Art Models 6: The Female Figure in Shadow and Light (hardcover with disk)

Whether trying a new technique, getting in some practice time, or working on a finished piece, this figure study enables artists to create their choice of model, pose, and view whenever and wherever they’d like. The latest addition to the series will help artists become proficient in incorporating chiaroscuro or light and dark lighting—a technique used by the great masters to produce drama and depth in their paintings—to define the human form. The book incorporates a new layout featuring two primary views per pose as well as a section of close-up faces, while additional expressions and body details such as the face, hands, and feet are shown in even greater detail on the DVD-ROM. With the book, artists can study 95 poses in strong unidirectional lighting and observe the female form through more than 200 printed photos. Varieties of body types—ranging from thin to plus-size—and ethnicities are included. Poses have been carefully chosen to illustrate important effects such as foreshortening and perspective changes. With this guide, artists can achieve longer drawing sessions than they could when drawing from a model directly. While viewing from many angles and at their own pace is often impossible for artists in a studio session, it becomes as easy as putting in the disc and opening any photo. A judicious amount of photo retouching is done—not to make the models more glamorous or plastic but to remove distractions that detract from the models’ essence. The PC/Mac-compatible DVD-ROM included in the book features more than 2,500 high-resolution JPEG photos providing a number of viewing options—on a computer screen, printed out, projected for a group, or via a high-definition television. Each angle of every pose may also be enlarged, enabling artists to zoom in on specific body parts to achieve a higher level of detail.