The guidance to be found within these covers reflects the authors inspired ability as a teacher and artist of the highest magnitude. It is probably the finest book on the subject of drawing the human form that I have ever seen. mdash; Irving Shapiro; A.W.S.; Director; American Academy of ArtThis unique guide offers a bold; innovative approach to drawing from life. Instead of teaching the traditional method of building up a drawing from lines; leaving mass and tone till later; noted art instructor Douglas R. Graves takes precisely the opposite tack. The student is encouraged to begin seeing and thinking in terms of tonal masses immediately. This approach enables students to draw quickly and accurately without the need for a line drawing first. The author compares it to learning to "paint" with charcoal.Step-by-step demonstrations and over 200 of the authors own drawings offer inspiration and practical guidance in the technique. Youll learn how to "see" tonal quality; how to key a drawing; how to translate color into black and white; and valuable techniques for keeping the figure from looking "stiff." Other topics include the role of alignment in achieving proper proportions; foreshortening; male and female figure distinctions; the use of modeling to achieve added dimension; drawing the face; positioning the figure; and many other aspects of life drawing.For students of drawing mdash; beginner to expert mdash; this book is an invaluable guide not just to drawing from life but to the essential principles of observation; composition; and draftsmanship that underlie all successful drawing and painting. It belongs in the library of every artist. For this edition; the author has revised previous chapters and added a new one on "Different Modes of Charcoal."
#277931 in eBooks 2012-04-20 2012-04-20File Name: B008TVETWC
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. It might be better to have separate blow ups of the individual drawings ...By Joseph ConnollySee my remarks about this and the Urizen facsimile. It might be better to have separate blow ups of the individual drawings on each page than to include the fuzzy pictures of the printed words or captions.3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. inspirationalBy sailing up chit speakI have enough background now to think I understand the major controversies facing the English when William Blake wrote this book. I still find some lines shocking. Plate 21 picks on Swedenborg for boasting "that what he writes is new." As Blake pointed out: "he shews the folly of churches and exposes hypocrites. till he imagines that all are religious. himself the single one that ever broke a net." Social systems that rely on doctrines dont have much staying power in a world in which the future keeps getting snatched away from those with superficial opinions. If this book is frightening for some. it has stood the test of time since 1794 and might last longer than what we think of it.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Handsome bookBy Robin Wildt HansenThis is a handsome book. It might have been a bit bigger to make the images clearer. But then it would have been more expensive. Of course. Blakes text is pure genius.
