---
product_id: 58007784
title: "High-focus Drawing: A Revolutionary Approach to Drawing the Figure Paperback – August 26, 2016"
brand: "james mcmullan"
price: "$107"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/58007784-high-focus-drawing-a-revolutionary-approach-to-drawing-the-figure
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# High-focus Drawing: A Revolutionary Approach to Drawing the Figure Paperback – August 26, 2016

**Brand:** james mcmullan
**Price:** $107
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** High-focus Drawing: A Revolutionary Approach to Drawing the Figure Paperback – August 26, 2016 by james mcmullan
- **How much does it cost?** $107 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/58007784-high-focus-drawing-a-revolutionary-approach-to-drawing-the-figure)

## Best For

- james mcmullan enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Images

![High-focus Drawing: A Revolutionary Approach to Drawing the Figure Paperback – August 26, 2016 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61cbbFtOjTL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Helpful college level figure drawing book.
*by C***O on January 23, 2025*

I'd say this book is for people who have already taken at least one entry level figure drawing class. The advice focuses on the dimensionality of the form and how to draw bodies that feel alive/have an energetic flow to them. I found the particular advice of how much information you can pack into a line very formative for my own drawing exploration. He's very opinionated on the way things "should be," I don't agree with everything, but I think he has the sort of dry frustration that you'd expext out of a college art teacher, which makes the things I don't agree with pretty funny to read regardless.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five Stars
*by H***N on June 10, 2015*

Great book, very helpful for anyone looking to improve their life drawing skills

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Not just "how to", but also "why?"
*by H***T on November 6, 2022*

I studied under McMullan in college. Before him, I'd had instructors tell me "draw this way”, "draw that way", but it all felt arbitrary– if I tried to think about what we were doing and why, I’d hit an instant brick wall. But with McMullan I was able to think about his approach as much as I wanted and it would make sense all the way to the foundation. It was a genuine breakthrough– it felt like my gears, which had been frictionlessly spinning in place for years, finally engaged with the gears around them and started propelling me forward. When I try to summarize his philosophy for people, I first describe instead a very common way to approach drawing a model, which would be to sketch out some light lines where the limbs and head are going to be, and a little grid where the face will be, etc etc, and then go in and take your time and fill out all the details- the muscles and limbs and hair and everything else. But it's that first part, the preparatory, tossed-off sketch part- THAT, in a sense, was the real drawing, the actual spontaneous reaction to what you were looking at. It was also, in a way, a safety net you’d created for yourself, and the rest of the drawing was a sort of disengaged, risk-free afterthought. But what if you could extend that initial spontaneous response, and keep walking out onto the tightrope without creating that safety net? That’s McMullan in a nutshell.Another way to describe it is that the drawing being beautiful, even the drawing looking like the model- these are just side effects of making a good drawing, not goals- and in fact, the drawings become more beautiful and look more like the model the more you let go of these goals and focus just on reveling in spontaneous, honest reaction to a model. Not that there isn’t a structure to his approach, there is, but it’s a structure that sets the stage for creative improvisation, like a jazz solo emerging from a preexisting composition.And so, while it wasn’t this book in particular that introduced me to McMullan’s ideas, I cherish my copy and I’ve bought many copies for friends and coworkers over the years. But it’s not for beginners. It’s a book for someone very talented who’s trying to push past their own limitations and is searching for some insights to fuel that push.

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*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-03-08*