Is this a good book?

[elyo11]

I recently bought Human Anatomy for Artists by András Szunyoghy.
and I was wondering.. is it a good book??

[Book Guru]

Elyo,
I didn't see a complete book, but based on several pages available for review at Amazon, I'd recommend to get Bammes instead.

Just make sure you don't follow Bammes' style of drawing. As for the anatomy, it's still one of the best books on the market for artists. It's used at art academies all over, including Russia.
In our Academy it's used as a supplemental material to anatomy classes, together with the Anatomy for Artists by Ene Barchai (also Hungarian, by the way).

[Nezumi Works]

I agree, Bammes would be better. I'm also fond of Peck and Sheppard, and you don't get a lot more exhaustive than Goldfinger. Lots of options.

[SoufMeng]

I have it and I don't think it's a good book either.
My copy has bonus animal anatomy plates in the last part but that's about all.

Most bookshops that sell it in my country also have "Anatomy for the Artists" by Sarah Simblet which is twice as expensive and more than twice as good from my perspective.

A. Szunyoghy http://image.wangchao.net.cn/product...6052941578.jpg

S.Simblet http://www.fineart.sk/photos/anatomy4a/047.JPG

[elyo11]

Book Guru, thanks! now I just need to find that book.. cuz apparently they don't have it in the book shop here.

Nezumi Works, indeed alot of options. too bad I only have a few books to learn from.

SouMeng, it's not that bad.. it's just not much. mine has also the animal anatomy plates. and it explains the muscles and bones good. but only for someone who knows every bone...

[Book Guru]

Yes, Elyo11, it has really become an antique item.
Makes me sad, as there is so much junk on the market (good marketing though), while this great publication is so hard to find.

I hope someday to get publishing rights for this one, at least for its Russian translation.

A warning for those who're unfamiliar with the subject: there is a "digest" version sold at some bookstores. It has nothing to do with the original. Only about 50 drawings made by mostly Bammes' students.

[elyo11]

@ Book Guru, I also find alot of books on his name. which one is the good one?
I saw a few drawings, and I liked it. it's not so detailed and hard, and not something only professionals can use.

[Book Guru]

Elyo11,
Wow. I've just discovered that this book has NEVER been translated into English. Amazing. Though it's not the text which is important but the images, still...

You, however, have a great advantage. As you're located much closer to Germany than most of us. Because I'm quite sure the publisher is located in Germany.
Here is their website (in German).

This is a copy of the most recent publication, copied from Amazon:

# Hardcover: 312 pages
# Publisher: Christophorus-Verlag, 2008
# Language: German
# ISBN-10: 3419537190
# ISBN-13: 978-3419537190
# Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.4 x 1.1 inches
# Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds

What's also amazing... The variety of covers this book was printed with!!
I knew only one, but just discovered at least a couple different ones been published in Russia (in Russian).
The rest seems to be published in Germany only, at different times, but - yes, with all different covers. And even with different titles! (I don't speak German, but it seems like they change that as well)
(Frankly, I don't understand why they change titles and covers, but it's their business).

The bottom line, if you can locate this book somewhere in Europe (what about visiting Germany next weekend?), please let me know!

Below enjoy a variety of covers and samples from that book.

Again, only THESE should be treated as originals.
(NOT "The Artist's Guide to Human Anatomy", sold at Amazon for $14.96!!)

[elyo11]

wauw~! that looks pretty good.. I've faved the amazon link. 15$ is nothing
I guess I need to work for this one...
I also thought they were the same books but different titles, but I wasn't sure so I thought better ask than buy the wrong one..

thankyou for the information!

[Book Guru]

Elyo... just to make sure we're on the same trail of thoughts...
You do understand that the one at Amazon for $15 - is not the real Bammes... yes?

You're welcome!

[vapour]

I am from Germany and work with the Bammes book. I also own the Szunyoghy book. The latter one i consider ok for checking how bones or other stuff looks like and where it is located and thats it.
Bammes on the contrary I almost worship at this present time.
Since I started to study his book and the way he simplifies and then do studies from the skeleton and instead of copying what I see reconstructing it and using the object just as reference it feels like I just started to really learn and begin to understand the form.
It is his simplification and schematisation that allows to understand the form and construct the stuff from imagination.

