Finally, an authorized facsimile edition of Figure Drawing for All It's Worth. Thank you Andrew Loomis estate and Titan Books!
Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, June 17, 2010
How to Draw
I've always been skeptical of "How to Draw" books. Maybe because I had a book when I was little showing you how to make up faces and such with simple block shapes. No, that's not how to draw ... that's how to cartoon exactly like the person that wrote the book.
But I am rethinking my views. Maybe you've gotten a lot of help or inspiration from "How to Draw Horses" or whatever is your fancy.
Today Walter Foster Publishing sent around some marketing materials pitching perfect how to draw books for summer. Ever at the forefront of popular culture, or perhaps capitalizing on popular culture, the series now includes a volume on vampires.
The link to the vampire book excerpt got me thinking, there's quite a bit of instruction to be found here. Technique, at least, if not exactly teaching you how to see.
What have your experiences been with "how to draw" books?
Portrait Drawing 101
But I am rethinking my views. Maybe you've gotten a lot of help or inspiration from "How to Draw Horses" or whatever is your fancy.
Today Walter Foster Publishing sent around some marketing materials pitching perfect how to draw books for summer. Ever at the forefront of popular culture, or perhaps capitalizing on popular culture, the series now includes a volume on vampires.
The link to the vampire book excerpt got me thinking, there's quite a bit of instruction to be found here. Technique, at least, if not exactly teaching you how to see.
What have your experiences been with "how to draw" books?
Portrait Drawing 101
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Central Valley Heritage & Art
The LA Times Travel section mentioned the Fresno Fruit Trail and Fresno Blossom Trail events today. Local, back-to-the-farm, agro-tourism. All for it.
Amid the orchards, the Art Stand for local art.
What have been your experiences selling art with a local angle? As a tourist, how much has "local" art been part of your travels?
Amid the orchards, the Art Stand for local art.
What have been your experiences selling art with a local angle? As a tourist, how much has "local" art been part of your travels?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Grayscale, Value, Color Temperature: Drawing Resources Online, Part 2
More conflicting advice. Read something on Cheap Joe’s art site championing mid-range values for watercolorists. Well, it’s a transparent medium, higher keyed. But for the rest of us, let’s stay out of the muddy waters of the middle range of values!
My teacher, Ron Lemen, has some instruction floating around online about sticking to a limited number of values toward each end of the grayscale. At his Studio2ndStreet site, materials on using a limited palette stress the importance of picking up colors of the same value on your paintbrush.
Alexander Schaefer has posted a useful graphic lining up some sample colors against a grayscale. The same graphic shows how color temperature affects those samples: cool light, warm shadow, and vice versa.
My teacher, Ron Lemen, has some instruction floating around online about sticking to a limited number of values toward each end of the grayscale. At his Studio2ndStreet site, materials on using a limited palette stress the importance of picking up colors of the same value on your paintbrush.
Alexander Schaefer has posted a useful graphic lining up some sample colors against a grayscale. The same graphic shows how color temperature affects those samples: cool light, warm shadow, and vice versa.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Outline: Drawing from the Outside In or Inside Out? Drawing Resources Online, Part 1
In this corner, champions of nailing down the outline first. In the other, people who start their drawing in the middle and let the proportions evolve from there. At least, it’s starting to sound like a fight to me, as I begin cataloging and reviewing online art lessons.
The get the outline right first camp terrifies me. A perfect outline? Not going to happen; so I’m defeated from the get-go. Seems easier to me to paint in the general areas of light and shadow and refine the edges from there.
Maybe the conflict between outside in versus inside out is the conflict between drawing versus painting. Or media which are set in stone or nearly so, such as ink or watercolor, or oil paint you can push around. Or line versus color.
One proponent of silhouette – and a whole lot more interesting material – is Michael Britton at ArtAcademy.com. You can see a sample online portrait how-to video on his homepage. I would get on his mailing list post haste. Sculpture plays a big role.
Cheap Joe’s Art offers has instruction online, with a watercolor slant. This article shows the graphic power of getting the outline right in figure drawing: Getting Figures Into Shape. One suggestion is to take an old not-quite-right work and reconfigure the silhouettes to come up with a more successful design. Hmm, maybe if I can get this silhouette thing working for me I’ll warm up to the idea …
The get the outline right first camp terrifies me. A perfect outline? Not going to happen; so I’m defeated from the get-go. Seems easier to me to paint in the general areas of light and shadow and refine the edges from there.
Maybe the conflict between outside in versus inside out is the conflict between drawing versus painting. Or media which are set in stone or nearly so, such as ink or watercolor, or oil paint you can push around. Or line versus color.
One proponent of silhouette – and a whole lot more interesting material – is Michael Britton at ArtAcademy.com. You can see a sample online portrait how-to video on his homepage. I would get on his mailing list post haste. Sculpture plays a big role.
Cheap Joe’s Art offers has instruction online, with a watercolor slant. This article shows the graphic power of getting the outline right in figure drawing: Getting Figures Into Shape. One suggestion is to take an old not-quite-right work and reconfigure the silhouettes to come up with a more successful design. Hmm, maybe if I can get this silhouette thing working for me I’ll warm up to the idea …
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Paint Made Flesh Exhibit in Washington, D.C.
Today's Wall Street Journal has a review of a figurative painting exhibition at the Phillips Collection. Apparently the catalog and exhibit signage contain plenty of highfalutin talk. The Journal suggests letting the paintings speak for themselves.
The show has some old (from the fifties) and a few new paintings. The Phillips Collection Web site doesn't have the expected slide show, but the newspaper put one together here. (Let's hope the Journal leaves these pages online indefinitely.)
The Phillips Collection did make a video.
Think big fellow artists!
The show has some old (from the fifties) and a few new paintings. The Phillips Collection Web site doesn't have the expected slide show, but the newspaper put one together here. (Let's hope the Journal leaves these pages online indefinitely.)
The Phillips Collection did make a video.
Think big fellow artists!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
