20. Fairburn System of Visual References

Two vinyl-bound books of photographs of men and women posing in cool 70s clothes (or in some cases nude) with multiple angles on every pose.

The Fairburn books, now out of print, are supposedly the comic book artists' holy grail due to the variety of poses and angles. There are pages of people standing, jumping, sitting, reaching, turning, reclining, leaning, lounging, bending, kneeling, falling, thinking, holding boxes, writing and, well, whatever. Frankly, though, I'm more into the wardrobe which is often reminiscent of Oliver Reed's from Ten Little Indians.

reclining nude
an older gent, running It takes a certain amount of courage to wear desert boots with a suit, but this guy pulls it off
A girl, a dress
You talking to me?

Update (11/26/2002): Mitchell Press is selling the Faces and Heads and Children sets (3 volumes each). If you want the Figures and Hands (with the male and female full-figure books) set your best bet is still eBay (search for either Fairburn System or just Fairburn). I've seen a couple of complete sets as well as the individual books up for auction there over the past couple of months.

Comments

Bob says...

Does anyone know where I can purchase the fairburn system of visual references? Any info is most appreciated. Thanx.

Posted on Nov 6, 2002
Wes Killingbeck says...

We have a set, but it's getting old and is in need of replacing. If you locate a vendor that has this series of books, please let me know. Thanks.

Posted on Nov 7, 2002
Judi says...

I would also like to get a hold of this series. Have you tried e-bay?

Posted on Nov 14, 2002
Gene says...

There's a complete set available on eBay right now (auction ends Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. PST). Someone is also selling the female full figure book on its own. A complete set was available last week as well, so they seem to pop up from time to time.

Posted on Nov 15, 2002
Herb Koch says...

Two of the three sets are still available, directly from the publisher, Mitchell Press.
Please go to the web site www.fairburnsystem.com

Posted on Nov 26, 2002
Kevin says...

I'm looking for the original Male and Female (Clothed) set.
Is there any chance of a new version being made?or has it been made on CD now??

Posted on Mar 27, 2003
Satyajeet S Salokhe says...

I want the three sets of Fairburn Books. These are very good books for illustration.I will be obliged if you send me information about further formalities to be completed.If I am not wrong these books were published by Graphic Book International Ltd. THANKS YOU.

Posted on Apr 3, 2003
Paul C says...

I'm after the Kids version of the sets, Childrens hands and faces, im in London, if there are any bookshop owners out there on Charing Cross Road then please Mail me. Nice one.

Posted on Apr 10, 2003
Terry H. Lee says...

I am looking for the fairburn system...Hands&Figures..Any info.-on where/and how I can buy---will be greatly appreciated---Feel free to e-mail me!

Posted on May 5, 2003
Terry Stone says...

I have 2 Sets of Fairburn Figures & Hands, that I am putting up on eBay as of 6/14/03..

Set 1, the blue books (Heads and Faces), books 1-3 (Males,Females, Types),

and Set 2, the green books(Figures & Hands, books 1-3 (Males Full Figure, Female Full Figure, Poses & Hands)

They are in perfect shape.

Thought I'd give you guys a heads up.

Terry Stone

Posted on Jun 13, 2003
april harper says...

I am interested in purchasing the set of references, but before I made the investment I was curious if there would be any chance of a new more modern version being created. I think that there would be many illustrators interested in this and would choose to purchase them.

Thank You

Posted on Jun 23, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i have a complet set of books from 1974 the very best condition.book 1 set 1 .book 1 set 2 .book1 set 3.want information on best way to sell fast as i am moving house soon .ps i live in manchester england thanks

Posted on Sep 17, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i have a complet set of books from 1974 the very best condition.book 1 set 1 .book 1 set 2 .book1 set 3.want information on best way to sell fast as i am moving house soon .ps i live in manchester england thanks

Posted on Sep 17, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i have a complete set of the 1974 fairburn system
very best condition .i want to now the best way to sell fast in manchester england.plus what is the going rate for them .hope you can help

Posted on Sep 18, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i have a complete set of the 1974 fairburn system
very best condition .i want to now the best way to sell fast in manchester england.plus what is the going rate for them .hope you can help

Posted on Sep 18, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i have a full set off 1974 fairburn system the very best condition for sale .could you help me in finding best way to sell fast as i am moving soon .ps i live in manchester england thanks

Posted on Sep 18, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i have a full set off 1974 fairburn system the very best condition for sale .could you help me in finding best way to sell fast as i am moving soon .ps i live in manchester england thanks

Posted on Sep 18, 2003
malcolm fitzgerald says...

i love you

Posted on Sep 22, 2003
Carl Potts says...

There are Very Good to Near Mint sets on eBay right now of both Set 1 (figures) and Set 2 (heads)

Posted on Sep 23, 2003
Carl Potts says...

There are Very Good to Near Mint sets on eBay right now of both Set 1 (figures) and Set 2 (heads)

Posted on Sep 23, 2003
Carl Potts says...

There are Very Good to Near Mint sets of the original 1970s editions on eBay right now of both Set 1 (figures) and Set 2 (heads)

Posted on Sep 23, 2003
lolita says...

Nice site you have!

Posted on Nov 4, 2003
Preteen says...

HUH )

Posted on Nov 10, 2003
Underage says...

Greetengs

Posted on Nov 10, 2003
Mansour says...

I am looking for the fairburn system...
Femel and man Nuds

Posted on Sep 13, 2004
redhill says...

There is a near mint set on eBay right now...

FAIRBURN SYSTEM: Figures and Hands Reference BOOK
Set - RARE

This is the one that is out-of-print (from the 70's) that almost never surfaces...

Anyway, the link to the auction is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290261786837&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=019


Posted on Sep 27, 2008

Post a comment

Remember me?

Basic HTML is allowed.

 

About this Page

Posted by Gene Smith on Jul 30, 2002. Before this there was 19. Penney's Hawaii. Next up is 21. Jazzmaster.

About the Author

Gene Smith is a principal with nForm, one of Canada's leading user experience consulting firms. He writes about information architecture, interaction design, community, the web and other such topics. More >

Subscribe

Get the feed Get the RSS feed (full posts, no ads)

My Book

Recent Posts

Archives

Elsewhere

You can also find me on Flickr, Upcoming, LinkedIn, Del.icio.us and Digg.

Work

nForm User Experience

Endorsements

Hosting by Dreamhost.