Here's some more pictures from my favorite reference book for life drawing. I don't have the book at hand but the author/photographer's name is John Everard. It's a British book from the 50s but some libraries have it and there's always ABE Books. Click to enlarge.
Sorry a couple of the pages are crooked!
Why is this your favorite life drawing book? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteTo heck with Daumier! Great post!
ReplyDeleteSee ya
Steve
Max: The main thing here is that the models are lit with directional lighting. The best modern books I know of are the Japanese ones which show the model uniformly-lit and from all angles including drastic up and down shots. That's useful for an overall look but not for details.
ReplyDeleteYou can get modern books with directional lighting but the models frequently have breast enhancement and/or Nautilus training which sometimes gives the body an unnatural look.
Modern film stocks need less light and the style of lighting in these examples took time to set up. Contemporary feature live action movies rarely duplicate the film noir mood lighting of the late 1940's for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would love to get a copyof this book. My favorite resource for nude female reference is probably http://www.domai.com I used to be a member and saved a ton of photos :) One thing I did always wish for was the ability to see the model from different angles with dramatic lighting.
ReplyDeletehere is one of my favorites:
http://kabukipanda.kyfurs.com/albums/KellyToon/ethel_13.sized.jpg
It also looks like the model is actually reposing for each angle. Its not like the backlight stays on her backside.
ReplyDeleteIf there may be some directional light occasionally in the modern pose books, the shots themselves are almost always multiple camera shots of the same pose expression and gesture, and the light source doesn't move. Most often however, the shots arein color, and the light source is diffuse to the point of not showing any shadows at all. And shadow can be pretty important in defining a form.
Kelly: Wow! Thanks for linking to that! Domai is a great site! All those girls are invited to Theory Mansion for a pool party!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I couldn't get through to the second link you put up.
Anon: An interesting comment! Maybe the light had to be changed for some of the poses. Everard was a pretty thorough guy!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reference Eddie.
ReplyDeleteHere's Kelly's fixed link:
http://kabukipanda.kyfurs.com/
KellyToon/ethel_1
I love that Photo as well.
http://kabukipanda.kyfurs.com/albums/KellyToon/
ReplyDeleteethel_13.sized
there, if you add the ethel_13.sized to the first address, you oughta see it. Glad you like Domai, it's a wonderful resource! Can I come to the pool party?
Kelly, Jack: Nice link! I almost fell off my chair! There's a lot to say about this picture. I think I'll post about it!
ReplyDeleteThe model could have been on a turntable in that reference book, while the lights stayed stationary. But unlike the modern model books, I don't think all angles were shot at the same instant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reference, Eddie.
ReplyDeleteYEZZ< HOTTTTTTT CALLENTE!!!!!! BABY! nice eddie! can i get the originals? woowza!
ReplyDeleteDOMAI IS AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteOther John Everard images and where to buy the books.
ReplyDeletehttp://figuredrawings.com/artistsmodel1.html