Henry Yan's Figure Drawing (Techniques and Tips)

This is a great book in every way, provided that you are already able to DRAW. I mean that seriously. An outstanding book for figure drawing and for charcoal drawing. It will NOT teach you to draw, there are other books for that. But Henry Yan is a MASTER ARTIST, the book is absolutely filled with his sketches, and there are also plenty of tips and techniques. His actual style of drawing -- his handling of the charcoal -- is clearly shown in a number of sequential illustrations that have his hand photographed as he creates his strokes. These "working sequence photos", taken together with the large number of sketches, show his methods very clearly for anyone who already has some drawing skill. You will not find any videos of Henry Yan on YouTube (I just looked). But this book is really more than enough. Yan's handling of charcoal can best be described as a "calligraphic stroke" approach; he achieves a remarkable variety from his piece of charcoal (and he uses vine charcoal, compressed charcoal and charcoal pencils, all in the same way). He does this by holding the piece in a simple "overhand" way that anyone can quickly learn. This was really a revelation to me -- the beauty and effectiveness of his stokes convinced me that I would have to start working the same way with charcoal. It becomes more like painting: beautifully expressive strokes, and each stroke has the possibility of a lot of change in thickness and shape. His tips and descriptions of how to work are excellent. Brief but sufficient. Excellent and clear. All in all, this is one of the best drawing books I've ever seen. His work is breath-takingly good, and there is LOTS of it in this book. Truly inspiring. Apparently the way he holds his charcoal is a "standard method" that is taught in art schools (not Yan's own invention, nothing weird there -- you can find videos e.g., David Shevlino "Drawing With Charcoal" under "davishev" on YouTube; or look up the excellent "5 Minute Drawing Demo: Compressed Charcoal" by Sergio Lopez to see it in use). It's not tricky. But Henry Yan's MASTERY of this method is stunning. His book is well worth the price just for the drawings. If you're just starting to draw, pick up "Bridgman's Life Drawing" for figure drawing, or maybe Betty Edwards ("Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain") for a beginner's intro to "how to see" for drawing (yes, learn to SEE, learn to put your brain in that mode). You can get these books cheap, and they're very good. But if you can already draw and want to work in charcoal, get Henry Yan's book to see how a master works. I also recommend Valerie Winslow's book "Classic Human Anatomy" as an unbeatable reference for musculature etc.

I recently purchased this book and was surprised to find that the author had the book published himself. Henry Yan is an instructor at Academy of Art University in San Fransisco. I'd love to have him as an instructor when I was a student, but alas, was in another state and another school. This would be the next best thing. What this book is not: "How to draw Anatomy" if you're looking for a book that talks about proportion, and details of each part of anatomy, I'd suggest finding another book. However, I wouldn't dismiss this book. Henry Yan gives you basic tips and examples as well as a time frame to when he did each piece. I find that very valuable to give people an idea how long they should record information, and what are the most important aspects in covering the figure in a short or long time frame. Yan gives a nice little primer on shadows, and various types of figure study exercises. I have to say how he's able to capture the figure so beautifully in charcoal demonstrates how much he is a master of his craft. There are a few drawbacks to the book. One of which is that while the book is very well produced, the binding and such, the cover is very prone to getting dirty. If you're using charcoal and looking at his book, I'd recommend gloves because I had a few prints within seconds. Perhaps make an edition with a less white cover will make it less of a problem or different paper type like gloss. The only other problem is that I wish Yan had given a bit of time to discuss the tools he was using. While he demonstrated some beautiful strokes, a person who is new to the charcoal medium wouldn't know how to sharpen charcoal and how to keep it preserved, you'll have to find another book or look up the information as I did. I would say overall this book is definitely a keeper, the illustrations have such personality to them, and I REALLY love the fact Henry Yan included so many different models for study. From the old, to the obese, male and female. It's nice to see such an array of models presented in the book, as each figure has their own personality. I'd definitely purchase this book again as a gift to a friend or any other person highly interested in drawing the figure. It also helps that Yan is a very pleasant person to deal with and you can feel his optimistic personality in his book.

I took Henry Yan's workshop in Dallas, Tx and bought this to prepare myself beforehand. He is an outstanding teacher for his particular method using vine charcoal and charcoal pencil, and using close observation of the model. His work is exceptional. I will enjoy having this reminder of my workshop experience, and as a student under this gifted, and kind artist.

