The Art of Pencil Drawing

The book arrived quickly - that was a pleasant surprise - and it was in excellent condition. I would order from these folks again!

I've had about 2+ years of intensive art-education & training- *brilliantly* this 1 inexpensive book basically captures all the BEST teachings I received during this time & then some. Maybe I should've *just* bought this book! In case it isn't obvious, Ernest W. Watson is *the* Watson in the popular "Watson-Guptill Publications". It's all black & white here- with 100% focus on values. Exclusively about the graphite pencil- It's easily his best compositional work! This isn't an A-to-Z style guide, progressing from basic to advanced chapters. Rather, it examines a variety of themes & solutions common to both pencil drawing & picturemaking in general- which is why all artists can benefit from it. Additionally, Watson tells us the *exact* pencils & paper used in many of the drawings included- very insightful information(!). *All* the most advanced elements of picturemaking here are covered in-depth. These sections include: 1. Ways With The Pencil; 2. Looking And Seeing; 3. Size & Composition; 4. Pattern; 5. Shadows; 6. Texture; 7. Sketching Town & City; 8. Landscape Sketching; 9. Drawing Trees; and maybe *most* importantly- 10. Memory & Imagination (enlightening!). The 1st chapter being for beginners- You could justify buying this book based on the 1st & 10th chapters alone! Figure drawing is *not* covered here- There's at least one distinct figure rendering included here to demonstrate that aspect of his ability (p.81). Some of these drawings are amazingly beautiful- with a *very* wide range of subjects depicted. His clean, crisp, and clear pencil style & technique is today unique among all art-instruction books. Often called "broad-stroke" & "pencil painting" and using a full-ranging "Tonal Pallete" from white to near-black (p.14), Watson explains that one learns this technique best through example: Every illustration in this book is his! Well, with one exception: a very small, enlightening line drawing by Rembrandt Van Rijn (p.133). Also: A few photographs are included- 3 photos in all- only to illustrate the composing of sketches: selection, subordination, and emphasis. In these many drawings I have a number of favorites: Figure20: Ponte San Lorenzo, Venice; Figure46: The Rialto, Venice; Figure47: Near Old Tucson, Arizona; the *entire* trees chapter; as well as Figures 97, 98 & 99- also drawings of trees (he's an expert at this!). The bottom line: this *amazing* book is a self-contained art-education in about 160 pages! 5 STARS!

...but then I've been drawing with one since I could pick one up. If you need a step-by-step "how-to" just this side of paint-by-numbers, this is not your book. If you want to be given the techniques to then apply to what =you= want to draw, buy it! This one book takes you from choosing materials and learning to see, through composition and using light and shade (valuable in any media, and cheap and easy to master in this one) to outdoor sketching both rural and urban. The final section on working from memory and imagination is particularly invigorating.

This precious book has been an eye opener for someone starting in art with pencil drawing.Watson deals exclusively with pencil drawing, does not go into any other medium. And he gets his point across much more efficiently that all these books that touch on all media, yet never leave the reader satisfied because they never deal with any medium or subject as thouroughly as Watson does.He starts out with a few definitions/descriptions of basic tools, but doesn't spend too much time on that. He goes on to tonal values with illustrations, describing which type of paper used each time (and that's precious information that authors rarely give). He goes on to explain how much detail to include with respect to distance from the viewer to the object depicted. Next comes composition: how to draw your viewer into the picture and keep him there, how to frame your subject, how much or how little detail should be included on the main as well as on secondary elements, how much line drawing should be done around the focal point, what details to include, which to leave out.Then comes pattern and its composition, accompanied with a discussion of its tone and value. Shadows comes next, how to manipulate shadows arbitrarily, not to follow exctly your source, but to play your darks and lights against each other so that they enhance each other and again keep the onlooker inside your picture. Textures is an important section and how to obtain them, either by pencil manipulation alone, or by working with various grains of papers.Another chapter is devoted to town and city, perspective in proportion, architecture, what emotional incentive prompts you toward a scene or another, getting accustomed to onlookers. Then it's on to landscape sketching with the use of symbolism, and a section devoted to tree forms.He concludes with imagination, memory and the subconscious. He also establishes a clear distinction between a sketch and a drawing.Experience and improvisation are only at your fingertips once you've thouroughly studied and applied Watson's principles.The books closes on a gallery of the author's drawings.Everything he teaches and recommends he also illustrates in his own hand.Although this book is a reprint from 1968, it's more than up to date, and therefore worth its weight in gold.