The 10 Best Life Drawing Reference Books (2023 reviews)

We consider a life 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.

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Our Top Picks:

Best Overall: Buy: Valerie l Winslow Life Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best With Pencil: Buy: Michel Lauricella Life Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

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

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

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

Best For Any aspiring Artist: Buy: 3dtotal Life Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best Learning Book: Buy: Gottfried Bammes Life Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best For experienced Artists: Buy: Chris Legaspi Life Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

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

Best For someone: Buy: Alain Picard Life Drawing Reference Book READ REVIEW

Best Overall: Valerie l Winslow Life Drawing Reference Book

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This book is the fundametal for any artists out there that want to have a better understanding of human's anatomy. It is great for figure art students and enthusiasts. This book shows the figure curving and moving in all directions, muscles in the movement. It will be a great companion to other instructional anatomy books, especially so for those that focus on poses and have less details on the underlying human form.

This book is ideal for learning how to draw body parts/face/skeleton. The book contains a glossary in the back which is very cool. The drawings of all the movements of the body and facial expressions are awesome. The book is full of well-executed figure drawings and technical anatomy sketches. It is a nice book to refer to for any detailed work on human form or structure, and the illustrations are much better than biology text books.

• An essential book for the figurative artist
• Provides tips and illustrations on how these structures can be interpreted for drawing
• Good for anatomy and figure drawing

Best With Pencil: Michel Lauricella Life Drawing Reference Book

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The michel lauricella life drawing reference book gives the top-tier book a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. These books are amazing and no artist should go without them. They show the body in different poses so you can see how the isolated form shifts around the body. The book lays very nicely flat and when closed, the spine is not warped. The book binding is strang by string so it won't brake easily. It opens flat for convenience. If you are a more "seasoned"artist than this book could be used as a stand alone reference to maybe help spark your imagination or a good refresher.

The poses are full of human expression and life. It is short on words, but has many sketches on each page.

• Human anatomy is succinctly explained & demonstrated
• Awesome book for anyone who wants to draw
• Great for beginner and intermediate artists
• Great gift for anyone wanting to take their drawing skills to the next level

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

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The george b bridgman life drawing reference book should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. Bridgman's Constructive Anatomy is an excellent manual for building men of young to middle age. It's the perfect book to pull out once you can draw those geometric skeletons. Its rear wall is deeper, since the latissimus attaches farther down the back. It's more of a breeze for those who are well versed in anatomy, but the plus side is that the book has explanations if some of the words go over your head.

It's a great beginner drawing book for the aspiring artist that need to work on the human figure and constructive movement. Its studies are amazing, and it is immensely helpful.

• Great book for continual artistic reference
• Eyes, nose, ears and mouth are simply & accurately treated
• Great addition to art study library

Best For representational Artists: Schider Life Drawing Reference Book

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate book. The schider life drawing reference book is exactly that - it's a simple book that hits all the right notes. It's similar to a medical illustration book combined with photographs of anatomy and Old Masters' drawings. It includes skeletal and muscle drawings. It includes naked children to add to that allows motion in all directions. It is also possible to distinguish several types of muscle bellies.

The book gives clear, detailed pictures that will be helpful for the beginning artist. It depicts the skeleton, muscles, and skin in different ways, so artists can replicate realistic movement. The additional plates are useful in that they give you different styles to look at and evaluate. It is very useful with lots of references and. It is definitely a book for somebody that's more on the details of anatomy versus the basics of anatomy.

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

Best For magazines: Mellem Life Drawing Reference Book

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The mellem life drawing reference book's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. This is a good book if you are struggling with how to break down the human form into simpler objects to draw. It is designed for magazines, video games, and theater. It is perfect for beginners and those getting frustrated and overwhelmed with other books about firgure drawing.

Mr. Mullem's illustrations are drawn in the size one might draw in your own sketchbook, which is helpful to someone who is trying to learn the forms of the body and anatomy because you are not having to struggle with adjusting size along with recreating the form. It is full of step by step instructions and illustrations for those who want to be artist/student. They also tell you what to notice and focus on while practicing.

If you want to improve your skills in drawing, this book is worth the money. It is easy to lose sight of the volume when you're focused on small details.

• A fundamentally sound reference book for all artists
• Great gift for artists of all levels
• Wonderful tool to help establish a foundation

Best For Any aspiring Artist: 3dtotal Life Drawing Reference Book

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This is an excellent book with full color print and large size and the book is huge and thats not a complaint. It's an artist's anatomy book, of course, there is going to be nudity, it even states it in the description. This translates the musculature into planes which is very useful and it shows many different poses. There is great detail on the face for the portrait artist.

It's really quite large, which is a plus. It's also less in depth text than some books but if you want a book with a lot of pictures and different poses this is a good choice. This is anexcellent book with full color print and large size and the book is huge and thats not a complaint. The pictures are all clear and high-quality.

• Excellent addition to an artist’s bookshelf
• Great addition for anyone learning how to draw human anatomy
• Lots of good info and a decent balance between text and images
• Great reference book for art students

Best Learning Book: Gottfried Bammes Life Drawing Reference Book

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This long-awated publication of the English Translation is a major event for Figurative artists. The difference between this book and the "complete guide to life drawing" is that the "life drawing" book gives you enough anatomical reference to work from a model, while this new release has everything you will need to create figures from imagination. It's a thick book well bound in stitches and will last through a lot of handling.

This book contains some of the best illustrations of virtually every body part to the most granular level. The prose is extremely dense and extremely academic. The book is large but not heavy.

• Delivers what they promise
• New and hot release

Best For experienced Artists: Chris Legaspi Life Drawing Reference Book

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The chris legaspi life drawing reference book is capable of outshining several other book featured in this list in overall features in its price range. Artists who are committed to improving their life study skills, and students who are still finding their favorite subjects to draw will find this book essential to a figure drawing library. It may look like a basic book but it is full of explanations, examples and tips on how to understand the breakdown of the components in drawing from life. It introduces many techniques for block in, which is very important for every artist.

This book is truly amazing, well written, explained and illustrated, and it is a very encompassing book/lessons on drawing the human body. It can be used in every place where art is taught. This method forces the artist to identify the lines, shapes and forms of the body often without allowing the pencil to leave the page for the greatest speed.

• Essential life drawing skills tutorial for students and intermediate
• Valuable book to have for artists
• New and hot release

Best Art Book: Patrick J Jones Life Drawing Reference Book

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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

Best For someone: Alain Picard Life Drawing Reference Book

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The alain picard life drawing reference book should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. Contour drawing is an excellent way to train your eye to see and your hand to record the essential elements of the subject with line. Even if you aren't drawing this book is a good base on art in general concepts like the golden ratio, background/foreground and perspective. It is an excellent visual aid in learning to identify correct values.

This book is really great to learn the mediums and keyword/concepts for drawing. It is low-tack so you can remove it without ripping your drawing paper. This is a good book for someone learning the basics or taking a beginning drawing class.

• New and hot release
• Lot of satisfied buyers