning， creasing and interlocking of the various parts of the body are represented in drawing as the wedging of masses in specific ways that are clearly defined by Mr。 Bridgman。
Every artist will save tedious hours of research with this simple but effective approach， and will be delighted with its directness and fervor。
Constructive Anatomy， an anatomical reference guide for the working artist， sculptor， and student， graphically shows important parts of the human body， both in motion and in repose — hand， wrist， thumb， fingers， forearm， arm， armpit， shoulder， neck， head， eye， nose， ear， mouth， chin， trunk （front， side， and back）， pelvis， hip， thigh， leg， knee， ankle， foot， and toes。 Drawings of bone and muscle structure of the working of the joints and the interrelation of the various parts of the body are mainly concerned with movement of all sorts — movements that are described in detail as well as illustrated。 The bending， twisting，and turning， creasing and interlocking of the various parts of the body are represented in drawing as the wedging of masses in specific ways that are clearly defined by Mr。 Bridgman。
Every artist will save tedious hours of research with this simple but effective approach， and will be delighted with its directness and fervor。
Reviews
Dana
，
very useful。
Konstantine
，
bridgmans method of constructing the body like pieces from the skeleton is really useful， i do wish the illustrations defined it a bit better but the lessons are pretty rich
Benjamin
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The book is an amazing tool to improve our understanding of anatomy when it comes to drawing。 However， it’s worth mentioning that in order to use this book properly and make the best out of it， a certain level of expertise is required。 A newcomer will probably see this book as something useful， and to some extent， as a novelty， but will most likely end up failing to use any of the information given in the text。 I recommend this book for people that have already understood some of the “fundamenta The book is an amazing tool to improve our understanding of anatomy when it comes to drawing。 However， it’s worth mentioning that in order to use this book properly and make the best out of it， a certain level of expertise is required。 A newcomer will probably see this book as something useful， and to some extent， as a novelty， but will most likely end up failing to use any of the information given in the text。 I recommend this book for people that have already understood some of the “fundamentals” of drawing。 。。。more
Debra Hahn
，
A Artist Reference This is one great book for studying and for referencing groups of muscles，Or a particular muscle to a group or position on the human body。 For peopleWho love to draw or sculpture the human body。 Its even great for medicalStudents。 This kept on my drawing board for reference for my own Sketching and drawings。Debra H。
Gold
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Perfect
Ivo
，
Very informative。The book is good and full of anatomy technical lingo。 I can recommend this book for medium to advance artists looking to get more knowledge about anatomy and how to draw it， but not for the absolute beginners like myself 。
Pilos
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Been using this manual for quite a while now。Pretty good for beginners since it gives a good amount of explanation， however， there aren't as many practical excercises as I expected it to be。 Still a useful tool for someone who wants to draw as a hobbist。 Been using this manual for quite a while now。Pretty good for beginners since it gives a good amount of explanation， however， there aren't as many practical excercises as I expected it to be。 Still a useful tool for someone who wants to draw as a hobbist。 。。。more
Arman Behrad
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Mannequinization strategy for instructing surface anatomy is so clever and efficient。 I’ll hope that Biologist inspire more from Artist。
Dor
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Decent Decent art book。 Good for beginning ish folks and a good refresher I guess。 Not the book I thought it would be。
Mephistopheles
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This is absolutely fabulous， and， unusually for an art book， the text is better than the pictures， which were quick， dirty， and instructive， but without finesse。 So many lights went off in my brain when reading – highly， highly recommended。
Kathy Jiang
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It’s good for what it is （a smallish book）: a collection of sketches of body parts with a focus on joints and how the body is built。 Detailed， but clear written explanations on each aspect it’s focusing on。 All drawings are of white people or body parts of indistinguishable ethnicity。
Ana
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My SO gifted me this for my bday。 Lots of useful info！
Sonya Ball
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Bridgeman is one of the leading authorities on the human figure， that being said， this book is one of the best he ever created on anatomy and drawing the figure。 The illustrations are clear and easy to follow along with his techniques for drawing the human figure。 This is a classic on figure drawing and I highly recommend it as a companion book to any other textbook on the subject。 Not for beginning students though， it's definitely an advanced text。 Bridgeman is one of the leading authorities on the human figure， that being said， this book is one of the best he ever created on anatomy and drawing the figure。 The illustrations are clear and easy to follow along with his techniques for drawing the human figure。 This is a classic on figure drawing and I highly recommend it as a companion book to any other textbook on the subject。 Not for beginning students though， it's definitely an advanced text。 。。。more
Jessica