The real book just got re-released this year. It is this one:
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/3862...-fkmr0&seller= Price 79 Euro.

The blue one Bookguru posted a picture of is only the " Studies of Bammes The Human Figure" book, not the real one and probably the one offered to you for 15 bucks. The real Bammes is always expensive, even the used ones because the people who buy this book also know darn well about its high resell value.

[Book Guru]

The blue one Bookguru posted a picture of is only the " Studies of Bammes The Human Figure" book, not the real one and probably the one offered to you for 15 bucks.

Vapour,

It's exactly what I was saying here - NOT to buy a cheap one at Amazon, as I'm sure many people get confused and simply buy it because of Bammes name on the cover.

Thank you for your information and review!
Hm... I still don't understand why they don't sell this version at Amazon.com.

I really appreciate your link. Though I don't speak a word in German, I'll try to make an order. I'll ask for your assistance, if I'm lost, if you don't mind.

[vapour]

Vapour,

It's exactly what I was saying here - NOT to buy a cheap one at Amazon, as I'm sure many people get confused and simply buy it because of Bammes name on the cover.

Thank you for your information and review!
Hm... I still don't understand why they don't sell this version at Amazon.com.

I really appreciate your link. Though I don't speak a word in German, I'll try to make an order. I'll ask for your assistance, if I'm lost, if you don't mind.

Feel free to do so. I just had a look and found:

"Die Gestal des Menschen" on Amazon.co.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Die-Gestalt-...1194563&sr=8-4

Should make it more easy to oder for anybody who can speak english.

[Book Guru]

Vapour,
I feel so silly... I've been using Amazon.com since... (you won't believe it!) 1994!!
A bad habbit, I guess. I've never even tried to order in Europe, always assuming the S+H prices to be much more expensive. Not any longer!
I really appreciate your help, as I'm going to use the UK Amazon from now.

Btw, even in English I really got confused there... At UK they use that "good, old English" that is now quite forgotten in the US.
"Dispatch to this address" completely knocked me down... what's "dispatch"?? (yes, I khow) ...lol...

[elyo11]

lol dispatch..

vapour, thank you for the link! I understand a bit of german, had it in school for 3 years.
64 sounds like a good prize. only worth a week of work

Book Guru, I understand what you mean with the 'old english'..
we get that at school cuz we're in europe, but I'm used to movies and websites like CA and DA where it's american english.
written words are easy, understanding the spoken language is harder!

[Book Guru]

written words are easy, understanding the spoken language is harder!

Yeah... I used to study British English. Then I've spent some years in the US. Remember visiting UK for the first time, asking the receptionist at the hotel (she had such a "strange" accent), "Where are you from?" - "I'm British!" - "No, I mean, what are your roots?" - at least the person was easy going, another one could surely be offended. (and I still adore their "accent"!)

I've just placed an order at UK Amazon. I hope it's not the last Bammes they have there.
Btw, its price is less expensive in pounds, comparing to euro at German Amazon.

Also, I've checked some books we usually order (Rubens, da Vinci, etc) - Amazon charges high for delivery, but average books' prices are still better comparing to European ones.

[elyo11]

I understand what you mean A girl I know is studying english teaching, so they sent her to england for 6 months.. when I spoke her once and we had a talk about something, then she said some weird word like: sha-ap.. I thought what's that? aparentely it means shut up xD

actually prizes arent really different.. 60 pounds is like 65 euro's.. it's almost the same..

[Marlee.]

A warning for those who're unfamiliar with the subject: there is a "digest" version sold at some bookstores. It has nothing to do with the original. Only about 50 drawings made by mostly Bammes' students.

Thanks so much for mentioning this! I asked a friend to pick up Bammes' book at the bookstore and that is DEFINITELY what I got. I've always wondered why the helllll people recommend Bammes', because the book was, frankly, quite useless.

[Arshes Nei]

I still found value in the 15 dollar book. Yes, it was student work, but even pro work isn't always the best either I recommend it with other anatomy books because the book gave a course outline how to study anatomy and various exercises which I found useful.

In addition it made me seek out the German books.

Sometimes it's how you use the book and not how pretty the contents are.

