The 10 Best Figure Drawing Reference Books (2023 reviews)

We consider a figure drawing reference book to be a worthy investment in the long run. We are here to help you choose the right one for your needs from all the best available products in market today.

Our review process: Show/Hide

Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Andrew Loomis Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For travel size: Buy: Michele Lauricella Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For understanding The female structure: Buy: George B Bridgman Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For representational Artists: Buy: Schider Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For magazines: Buy: Mellem Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For self: Buy: Roberto Osti Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For Any level Artist: Buy: Justin Martin Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For Beginner: Buy: Victor Perard Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best source material: Buy: Justin R Martin Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best Art Book: Buy: Patrick J Jones Figure Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Andrew Loomis Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

Andrew Loomis line of book come in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. It is a great book on several different levels. Along with Loomis' other book — "Drawing the Head and Hands" — this will give you an approach to rendering the human form. It is a must to say that it is very useful in the minds of providing artists with an easy and easy way. The text and illustration work together to take you on an odyssey of discovery, a thousand techniques that will make your life easier, and your art so much better.

The book teaches you everything you need to draw people, including skeletal structure and muscles. It is an in depth study of anatomy and how it flawlessly can be woven in to illustration. This makes it a great book for beginners and professionals alike.

• Great for anyone trying to improve drawing the human form
• Excellent drawing book for beginners and advanced students
• Amazing reference tool for drawing figures and portraits

Best For travel size: Michele Lauricella Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate book. The michele lauricella figure drawing reference book is exactly that - it's a simple book that hits all the right notes. This is clearly a book for someone who has drawing skills and is wanting to enhance that skill to another level. The book provides a lot of quality reference material given the compact size of the volume. The illustrations in this book are good and the small size makes it convenient as a traveling tool.

The books are small, they are 7inchs by 5inchs. They aren't too small and because of the binding. The binding makes it easy to lay flat when drawing. It shows the excellent craftsmanship of the bind.

• Perfect to learn how to draw
• Delivers what they promise

Best For understanding The female structure: George B Bridgman Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

The george b bridgman figure drawing reference book should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. If you have anything by the latter two, then this book will make a great addition to both your collection and knowledge base. It's the perfect book to pull out once you can draw those geometric skeletons. It is about the basic building blocks that form the human shape. It can be used in showing arms and legs makes anatomy a reachable goal.

The pelvis, legs, knees, feet & toes finish this truly excellent work. The drawn references are easy to replicate when practicing and the detail is fine with just enough texture to give you a good idea about spacing and depth. Its rear wall is deeper, since the latissimus attaches farther down the back. The images are very advanced and the labeling uses the scientific/official names for the bones and muscles involved.

This book is rather small and so can easily be taken with you in your backpack alongside with your sketchbook.

• A must have for anatomy regarding drawing
• A must have for artist drawing the human forum
• Great addition to art study library

Best For representational Artists: Schider Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate book. The schider figure drawing reference book is exactly that - it's a simple book that hits all the right notes. This book is very handy to have around, especially if you're starting to get serious about your art. It feels more like a novel than a handbook on drawing. It includes the sternum and 12 pairs of ribs. It includes naked children to add to that allows motion in all directions. It then shows how these move when you are drawing an action pose.

It is good 50% of this book is extremely useful. The additional plates are useful in that they give you different styles to look at and evaluate. The book gives clear, detailed pictures that will be helpful for the beginning artist.

• Perfect reference and study material for an artist whether professional or not
• Nothing vulgar or offensive, but realistic drawing of private areas & adult genitals
• Great book for exploring anatomy of the human body
• Informative book with various pictures and sketches of how the human body is drawn

Best For magazines: Mellem Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

The features department is where mellem figure drawing reference book truly manages to shine. It works in real life, wrap a rubber band around a ball or draw a line around the middle of a balloon. It is easy to lose sight of the volume when you're focused on small details. It helps to practice drawing circles of various sizes and elongations until you can draw a simple oval shape consistently. It's great for just about anyone looking to improve their work.

This is an excellent book for new artists for seasoned artists looking to refine their abilities with the human form. The fluid marks of a gesture drawing allow you to more easily make adjustments as you develop your drawing. This is a helpful clearly explained book for those learning how to draw figures in a step by step manner.

