Anatomy Refresher

Books, Illustration, Kid Lit Art

We had a great KidLitArt chat last night on Twitter. The topic was one how-to book you can’t live without. Needless to say, there isn’t just one! But we all came away with so many great recommendations, I made a list, and need to get to the local to look ’em over. I struggle with anatomy and backgrounds and I’m always in search of material that will help me overcome that. I’d purchased these books at Barnes and Noble ages ago, of course I hadn’t cracked them. That’s my typical M.O: buy ’em and shelf ’em to read later. Later never comes because life squeezes in there and kind of takes over and five years later you still haven’t read the books! So after last night’s chat, I decided to look at them. I didn’t even know what I had, geez!! The Cyclopedia Anatomicae was $15, and the Anatomy of the Sea was $9, in their bargain areas (I also got a $40 book about the art of Maurice Sendak of $10)! The Anatomicae is just what I need: varied expressions, poses and orientations, human and animal. The Sea is similar, and I love the old fashioned style of drawing. After seeing a few posts from Kate Rietz with her leaf studies, and last night’s Kidlitart convo, I think there are some classic still life drawings and anatomy studies in my future (expressions are a bugger)! Wish me luck! ; )