The Fantasy Figure Artist's Reference File with CD-ROM | List Price: $29.99
Discount Price: $18.28
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Binding: Spiral-bound
Great for beginner fantasy artists!! [Posted on 2007-01-09]
If you are new to the fantasy art genre or are looking for a great quick reference for figure drawing, this is the book. It gives a diverse selection of different body types, sizes and looks, as well as a good smattering of accesories, close-ups and clothing...
Cliche Central [Posted on 2007-01-23]
The 'Fantasy' of the title is, unfortunately, the heavily-stereotyped 'thud and blunder' style fantasy of Conan the Barbarian, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser and other such hackneyed, outdated types.
The figures shown are Barbarian warrior, Warrior woman, Evil Sorceress, Fairy, etc. And they are all quite absurd.
The book also includes little tidbits of information about costume and weapons, like this pearl of wisdom: "The nock is the part of the bow that the arrow rests on." Uh, yeah?
Combine this with poses titled "Bring forth tidings", "Arise, my liege" and the like, you soon realise this isn't a particularly well-done piece of work.
As for the CD, the images are huge - making them very difficult to work with.
This book isn't completely useless, but there are surely better things to spend your money on.
my review [Posted on 2007-07-04]
This book is a welcome addition to any cartoonist or illustrator's photo reference file as it includes physical and ethnical types different from the usual stereotypical idealized caucasians. On the other hand, it isn't as systematic, varied or consistent in its poses and points-of-view as the Illustrator's Reference Manuals or the Posefile series of books.
Not very good... [Posted on 2008-03-15]
This book is just not what I thought it would be. Extreme anatomy? No, not really.
First, all the women are the same body type, which is they all are a bit thick. I would like to see more variations here. At least some of the models should be athletic, some overweight, some curvaceous. Extremes. Like they promise. The men really aren't any better. The variety is poor.
So, maybe they are saying that the anatomy of average looking people is taken to extremes? Well...
I can't tell with most of the models, as the clothes get in the way of many of the poses. If it's just a book about costumed references, that's fine (though then I'd like more professional costumes). But it says, right on the cover, extreme anatomy and dynamic poses.
What is the point of offering that if you can't see the body? If you can't see how the muscles contort and react to the poses, you might as well draw cylinders for arms and legs and drape heavy robes over them and call it a day.
Honestly, this book looks like they went to a Renaissance fair and asked some of the patrons to pose for them, rather than a professional book with professional models and research.
A Clean Start for an aspiring artist [Posted on 2008-05-05]
The Fantasy Figure Artist's Reference File is a great book for anyone to have in their library for reference. What I enjoy most about it is the fact that the models are clothed, so that the book can be enjoyed by all ages of artists and can be shared with anyone. However, the lesson in anatomy are still very useful in the book. The models are shown in spandex for classic poses, then are shown in various stages of wardrobe to show what specific articles of clothing look like. The cd comes with all the images of the basic photos, it does not include the photos of the examples of how the photos can be used in works of art. The book though has a hard cover and a spiral spine so it is easy to open flat without damaging the spine. And the price is decent. Please support this book and other books in this series they are one of a kind and well worth their cost.
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