Lessons in Classical Drawing
Lessons in Classical Drawing: Essential Techniques from Inside the Atelier, by Juliette Aristides, is a quiet 208 page book that explains the drawing process in manageable chunks of information. I say “quiet” because it’s not loaded with bright, colorful images jumping off the pages. Rather, it has an understated beauty and seriousness that deserves time to study and absorb the lessons being taught.
The book contents include, The World Through an Artist’s Eye; A Study of Proportion; A Discussion About Line; the Illusion of Depth, the Third Dimension; Tonal Composition, a Palette of Nuanced Gray; Light and Shadow, and the Creation of Form and Character.
A fantastic bonus is the companion 1 hour 17 minute DVD.
There is a section on materials …
but I particularly enjoyed her processes. In one section she explains that she saves her charcoal dust into a small plastic container. She then uses it to sprinkle onto her surface and completely cover it. From that surface, a mid-tone gray, she works in the lights and darks to create her image.
In another section, she discussed the value sphere and how without light and shadow, it would simply be a circle. She waxed on about how the study of light is always key in the subject and how the character and quality of the light dictates the interest in what you are looking at.
In another segment of the video, Juliette does two separate figure drawings from two different models. She draws while talking about how she works from general to specific. She starts with blocking in the head, ribcage, and pelvis. Then she indicates the mapping of the figure with lights and shadows. A time-lapse repeat of the start to finish of each drawing is included. Other parts of the DVD are shot outdoors in Florence, Italy; different artists talk about art, such the making of stuff rather than the consumption of stuff.
The book is excellent, something you’d expect to be the required text in a college art class. It’s the inclusion of the DVD, however, that brings it all to life and makes the Watson-Guptill suggested retail $29.95 an excellent value and the Amazon $18.95 price a downright steal. If you want to go beyond the whimsical and into learning classic and elegant drawing, you won’t be disappointed.
September 20th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Hi Gloria,
On the first image you have of the book I remember seeing this beautifully drawn image somewhere else but can’t remember who drew the portrait of the little girl? Thanks