Drawing Cutting Edge Anatomy – Review

September 30, 2007 in Books by Vyoma | 4 comments

This is a review of the book, Drawing Cutting Edge Anatomy by Christopher Hart, which I had bought some time back.

First impression: The book is true to its subtitle – The ultimate reference guide for comic book artists.

I would say that it is a useful book for anyone who wants to learn how to draw human figures. Of course, being that it is a reference for comic book artists, limits the scope to stereotype characters, but the stereotype characters are a good base to study anatomy.

In the book, Christopher goes through each and every part of the human body – both male and female. He gives their anatomical name, and as he says, it is not necessary to remember their names, but it is important to know which muscles lay under the skin.

The book is filled with pictures that can be taken as references for almost any pose you can imagine – both male and female.

Should I buy this book?

Yes – if you can afford it, buy it. This book is, in my opinion a ‘must buy’ for all beginners.

Also, as a added bonus, it has details on how to approach a career as a comic artist, and also interviews of Mike Marts (Marvel Comics), Chris Warner and Scott Allie (Dark Horse Comics).

Disclosure: The above link to book at the Amazon store is an affliate link with my referral code.

  1. Slevi’s avatar

    Slevi on October 4, 2007 at 9:08 pm

    It’s a great book, especially if you’re interested in comic style of drawing although outside of that it’s definitely valuable as well.

    More of those definite must haves for every beginner in figure drawing is the loomis series and/or bridgeman’s series. I’m not sure if bridgeman’s is still printed, loomis unfortunately isn’t anymore. But I believe some of the loomis stuff has been placed on the net for educational purposes and outside of that there’s always the second hand issues on amazon/ebay/etc.

    Since Hart, Loomis and Bridgeman’s all focus on teaching you to draw the figure in at least one of their books in 3 completely different styles there’s definitely one which will probably appeal to you.

    I must say that the actual books of Loomis have become quite pricey in many locations so you should definitely find a good deal on that one, but both this book by Hart and the bridgeman’s drawing from life will probably not cost much more than your pencil set does these days :) .

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  2. Vyoma’s avatar

    Vyoma on October 5, 2007 at 1:18 am

    Selvi, thanks for dropping by and bringing to notice the works of Loomis and Bridgeman. I was not aware of these books.

    Now, I got something to hunt for. :)

    Reply