[vapour]

I understand what you mean A girl I know is studying english teaching, so they sent her to england for 6 months.. when I spoke her once and we had a talk about something, then she said some weird word like: sha-ap.. I thought what's that? aparentely it means shut up xD

actually prizes arent really different.. 60 pounds is like 65 euro's.. it's almost the same..

According to Google:

64,87 British pounds = 76,9785404 Euros

No real saving compared to the german price. Allthough you got me excited for a moment untill I double checked the price. Thought I accidently stumbeled over a great bargain by reimporting the book from the UK to germany and circumventing the german fixed prices for books.


Elyo I just noticed you are from the netherlands! Are you planning to go to the Amsterdam workshop ? In case you do it would be great to meet you there. I plan to be there and work hard at the moment to be able to afford it.


Book Guru:
Poor Brits. Not too long ago they had an empire encompassing the world and nowadays they even are forgotten about when buying books on websites in their native language. The irony, heh.

[Book Guru]

Thanks so much for mentioning this! ...I've always wondered why the helllll people recommend Bammes', because the book was, frankly, quite useless.

You're welcome!
The problem is that the real Bammes book was originally written in German, and since then was only translated into Russian and if I remember correctly - in Bulgarian.
So a huge part of the world is still unfamiliar with it, precisely - the English speaking world.
I wish they didn't sell this "digest" at Amazon at all. It confuses many people, even in Russia. We do have a PDF file, so we always send sample pages to our clients, to prove the point. The original is about 500 pages. So you can imagine...

In addition it made me seek out the German books. Sometimes it's how you use the book and not how pretty the contents are.

It's not an album with "pretty" pictures. It contains only the knowledgeable material about human anatomy that might be increadibly useful if you plan to become a professional artist. I've heard in Europe they call it a Bible...

-----
P.S. There are some parts in this book that criticize American system of drawing... this could be the reason why the real Bammes was never published in the US. Though I'm not sure... still a puzzle to me.

[elyo11]

Elyo I just noticed you are from the netherlands! Are you planning to go to the Amsterdam workshop ? In case you do it would be great to meet you there. I plan to be there and work hard at the moment to be able to afford it.

Workshop?? I didn't hear anything about it. is there a website with information? because I just found new work that takes almost all my free time..

The problem is that the real Bammes book was originally written in Hungarian, and since then was only translated into 2 languages (though I may be wrong) - German and Russian.
So a huge part of the world is still unfamiliar with it, precisely - the English speaking world.
I wish they didn't sell this "digest" at Amazon at all. It confuses many people, even in Russia. We do have a PDF file, so we always send sample pages to our clients, to prove the point. The original is about 500 pages. So you can imagine...

I know what you mean.. it's like downloading a movie and getting only 5 seconds instead of 2 hours..

[Book Guru]

Guess what...???

Bammes is now available in Russian!
Well... it's not us the lucky ones who got the publishing license, but our good partner, Diton Printing House (also located in St.Petersburg, Russia).

So for those who don't speak German and don't plan to study it in the near future,
I recommend this book as this is an exact copy of the Bammes original book, only in Russian language. The whole publication/printing process has been very closely monitored by Germans (who own the copyright), and this publication has already been approved.

Here is the link to the book, and you can also purchase it at Amazon.com (the Russian version).

And of course - the images:

[Kjesta]

Just wanted to add my .02$ as native-speaker, I've worked with both his book on animal anatomy and human anatomy (not sure which anymore, it was at the library) and the texts are comparably unimportant. There's the occasional gem in there but I find that it's very rambly and academic, unlike Loomis where you get a lot of to-the-point advice in every paragraph. Doesn't mean that it's bad, one day I might still tackle the texts as well, but mostly the pictures really do speak for themselves. It's really a great resource!

(And yes, they're really expensive. Still hoping my library will sell their copy off for cheap someday.)

[Book Guru]

For those collecting Bammes books...

Tomorrow we receive new Russian edition of Bammes' "Tiere zeichnen" (Drawing Animals). This book was last published over 10 years ago, not available on Amazon.com any longer.
So if you prefer great visuals and don't mind whether this book is in German or Russian, you can order it here. We've also placed it at Amazon but it's less expensive to order the book directly from our online store.