The Nude Female Figure: Classic Studio Poses

This book is a great resource for artists. I personally use it to practice drawing the figure in charcoal. I like this particular book so well because it includes a large variety of poses and has the figure in different sizes--some only an inch or two tall up to the larger size like you see on the cover. I wish the author would come out with another book in color!

I'm writing this from the standpoint of the model, not an artist. Having recently gotten into figure modeling I need a reference book that would give me a broad variety of poses to use for myself. This book is perfect for that. Whether you're an artist or a model this is a great reference. There is basically no text at all - this is NOT a "how to draw" book at all - it is simply 200+ pages of different poses. There are sections for: standing poses, seated poses, reclining poses, kneeling poses, poses using a stool, action poses, pregnant poses & unusual poses. The photography, in general, is good, and many images are a full 8x10. There aren't as many male poses/pictures in the book, but since most of the poses work for male or female, it didn't really matter. If you're looking for a book filled with poses - as an artist or a model - this is perfect!

If you are looking for a book with a vast array of different poses then this book is for you. But unfortunately, because of the number of different poses presented, they did not include different angles of the same pose. What I liked about this book was that many different models of somewhat varying body types were used. The fault that I find with this book is the relative lack of male reference photos. It seems that only about 10% of the pictures are of males. So, if you want a good reference book for the female figure with many different poses represented then this book is a very good choice. If you are looking for a good reference for the male figure then look elsewhere.

The models presented within this book are models I would use in my own drawings. Excellent. The best collection of attractive yet realistic models I have seen to date. The only problem is each pose is restricted to one angle. But I believe the sheer number of poses definately makes up for this one problem.