Stonehouse’s Anatomy

This book started with the author’s personal notebook which contained the artistic anatomy knowledge that he accrued over a long period of time as a professional illustrator. Seok, whose expertise is in drawing the human body, has studied anatomy for his own works and has gained unusual insight through exchanges with experts in various fields.

The author’s childhood curiosity regarding a dog’s hind legs eventually led to meetings with medical professors and bodybuilders, which broadened his understanding of anatomy. So while this book offers artistic anatomy for artists, Seok reveals at the beginning of the book that he hopes that it will become a guide to understanding and loving the self and others. To aid the reader in understanding the different human body parts, Seok includes explanations and interesting facts from a biological perspective.

Unlike many existing anatomy books for artists, which only explain shapes and structures, this book takes us on what feels like an adventure to an unknown planet called the human body. While we are there, we encounter new experiences and cultures and try to understand them. And at times, we’ll get to linger a while and actually learn them.

The author, who serves as our guide throughout this book, walks us through the entire experience in a very kind and thoughtful way. And as we follow him, we come to understand the human body. Seok also teaches us how to use that understanding to actually draw human bodies. It is not always necessary to be drawing on your sketchpad as you read. You should be able to enjoy it with a nice drink or a snack as you would with an entertaining work of fiction. And after each chapter, or perhaps at the end of the book, you will be able to draw with a love and appreciation for the human body the author has always hoped his readers would gain.

Please understand that there may be some misunderstandings or difficulties when reading some of the author’s personal thoughts and examples that he uses. We understand that this stems from a cultural difference between the author, who is Korean, and a wider variety of readers’ backgrounds. We promise that these parts will be reviewed and appropriately edited in the new edition, along with any translation errors.

This anatomy book is Seok Jung Hyun’s brainchild of nine years, for which he drew nearly 1,500 illustrations. This is the English translation of his book that was published in Korea in 2017.