It's been a long time since I've drawn people, but it was my favorite subject when I was in my college art classes. This book was a wonderful review and would be perfect for beginners as well. The information is presented well, with plenty of visual examples. There is such a wide variety of poses- both stationary and dynamic, with a range of age, gender, and ethnicity. The focus is on technical methods and techniques used, and unlike other art books I've recently read, it does not address the why, or the purpose, of this type of art-making. I did appreciate the advice on the last page about creativity- to sketch everyday, to practice sketching from the work of Old Masters and other artists, and speed sketching from life. This book has made me excited to start drawing again, and provided ideas, exercises, and tools that I can use as I begin to practice.

Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a good resource for beginning readers. The drawings were easy to follow and the differences in the process were clear. My only complaint is that I wish there were some beginning exercises before moving into poses, but that just could be due to me very minimal skills.

A great step by step instruction book on drawing people and poses. The book starts off with the tool and materials and progresses to the break down of the basic anatomy. This is followed with instructions on drawing basic poses, from which we progress to dynamic pose with has great movement. Lastly the book deals with the face and concentrating on catching expressive gestures.
The book is very well illustrated and the information is very easy to follow. A good book to practice drawing the figure and rough sketching. . Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DRC.

The Art of Drawing Poses for Beginners is an in depth guide for the budding artist. It is probably not geared towards the complete beginner but would be perfect for someone with a bit of drawing experience. It covers tools, media, pencil techniques, and basic anatomy and body composition. It does get more and more difficult as you progress and not all instructions are step by step. Overall a good reference book for an artists' library.

A great and helpful resource
Artists Ken Goldman and Stephanie Goldman present "The Art of Drawing Poses for Beginners. Techniques for drawing a variety of figure poses in graphite pencil", published by Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster in the "Walter Foster Publishing's Collector's Series". In the introductions the authors state that: "The Art of Drawing Poses for Beginners offers everything you need to begin or further your journey in drawing people" (p. 7). They are also convinced that "Practice is the key to success, and with The Art of Drawing Poses for Beginners, you’ll have more than enough material to master the art of drawing people (p. 7). The book is divided into five sections: 1) Getting Started (which offers the basic information about materials, techniques, people in perspective, ...), 2) Basic Poses (standing, sitting, reclining), 3) dynamic poses ("Movement & Balance", "Children in Action"), 5) Expressive Portraits ("Drawing all Ages", "Showing Emotions"), and 5) Compositions. The drawing of the various poses is usually presented in three steps, sometimes with an additional example of the finished drawing. All in all there are many more great examples of children and adults in various poses throughout the book. Additional tips, e.g. "Rendering Hair", "Using a Kneaded Eraser", or "Creating Drama" are also a help for beginners or advanced artists.
I really appreciated the very detailed anatomy drawings although the front torso anatomy which is presented in the book is only for a man. The front torso of a woman would have been also helpful. The designs are only in black-grey-white but can easily be adopted for work with other medium, e.g., colored pencil. Although the book states that it is for beginners I find the drawings challenging for beginners. Nevertheless it is a great resource for them also for advanced artists.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#The ArtOfDrawingPosesForBeginners #Netgalley

The Art of Drawing Poses for Beginners
3.5 Stars

The Art of Drawing Poses for Beginners is packed full of information. It does a great job covering tools & materials, pencil techniques and shading. I particularly liked the extra photos, and how the author covered basic anatomy, and the importance of how muscle connects to bone; It's so important to draw poses. This book is divided into sections and progressively gets harder as you move forward. I would have appreciated it if the step-by-step directions continued to the last section. I'm not going to lie, the sheer amount of information covered within this book is overwhelming, and I am not a beginner. That's why I would have liked the book broken down into more digestible bite-sized pieces. A spash of color, or tips and helpful hints boxes would have went a lovely.

Overall, this book offers solid information on how to get started drawing more dynamic poses and portraits. IMO, most artists find figure drawing, perspective with poses, and drawing faces/hands/anatomy challenging for experienced artists. So, dig into this book, and practice, practice, practice! Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, Walter Foster Publishing, and - most importantly - Ken Goldman & Stephanie Goldman for the eGalley of this great resource.

Figure drawing, particularly in any specific pose, can be an enormous hurdle for even the more-experienced artists among us. The art of drawing poses for beginners contains not only excellent examples, but breaks down anatomy, lighting, techniques, poses, and the nuanced key details to pay attention do when drawing different poses of different bodies.