Art of Drawing: The Complete Course

The author wrote this book for students who want to go beyond competent realistic rendering. Although he provides a large amount of instruction on technical matters--such as working with different drawing media, value, composition, proportion, color, and perspective--you will not learn precise academic draughtsmanship in these pages. You will, however, get a feel for drawing as a means of inner expression. The author provides many helpful exercises in each section, with both written and visual instructions. However, I think I have learned the most through looking at the drawing examples which are on every page of this book. They are not signed, and I assume they are all the work of the author, as they are all in a similar style. I've seen other art instruction books in which all the examples were the work of the author-- with disastrous results due to poor workmanship or crude aesthetic standards. But these drawings are beautiful. Some are barely developed--mere scratchings really--and yet they show how much information a few marks can make. Others are more fully realized works. All of them are in a style that combines spontaneity and solidity. The book was originally published in Spain, and many of the landscape sketches and drawings reflect the architecture and terrain of that country. Drawing buildings has always been a weak point for me, but I've learned a lot from looking at the way this teacher composes building scapes combining loose marks and solid lines. He has a wonderful line quality, and he uses all sorts of smaller marks for textural effects. There are quite a few drawings where there seems to be no negative space, since even the spaces between the main subjects are activited with energetic marks. This book does not try to address drawing from a modernist or postmodernist viewpoint--it teaches a style that anyone can "read" and make sense of. Its value lies in the combining of disciplined practice with a loose approach to mark making. Anyone who has learned the skills in this book can easily move on to more contemporary types of expression.

I read this book after I read The New Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain. The first book is really good for someone who just is not good at drawing and has to develop an artist mode of seeing first to draw- this book - coming second- then is very good at developing drawing skills step by step once the "right brain" for art and drawing is functioning. I can't really say that this book is different or better than other drawing instruction books. However, I bought it because it also dealt with pastels and colored pencils as a drawing medium. So if you like to paint in pastels, but want a drawing perspective to your pastel art- this book was helpful. Basically, the book attended to a comprehensive list of topics- like composition, perspective, light, color drawing, sketching, measuring,line, drawing with different utensils, different subjects- landscapes-stills-interiors, people, nudes. So while the subjects were quite comprehensive- they were not all that detailed. This is both the advantage and disatvantage of the book. So I do not recommend it as guide for the beginner- or for someone who has never drawn as much as I would say it is a good second book for getting a wider perspective what drawing is about and expanding on that. Although some examples from the book I did use in beginner art workshops I gave. Jason Alster- author- Creative Painting For The Young Artist