Drawing the Female Nude

Introduction 6
Stages of a drawing procedure 8
The anatomical reasons for shape 9
Some methods of representation 12
Tonal drawing 12
Linear drawing 13
Constructive drawing 14
Structural drawing 15
The erect figure 16
The moving figure 38
The sitting figure 56
The kneeling figure 76
The reclining and lying-down figure 88
The figure in perspective 118
Some photographic references 124
Bibliography 128

About Giovanni Civardi

Giovanni Civardi is a best-selling Italian artist and author, with over 600,000 copies of his books sold worldwide in English alone. Civardi was born in Milan, Italy in 1947. While training to become a sculptor, portrait artist and illustrator at the Free Life-Study School of the Accademia di Brera, he also studied medicine and surgery. For over a decade, he worked as an illustrator, producing commissions for newspapers, magazines and book covers. During frequent trips to France and Denmark, Civardi put on one-man exhibitions of this work and pursued his interest in studying the relationship between medical anatomy and the human form as depicted by the artist. His experience gained from teaching anatomy, life drawing and portraiture in schools and institutions over many years has led to the publication of numerous books in which Civardi's experiences are brought into focus. For more work and information visit his website: www.giovannicivardi.it.