Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist

by Stephen Rogers Peck

Stephen Rogers Peck's Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist remains unsurpassed as a manual for students. It includes sections on bones, muscles, surface anatomy, proportion, equilibrium, and locomotion. Other unique features are sections on the types of human physique, anatomy from birth to old age, an orientation on racial anatomy, and an analysis of facial expressions. The wealth of information offered by the Atlas ensures its place as a classic for the study of the human form.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Nonfiction, Reference, Art Design, Education, Design

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a deep appreciation and passion for the Arts.

Several years ago, I was "forced" to purchase this book for a college art class. Upon initial inspection, it blew me away in unexpected ways.
There isn't a whole lot of actual text, it's incredibly visual, showcasing both the flaws and beauty of the human form, both male and female alike. It's any art students dream! Then I actually sat down and examined each individual page/illustration, and found myself floored all the more. My expectations were far exceeded!!

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Stephen Rogers Peck is an anatomy reference book.

It covers everything from bones, to muscles to topics like fat, veins, hair, age, sex, race and expression. There are some photos for reference as well. The writeup is descriptive and simple to understand. The examples are well illustrated and clearly labeled. It's pretty comprehensive.

While it also has some figure drawing tips and instructions, it certainly is not as comprehensive as dedicated figure drawing books. Here, it's on the approach to drawing certain parts. There's not much on posing the figure.

I see this book get mentioned a lot on art forums online, for good reasons. It's useful and very affordable.

This book's recommended to beginner and intermediate artists.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

In high school, I was taking Anatomy & Physiology as well as art and this book was highly relevant for both. Granted, in high school, we didn't draw from nudes, but I was taking a portfolio development course at the Art Institute at the same time. This book was recommended by the professor at the Institute, and the information covered is amazingly thorough. It was almost better than my Anatomy & Physiology textbook!

The book is broken up into different sections, beginning with a quick illustrated guide to the language of anatomy. Then on to the bones, with written details about proportions and ways to determine exact location, no matter which direction you may be working from, as well as relevant use. The muscles follow in a similar manner (my personal favorite), then surface anatomy, proportions, equilibrium and locomotion, distinctions of age, sex, and race, and then agents of expression.

[Anna C · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me over five months to "read" this book, and getting to the end tonight was a such a feeling of accomplishment. I went back through my sketchbooks tonight and found that I've done over 100 anatomy drawings out of this book. Some of these are quick pen sketches, but others are finished drawings with accurate shading. I've made definite improvement in my figure drawing- my speed is way up from what it used to be, and I have a strong enough grasp of anatomy now to be less reliant on reference images.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about mastering human anatomy. Disclaimer 1: It was originally published in 1951, so the sections on racial differences in anatomy have *not* aged well. Disclaimer 2: Just reading an art book does not make you a better artist. This book can be as useful as a month-long figure drawing course, provided that you're willing to put the work in and do endless pages of anatomy drawings.

[gisela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie: I didn't particularly enjoy this book, but then again that might be because it didn't do what I sought it for.

Atlas of Human Anatomy contains a lot of accurate drawings of bones and muscles, as well as long and through explanations of how these work. If you're looking to draw hyper accurate realistic drawings, this might be helpful, but for the most part I found drawings of hipbones (just the bones) from various angles not all that helpful.

I also didn't find the drawings in in charcoal all that helpful, as they seemed too thick to capture details.

I would have liked to see more drawings and pictures of the human body put together, examples of more poses that showed how all those muscles/bones work in reality.

Overall, wouldn't recommend, although I guess it's a nice shelf book.

[Macey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must have for artists interested in the human figure! In my figure drawing class, this was our text book, and it has images and explanations of human anatomy that an artist can understand. The bone structure and musculature is addressed in a well formed manor. I use this book for reference anytime I am drawing a human figure.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

An older work on the subject, the illustrations and photos are OK. More than half is taken up by bones and muscle and some of the sketches look like Andrew Loomis' work and are a bit dated and inappropriate. OK though for $2! I've recently messed about with some software that makes this grossly obsolete so it may not be on my shelves much longer.

[les · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly insightful. I'll be referencing to this a lot as time goes on.

[Joseph Polder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has very detailed drawings. I'm trying to grasp figure drawing and the bridgeman books are very nice for speed drawings while these ones have very detailed drawings that help you understand not only the shadows but also give you a very good idea of how layers of anatomy align. His approach is really nice because it helps you not only understand the anatomy but he gives you a really nice idea of it in a 3d sense. A lot of anatomy books for artists draw really flat drawings with only the anatomy but he goes the extra length to draw them from different angles and also throw in some drawings drawn in an artistic sense as well. In his head section he actually drew a beautiful profile portrait artistically with the anatomical alignment of the skull visible underneath which was so helpful for understanding how to visualize the skull underneath which I have not gotten the same value out of other artistic anatomy books. Highly recommend this book

[Lauren Van vice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book proved invaluable to me in my studies but it's a bit of a problematic text. First of all, all the principle models appear to be white and fit. There's a section on drawing people of "other" races that's beyond cringe worthy.

Peck's writing on and illustrations of the joints, skeleton, and musculature are accessible and detailed enough for the serious student. I come back to them every now and then when life has gotten busy and I haven't been drawing enough to keep my chops up.

I could never have made it though school without this book but, you know, I'd be just as happy with something more suited to this century.

[CFDeeDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will always be my "currently reading" book.
Its full of details about body parts in all possible ways of forming .. what I like about it is that it shows the body parts from the inside, like the way the bones are shaped and the way the muscles should go in order to make you understand better how the body parts should shape like.
It also includes some positions of both male and female bodies .. but those pictures are not so clear for realistic drawing, so they weren't that much of a help, but that was fine with me ..
Always recommended for artists.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know that there is a 'tongue bone', called the hyoid? This was much more fascinating than I expected it to be and was replete with beautiful drawings. It has already helped my drawing abilities since I now focus more on the bone structure and musculature. The only criticism I have is that - in a sign of when it was written (1951) - it was far too focused on the male figure.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time and time again, I come back to this book as a handy resource. It's a wonderful tool when it comes to drawing anatomy and understanding the basics and their functions. I wouldn't rely on this book alone as a pre-med student, but it's a wonderful companion to any hefty medical book and it breaks down complex information. As an illustrator student, I had to go no further for an anatomy book.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be one of the most useful books I have ever purchased. I bought is as a textbook for my college figure drawing class and it is the ONLY book I bought at the time that I have actually picked up and used since I used it in college. I highly recommend it.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice all around proportions and theory book of anatomy. Almost can take this around as an indispensable carry along guide to anatomy. Pretty rich with drawings, accurate paintings, and photos. Nicely explained as well.

[D.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are an artist, then this is an absolute MUST HAVE. It is a classic, to be sure, but there is so much to see here and, more importantly, so much to learn. I have worn out several editions of this book, given away even more to other artists and ensure that I always have a copy hanging around.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up on recommendation from the amazing JK Richards during his Friday night figure drawing class. Learning figure drawing has been a relaxing and helpful outlet for me and this book has been instrumental in my progress.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, even better diagrams. It really helps the artist learn and remember the human anatomy.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is the visual cues at the end of each chapter to help you remember the basic forms and lines of the anatomy.

[Shivani006 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book for artists beginning to learn anatomy. It builds up from the bones to the outer skin and hair, along with providing basic information on proportions, motion, equilibrium, age and sex, race etc.
It just gives you a basic out line, all the necessary information with very good drawings in possible angles.
For further reading I would recommend "Eliot Goldfinger - Human Anatomy For Artists"
This is a must have for all artists.

[Mark Levandoski · Rating 3 out of 5]

good reference book

[Hannah Sanders · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very dated. In photo references, they blur out penises, but zoom in on women’s bodies/genitalia. Typical male gaze. Some good studies/resources but the reproduction of the drawings isn’t greatz

[Emily Christ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll cherish this book forever. The emotional impact of the storyline was unforgettable

[Madi · Rating 5 out of 5]

concise, detailed representation of human skeletal structure and muscle. incredibly helpful labelled diagrams of specific bones, and how the muscle sits on top of them.

[Haze Au · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent could've done without the racist typology though
just redraw everything in this book until you perfected your form you should be good

[Yilaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic reference but take it with a grain of salt for some of the outdated/politically incorrect terminology.

[Dino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up this book in pdf format because it's what my instructor is using. Three stars for the content, but I've taken off two due to the dated material.

This book is not intended to teach you how to draw the body. It's supposed to be used as a reference. Using it that way will be the most helpful for anyone wanting to study their anatomy. The drawings themselves contain a lot of information, but I've found that it lacks in the number of sketches when compared to illustrative diagrams. Peck illustrates muscles and bones clearly, but his sketches are relatively limited in angles and perspective. An example of this is when the thorax gets 4-page large diagrams while the thorax sketches only get one page. You'd have to look at other anatomy books to see angle and perspective variations.

The biggest issue I have with this textbook is the "Distinctions of Race" chapter which is blatantly racist and shameless in its caricatures. Yes, I'm aware that it is a product of the times but that isn't grounds for me not addressing it here. It's too important not to mention when talking about this book, especially when POCs still face discrimination and harassment for their appearance. I personally think that it's justified if anyone were to avoid this textbook entirely due to this chapter.

[Raven Bandicoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist is definitely the best drawing anatomy book that I have came across in the past few years of concentrating on the subject. It breaks each part of the body down to the bones and muscle structure, but also includes drawings by the author that show the workings of these parts. Each area of the body has its own section so everything is easy to find and reference. It also includes a section about the difference in anatomy between different ages and areas of the world, as well as extra or less weight. The book shows both male and female anatomy as well. My art has improved tremendously ever since I purchased and studied fro, this book and I highly recommend it to any art student.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uniquely instructive ... I still remember such gems as the morphology of the lower back and buttocks resembling the wings of a butterfly or the breast and its underlying pectoral muscle looking like commas on their sides. The illustrations are strangely stylized and gorgeous. Also, hysterical and weird photographs of people making screwey faces, the most disturbing of which being the countenance of someone at the moment of their death. Somehow more frightening in a book than in real life.

[Northern K Sunderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book of the Human Anatomy. Not to be confused with a how-to-draw book, there are no instructions on how to sketch the human figure, it is simply a book on each individual bit of the human body. from hair to the bones, it covers everything. Aside from the wonderful illustrations, it's Stephen Roger Peck's words that make this book what it is. Through his writing you see his obvious reverence for the beauty and structure of the human body.
And that reverence is contagious.