Simply amazing. Just got my copy today 9Jul18. Upon initial perusal I was disappointed but when I settled down and actually began reading the headings and information and viewing the pages it became Wow! for me. Yes, the narrative content is concise, terse and brief. It is not your typical Art book and you cannot expect nor anticipate detailed narrative and example. Mr. Yan gives you a brief summary on approach then the remainder are examples which you take the initiative to glean for your self, you educate your eye contemplating each drawing, observing the example then following him by example and create. This is not a beginners book of Art but an advanced form of instruction, a life time of experiance which he condenses for you. I believe you will have to be intuitive in what Mr. Yan wants to get across. For me it is a beautiful book, which it is. All the drawings are of some form of charcoal, compressed. vine, pencil charcoal. To give this book a negative value only reflects immaturity in Fine Art. Do not forget, this is not a precise instructional text, it is a work of art itself sprinkled with insight. Yes some of this material is already well known but Mr. Yan puts a different spice to it.

I agree with all of the preceding rave reviews for this book. I would also like to add one other perspective. As a teacher of life drawing at the college level and a grad student at the Academy of Art University, I find in Henry Yan's book the inspirational material to push my work and my teaching to a higher level. Plenty of books have been published describing and prescribing the technical aspects of drawing the figure, understanding basic anatomy, proportion, process, etc. this is not one of those books. This book is for students who are ready to take their figurative art to the next level. Henry Yan also covers a variety of techniques for using charcoal as an expressive medium, this variety is, in itself a major and unique value over any other book I've found (and I've looked at a LOT of figure drawing books). This is not your beginner's "how to draw book" but it can be a motivational book for artists of any level of development and a godsend for teachers and self-developers of intermediate to advanced figurative drawing. One other factor that recommends this book, as mentioned in other reviews is the publication quality of the book and Henry's professional yet caring attitude reflected in the production and delivery.

Mr. Yan's charcoal sketches are exquisite. His eye for proportion is matched only by his ability to 'suggest' form rather than slavishly copy it. All of the drawings in this soft cover book are from life, and many, if not the majority, are done in rapid sketch sessions of 20 minutes or less. This will be a familiar situation for any artists who participate in life drawing classes or sessions. Mr. Yan has a beautiful, painterly approach, using only a few tools: willow, compressed and pencil charcoal. The book is a pleasure to browse and a short reading is likely to have you up and looking for your charcoal and sketch pad. Gorgeous and inspiring sketches are on every page...all in black and white, of course. What this book isn't, is a tutorial on charcoal drawing. Although Mr. Yan does give tips here and there throughout the book, and even has a few multi-picture 'lessons', he spends very little time on tools and technique. This book seems to be geared to someone who is fairly familiar with the art of charcoal, and intends only to show Mr. Yan's approach. If you need help with charcoal drawing technique, you should look elsewhere. However, even in that circumstance, you will want to get this reasonable priced treasure of artistic skill and vision. What a treat!

Hands down the best figure drawing book I have ever seen. I bought this book to use as a stylistic reference to refine and enrich my own figure drawings, and I am not disappointed. This book is full from cover to cover with masterful figure drawings, usually with 2 or 3 to a page, and is in itself an epic collection of eye candy. It is visually stunning and the artwork contained within it is rich, unlike so many other figure drawing books I've come across, that present you with bland imagery. Buyers should note, this is not an anatomy lesson. No time is wasted within this book teaching you how to block out a figure. It is exactly as its title claims, techniques and tips to enhance your drawings, taught by examining the vast library of images. If you are looking to learn the basics step by step, go elsewhere. But if you already have taken a few figure drawing classes, and have a good grasp of human anatomy, this book will be a great help in improving the quality of your work.

Henry Yan's drawings have a sense of dynamics and power that set his artwork apart. When I first saw that he had a training book on his technique for drawing I immediately went ahead and ordered a copy. It was to my surprise that Mr. Yan sends these out himself and it took barely three days to reach the Netherlands (Europe) where Amazon usually needs more than ten days. The artwork in the book itself makes you reach out and grab your charcoal, pencil and paper and start off. His clear illustrations on various techniques will guide you to the essential techniques that he himself uses: the variations of broad andcontrasty area's with fine linework instill a magnificent power in his work. A beautiful book, very well laid out with high quality printed examples of his drawings. Hopefully Henry Yan will repeat this great text for his painting techniques and provide us with a companion book in luscious full color paintings. Thanks Henry for a fast service and a great inspirational resource. Albert Kiefer

Excellent.

The content is great but printing quality really below average. Cheap paper for an expensive book.

My eyesight is not what it used to be(I am 83)so I found the print sections a bit on the small side,but other than that an a amazing book.