• Excellent for new and seasoned artists
• Good, basic reference tool for drawing the human form
• A very nice and simple tool
• A very useful tool for beginners or rusty once-intermediate artists

Best For self: Roberto Osti Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

If you often find yourself scrambling for appropriate and satisfactory book, roberto osti figure drawing reference book should be your first option for buying. This is a must have for any serious artist. It is used to reach beyond static depictions in order to 'convey a sense of life or express psychological character. The figure’s muscular forms are correctly synthesized and properly positioned on the skeleton. The stereometric study needs not be part of your sequence, but it can be very useful in revealing the effect of the light on the form before rendering the hand tonally.

This is perfect for animators or comic book writers who need to study motion. It is also loaded with artwork from many contemporary artists, and gorgeous photographic reproductions of many old master works. The book is also loaded with artwork from many contemporary artists, and gorgeous photographic reproductions of many old master works.

• Beautifully designed, well organized, but, above all, immensely useful
• One of the best anatomy books for sculptors
• You’ll be able to find patterns of circles, squares, and rectangles, as well
• Contains over 100 unique illustrations and full color how to draw unusual poses

Best For Any level Artist: Justin Martin Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

Justin Martin is known for creating pragmatic and minimalist book for people on the go, and its line of justin martin figure drawing reference book definitely falls in line with that reputation. Justin R Martin is a professional artist and author of the popular "Poses for Artists" book series. It is great for any level artist to develop skills drawing the human form. It comes with a wide range of poses, from dynamic action sequences to more subtle, relaxed poses, and the series simplifies understanding of the human form.

The "Poses for Artists " book series is a comprehensive guide for artists of all skill levels who want to improve their understanding of the human figure. It is illustrated in a detailed style that captures the unique characteristics and movement of the human body. These are good teaching aids, because you learn why the pose is what it is, because you understand what the shoulders, back, hips, front, and legs are doing. This volume is awesome and is a must have.

• Extraordinary collection of sketches of the human body
• Illustrations are excellent for the study of figure drawing
• Very well elaborated drawings that are very useful for any kind of artist
• High quality print, clear large pictures

Best For Beginner: Victor Perard Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

Victor Perard line of book come in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. Anatomy and Drawing by Victor Perard is a wonderful book for all serious artists of the human figure. This instructive book presents excellent annotated line drawings of anatomical structure for the beginning artist. It also has pages of the body from babies to ages 3, 5, and adult that you can look off of. This belies the book's eugenics-style, antiquated, culturally-insensitive thinking and needs desperately to be revised by someone with a current anthropological background.

This is an excellent book for the aspiring artist. It is a must have for your reference library.

• Full of greats illustrations of every bone and muscle in human body
• Outstanding resourse for a figure drawing artist
• Good brand reputation

Best source material: Justin R Martin Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

Justin R Martin makes beautiful and great book with classic and smartly choosen materials. The " poses for artists " book series is a comprehensive guide for artists of all skill levels who want to improve their understanding of the human figure. It is illustrated in a detailed style that captures the unique characteristics and movement of the human body. It comes with a wide range of poses, from dynamic action sequences to more subtle, relaxed poses, and the series simplifies understanding of the human form.

This is the third of 6 volumes of poses for beginning artists. It is the volume with the major amount of interactive poses, which is great and has a mixture of standing, action and sitting poses. Having 3 kids that are into art as well these books are extremely helpful with them learning to draw the poses. It is great to have good reference books around.

• Great book with lotta great poses
• Featuring thousands of poses, illustrated in a clear and easy-to-visualize manner
• Lot of satisfied buyers

Best Art Book: Patrick J Jones Figure Drawing Reference Book

Buy on Amazon

This book is probably essential for any imaginative realist. As any good art book, the best way to use this book is to read and draw, copy, draw from many different references. This book teaches the artist to analyze the photo and not copy what you think you are seeing. It teaches you how to account for lens distortion when drawing from reference photos. This book is full of those tips and process pointers that can help to refine your own work and change the way you think about creating.

This book is an outstanding book on figure drawing. This book will be a ground breaker for aspiring artists and even open the eyes of those who have been drawing as a hobby for a long time. The quality of the book is good, you won't be disappointed, and it surely will withstand living next to your easel should you choose it.

• Shows the pitfalls of drawing from photographs
• Great art book to help your growing as an artist
• New and hot release