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This *would* be five stars if it came with an introduction by Marshal Vandruff that said how the hell to study it。Now that I've learned from Vandruff and Prokopenko， I can finally understand the points that Bridgman tries to make。 It's extremely valuable， but I had to learn from other teachers first in order to understand this book。Tip: Don't copy the images line for line。 Use them as guidelines for how to simplify the masses of the body。 Bridgman is especially good for figuring out how masses f This *would* be five stars if it came with an introduction by Marshal Vandruff that said how the hell to study it。Now that I've learned from Vandruff and Prokopenko， I can finally understand the points that Bridgman tries to make。 It's extremely valuable， but I had to learn from other teachers first in order to understand this book。Tip: Don't copy the images line for line。 Use them as guidelines for how to simplify the masses of the body。 Bridgman is especially good for figuring out how masses fit together， but expect to spend a LOT of time analyzing images。EDIT: A rough index。9: Intro12: Overall body masses， movement， and construction18: The hand and wrist68: The shoulder， arm， armpit， and forearm103: Interlocking masses of the arm106: The neck114: The head and features148: The trunk150: What happens when a wedge bends: "The straight wedge。。。 becomes not a bent wedge， but two wedges"178: The lower limb including the knee and foot 。。。more
Barbara
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Once again the author is the best of what he teaches！ Very detailed
Nicole Mosley
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Absolutely excellent。
Steve Atkinson
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Any book by George Bridgman is 5 stars。 Period
Josh Vassallo
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Worst Kindle Edition EverIf I could give this zero stars， I would。 This is the worst kindle edition of a book I've ever seen。 It is so poorly formatted， with random nonsense characters scattered throughout that it's nearly impossible to read。 Do not buy this。 I want my money back。 Worst Kindle Edition EverIf I could give this zero stars， I would。 This is the worst kindle edition of a book I've ever seen。 It is so poorly formatted， with random nonsense characters scattered throughout that it's nearly impossible to read。 Do not buy this。 I want my money back。 。。。more
Des Small
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Bridgman renders like an old-master's pencil sketches， but that's not actually helpful: the loose cross-hatching is hard for the student to interpret。 His cuboid-based construction of the head is an interesting alternative to the usual ovals， but again I can't actually implement it based on the instructions provided。It is possible that this book is useful to someone but not really to me， pretty though it undoubtedly is。 Bridgman renders like an old-master's pencil sketches， but that's not actually helpful: the loose cross-hatching is hard for the student to interpret。 His cuboid-based construction of the head is an interesting alternative to the usual ovals， but again I can't actually implement it based on the instructions provided。It is possible that this book is useful to someone but not really to me， pretty though it undoubtedly is。 。。。more
Mary Madigan
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A very helpful how-to book that's practically a bible for comic artists。 My only gripe is - I bought the Kindle version first， and it was full of wonky characters and misaligned formatting。 I had to buy the print version in addition to the Kindle， just so I could make some sense of the text。 They need to fix the Kindle version - A very helpful how-to book that's practically a bible for comic artists。 My only gripe is - I bought the Kindle version first， and it was full of wonky characters and misaligned formatting。 I had to buy the print version in addition to the Kindle， just so I could make some sense of the text。 They need to fix the Kindle version - 。。。more
window
，
It's really great for learning a specific kind of anatomy， but it's almost like a personal， little journal with notes that aren't that intelligible to anyone else。 More useful for the pictures than the anatomy lessons。 His other book about life drawing is much more effective at explaining specific characteristics of good figure construction。 This one is more about the eye candy and good to copy from。 I love the line quality。 It's really great for learning a specific kind of anatomy， but it's almost like a personal， little journal with notes that aren't that intelligible to anyone else。 More useful for the pictures than the anatomy lessons。 His other book about life drawing is much more effective at explaining specific characteristics of good figure construction。 This one is more about the eye candy and good to copy from。 I love the line quality。 。。。more
Christine
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"A book reads the better which is our own， and has been so long known to us， that we know the topography of its blots， and dog's ears， and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins。" ~ Charles Lamb， Last Essays of Elia， 1833This is one of my all-time favorite and most-treasured books。 I don't yet understand all of it; in more than twenty years I still haven't mastered its topic to a level of equality with the author; and I'm sure the author himself is not the be-all "A book reads the better which is our own， and has been so long known to us， that we know the topography of its blots， and dog's ears， and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins。" ~ Charles Lamb， Last Essays of Elia， 1833This is one of my all-time favorite and most-treasured books。 I don't yet understand all of it; in more than twenty years I still haven't mastered its topic to a level of equality with the author; and I'm sure the author himself is not the be-all， end-all in the industry， either。 But I love this book because it was the first to unlock the secrets of anatomy for me。 It gave me a Helen Keller "W-A-T-E-R" moment; for the first time in my young career as an artist， I understood the figure！ I could draw it from imagination at any angle， because I knew what the bones & muscles & skin would do， how they would behave。 Mr。 Bridgman's book opened my mind to an incredible vista of possibilities。 For that reason， I love it， and keep it close at hand for regular conversation。EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT。。This book totally clicked with me， but I know other artists who didn't find it helpful at all。 I've heard feedback that it's not good for beginners， mainly due to its abundance of technical drawings & lack of written instruction。 Yet I first read it as a young， self-taught teen; and while my epiphany didn't come til a few years later， it was always a valuable resource on my bookshelf--if only for copying practice。As such， I consider this an essential book for any artist's library。。whether it gets dog-eared or dusty on the shelf。 :）MY STARS。。。。are 5 equal parts practical and emotional。 :） 。。。more
Jedkimball
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One of the best Bridgeman books， nice learning sequence
Johnny Atomic
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Not a tutorial by any means。 Bridgman gives us a series of breakdowns from perfect anatomical accuracy through more manageable shapes representative of the original structures， all the way to "masses" that take in the totality of a large anatomical grouping。 If you didn’t understand what I just said， don’t worry。 I’ll translate。Bridgman’s method of human figure construction breaks the body down into large， but still distinct masses that are more easily rendered， both in motion and at rest as wel Not a tutorial by any means。 Bridgman gives us a series of breakdowns from perfect anatomical accuracy through more manageable shapes representative of the original structures， all the way to "masses" that take in the totality of a large anatomical grouping。 If you didn’t understand what I just said， don’t worry。 I’ll translate。Bridgman’s method of human figure construction breaks the body down into large， but still distinct masses that are more easily rendered， both in motion and at rest as well as in perspective。 Rather than learning how to draw all the tendons， bones and muscle groups of （for example） the shoulder， you are shown how the mass of the shoulder should look， and why。 In this way， the body is broken down into dozens of easier to draw shapes that are still very accurate in terms of raw medical anatomy。 If you are not familiar with his work， it will take me longer to explain than just looking at one chapter online。 So I have done you one better。 Follow this link to get the whole book for free （legally）my link text。Don’t say I never gave you anything。Notes: It’s dry。 The concepts are exciting， but Bridgman writes like the Pope talks。 。。。more
Heidi
，
An essential book for figure drawing。
Misa
，
If you draw you should get this reference book。 If you're just plain interested in human anatomy， you should get this book。 Come on guys， it's like four bucks on Amazon。 There's mostly drawings for reference and what little text appears is explanatory and referential。 There's a bit of an intro for each part of the body which is pretty interesting and good to follow。。。 but even just for studying and copying purposes， this is a great reference。 If you draw you should get this reference book。 If you're just plain interested in human anatomy， you should get this book。 Come on guys， it's like four bucks on Amazon。 There's mostly drawings for reference and what little text appears is explanatory and referential。 There's a bit of an intro for each part of the body which is pretty interesting and good to follow。。。 but even just for studying and copying purposes， this is a great reference。 。。。more
Lachezar Petkov
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A great anatomy book。 But do NOT start learning anatomy with Bridgman - his books are for people who already have some knowledge on the subject。 Otherwise you may just go nuts without learning much （especially with some of the ridiculous mistakes he made - nobody knows whether he was drunk or if it was all intentional）。
Parka
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（More pictures at parkablogs。com）Constructive Anatomy is like the volume two to Bridgman's Life Drawing。 While the other book deals more with conceptualizing mass and form， this book takes a closer look at the parts of the body。The commentary talks about the anatomy， mass and movement。 He introduces simplified guides to drawing like using cubes to block in the mass first before going into more detail， The muscle drawings although still sketchy are delineated clear enough to show how they aff （More pictures at parkablogs。com）Constructive Anatomy is like the volume two to Bridgman's Life Drawing。 While the other book deals more with conceptualizing mass and form， this book takes a closer look at the parts of the body。The commentary talks about the anatomy， mass and movement。 He introduces simplified guides to drawing like using cubes to block in the mass first before going into more detail， The muscle drawings although still sketchy are delineated clear enough to show how they affect surface form。 Even more detailed discussions on the muscles are dealt with in The Human Machine。Again， just like other books， the artist with prior knowledge of anatomy will benefit more。 It's recommended for intermediate artists and above。 。。。more
Alexandra
，
These are figure drawing studies。 The book is separated into different anatomy parts; head， ears， feet， arms， etc。 Very cool old-fashioned style。 Our teacher made the class buy this for figure drawing class， I plan on holding on to it for a while。 Shows how to plan and your drawings， how to start。 I like！
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Constructive Anatomy
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Constructive Anatomy&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Constructive Anatomy&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0