Jim SilkeNUDE: The Job of Figure Drawing

This book is a retrospective of Silke's work over 60 years (1951-2011). In it, he gives us little explanation of his technique, but instead offers up many examples of his work over 85 pages. Included are academic sketches and studies, plus plenty of colour drawings and paintings. The final 15 pages are given over to examples by Silke's favourite artists.I like his artwork a lot. He is clearly skilled in figurative art. His style is a little dated, but effective nonetheless. Silke's sparse text leaves us with what amounts to a picture book in chronological order. It is an impressive picture book, but somewhat enigmatic. I specialize in portrait drawing and painting; I have many books on the subject. While I cannot say I have learned anything new from this one, it is interesting to have the opportunity to take a close look at Silke's construction, and use of colour and composition.The book includes a couple of fold-out pages, and is printed throughout on good quality semi-gloss paper. The book marks Silke's 60th year in the business, but the title makes no mention of it. Instead it focuses on the nudity. That's a pity because Silke is a serious artist with a great career to reflect upon, yet his oeuvre is presented as merely a collection of saucy pictures.

This book is a must for the figure drawing artist out there. The images are outstanding and the brief tutorials are good and simple. The works are so clear and animated the artists dream to achieve.For further training I woud move on to Andrew Loomis. This book is a must and at a good price.