Drawing The Female Nude

Description

Giovanni Civardi explores and explains the intricate process of depicting the female nude. From choosing your method of representation and deciding whether to draw from life or from photography, every facet of drawing the female nude is covered in this in-depth reference book, a valuable resource for any artist. Civardi's own considered drawings provide an excellent basis for the artist wanting to expand their figure-drawing skills; and the author takes a practical, almost geometric, approach to depicting the female form, breaking down the body into basic shapes and portraying the female figure in a variety of simple and complex poses.

Author description

GIOVANNI CIVARDI was born in Milan in 1947. While training to become a sculptor, portrait artist and illustrator at the Free Life-Study School of the Accademia di Brera, he also studied medicine and surgery. For over a decade, he worked as an illustrator, producing commissions for newspapers, magazines and book covers. During frequent trips to France and Denmark, Civardi put on exhibitions of his work and pursued his interest in studying the relationship between medical anatomy and the human form as depicted by the artist. His experience gained from teaching anatomy, life drawing and portraiture in schools and institutions over many years has led to the publication of numerous books in which Civardi's experiences are brought into focus.

Table of contents

Introduction 6 Stages of a drawing procedure 8 The anatomical reasons for shape 9 Some methods of representation 12 Tonal drawing 12 Linear drawing 13 Constructive drawing 14 Structural drawing 15 The erect figure 16 The moving figure 38 The sitting figure 56 The kneeling figure 76 The reclining and lying-down figure 88 The figure in perspective 118 Some photographic references 124 Bibliography 128