The Art of Drawing The Figure: Essential Exercises

I really like watching the artist use so many different techniques. It's also very interesting to see his finished work side-by-side with the model he is working from. A very interpretive and skilled artist. Good model too.

My wife, an oil painter, and I, a watercolorist, are both what can only be described as "old" and find a lot to disagree upon. But we agree that both of Bill's instructional DVD's are the best we've ever seen. And we have shelves full of art instruction books and DVDs to compare them to. In addition to Bill's teaching skills, we enjoyed the great camera work and musical interludes.I have no agenda, but just felt quality should be recognized and praised. I can guarantee that if we had felt the DVDs weren't good, you'd have heard about that, too.

I love it. Figure drawing is always challenge for most of artist but Bill has made it so easy in his DVD. Very artistic and poetic presentation with easy to follow and step by step instruction made so easy to draw and paint figure.

Bill's technique's are right down my alley! Working fast and loose gives your art energy and a liveliness that cannot be achieved otherwise. The DVD is very professionally done; the only thing that could make it better would be a split screen where you could see the model as Bill draws. As it is, to work from the model, you have to stop the DVD. I still gave it Five stars for all the great exercises and information provided.

I enjoyed watching this video and now feel less intimidated by the process of Figure Drawing. I also purchased Buchman's book to go along with the video from Amazon and it has much more detail on the process. Look forward to actually practicing his techniques. Most helpful lesson - don't worry about the faces and hands to start or you'll get stuck and frustrated.

The video presents a series of short exercises using different, clearly deomonstrated techniques to approach the figure. These exercises are enlightening. I found the video to be extremely helpful, and I was able to apply the exercises immediately and to good effect. This video is a much more effective teaching medium than a book (even though it is considerably more expensive than a book), and I highly recommend it.

This is a great DVD, I would highly recommend it. I have a niece who is a very accomplished artist and I purchased this as a gift for her and she loves it. She is doing all the exercises and is helping her a lot as it has a lot of useful techniques that is practicing. Thank you for such great material.

I enjoyed his varied interpretations of the model and her poses. He used a variety of media that was very useful for me, a new artist. I highly recommend this for everyone, especially those artists who draw or paint the same, work after work.

Whether or not you like this DVD will mostly depend on whether you like Bill Buchman's work. If you like his work, you'll love this disk.It's impossible to fault the way the program's been put together. You can watch it right through, or the well-designed menu system also allows you to instantly jump to any section or any one of the 25 exercises on the disk. Mr Buchman himself comes across as a very nice guy and a great teacher.I used the DVD as a tutorial, working 'along with' Buchman for a few exercises each day. The first time I did this (and in the first 'edition' of this review) I was less than complimentary about the results. Now, looking back (after about a year and a half), I can see how beneficial the process actually was. It gave me several new ways to use materials, and almost subliminally changed my way of 'seeing'.The DVD cover art gives a good idea of Bill Buchman's style. If you like it, or want to give it a shot, then this DVD is probably a must-buy.But even if you prefer your work to look a little less abstract, this is an excellent compendium of ideas for quick gesture drawings to loosen up before you begin your 'real' work (most of the exercises do work well for this, and even if you prefer a more representational style these exercises can't help but make you look harder at the figure, or to see it in a new way - which has to be a good thing, right?)Each exercise ends with a comparison shot of the model alongside the finished work. There are also frequent shots of the model in a selection of quite wonderful poses which means that, if you don't mind working from a video image, you could even use them for your own style of drawing.Anyway, you might like to check his website (figuredrawing.org) before you buy - You'll find a few clips from this DVD there, and illustrations of his more finished pictures.

I went and brought the book, first; then, decided to go and buy the related video, afterwards.If I'm being perfectly honest about it; then, I really must admit, I'm not such a huge fan of Bill Buchman's own artworks; though, some I undoubtedly 'like'. Ultimately, I'm a much bigger fan of far stricter 'realism'. However, the way I see it is...both the book/video is not telling me to go copy or be exactly like him; no, that would be missing the whole of the entire point.The point of the book/video is it teaches one to set oneself FREE to go and 'experiment' with both line/form/shape/textures/colour/-etc.; thus, teaching one NOT to become a total slave to copying from dead boring 'reality', constantly...with the end result that nearly every single work you produce tends to look pretty much exactly the same!If you can learn to set yourself FREE...to not be afraid to mix both 'real/abstract' together...then, you should become a much 'stronger', and, also, more 'positive thinking' artist; an artist with an 'open mind'...as opposed to being entirely 'close minded' about art, instead. This guy's whole approach towards teaching art is very much 'modern'...which is what makes his teachings, well and truly, GREAT! ;-)

I highly recommend this for anyone trying to get to grips with figure drawing, especially where the only options are very traditional. I wanted to get away from the very traditional 'measuring' technique and ultra realism and develop a freer way to draw figures and this provides an ideal way to do this.A good variety of short exercises using a range of materials (which, of course, Mr Buchman sells) will suit anyone whether you draw, paint, use ink or pen or brush.slightly annoying music (which Mr Buchman did too!) but I love the feature of being able to speed or slow the DVD using easy keyboard shortcuts.As someone who normally avoids brushes and paints in favour of dry media I am even inspired to have a go with some ink and a brush!Great exercises to use for those who teach art as well.

This is not for the artist who wants to draw really life-like figures. However, for quick, unusual sketches this is just the ticket. I am about to start figure drawing in paint for my degree course. I won't have time to do a full painting in acrylic at the life drawing class, so thought this style might help me free up a bit. Officially he uses drawing medium, but I'm sure I can convert the style to paints.

Just OK. OK for beginners, otherwise it would be much better that a student attended a real Life class, for the experience and tuition.