Proven Techniques for Drawing People
In this book, you'll learn how to dress your figures from head to toe, in convincing way that tells the story you want to tell. Award-winning artist Barbara Bradley provides all the information you need to render clothed figures with energy, detail and control. These reliable, proven drawing techniques will add a natural feel to your art, resulting in figures that look as though they could walk, run or dance right off the page.

Dressed for Success
Barbara begins by showing how simple logic, creativity, essential drawing principles (proportion, perspective and value), and drawing aides (stretch and compression, wraparounds and overlapping forms, relationships of forms, and rhythm and continuity) work together to bring life and expression to your drawings. Next, you'll learn how to overcome the special challenges posed by clothing:
* Manipulate folds to enhance your design
* Draw clothing in different situations, on male and female figures, different body types, and various age groups
* Depict the character of the fabric, condition and style of the clothing you draw
* Draw hats and footwear, necklines and collars, pleated and quilted fabric, and more

The Complete Picture
Chapters progress through a full range of subjects and situations, guiding you through every stage of the drawing process:
* Drawing figures in motion--how to take in the whole of an action and its essential parts at a glance
* Studio drawing--suggestions for making the most of your space and time
* Working directly from life for freshness and immediacy
* Specific advice on drawing legs, torsos, heads, hands and other parts
* Drawing facial expressions
* Drawing varying age groups including elderly people and children

This book is rich with breakthrough insights that are beautiful in their simplicity--like the way a blouse overlapping a belt can reinforce the thrust of a figure's hip toward the viewer ' How something as basic as the way you hold your drawing medium or the position of your feet in relation to the easel can make all the difference ' And how a subtle tilt of the head, twist of a torso, bend of the wrist can speak volumes, establishing a person's attitude and emotions. Each chapter is peppered with a lifetime of practical tips and exercises to help you put the lessons into action.

Take Charge
There are so many valuable drawing principles and aides out there and so much to observe that you may not know where to begin or how to put it all together. Start, Barbara suggests, with deciding whether the purpose of your sketch is to observe and depict interesting detail, to capture the look of a person or gesture, or to communicate the feel of the scene. 'The most important thing is to form your opinion about the figure and gesture you're drawing. Then use the drawing aides that best emphasize what you want to communicate about the person.'
Your artistic intent, along with the techniques in this book, will give you the control to portray figures more freely, with greater authority and enjoyment. Use what you learn to bring greater life, fluidity and a more natural feel to all the people you draw...and make your drawings truly your own.

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