The Practice and Science of Drawing

I'm now a professional illustrator and art director. But for 17 years... from adolescence on, I was a hobbyist... someone who just loved to draw. It was this book, INGENIOUSLY simple and straightforward in both it's presentation and elucidation of "how to see," which brought me from hobbyist, to professional. I learned more from reading this book than from thumbing through any of the other 50+ art-technique books in my collection (this is a book to be read... primarily text, not primarily illustrations). Get this book. If like me, you're self-taught... and you already know how to draw... and are looking to hit the next level, it's invaluable.

It's easy to pontificate and very, very hard to draw. Suspiciously absent from most books on drawing are drawings by the author. But Speed, a journeyman painter whose career bridged the 19th and 20th centuries, drew wonderfully well, and his drawings vindicate his ideas. Additionally, Speed's career embodies the best of the academic tradition and the then-contemporary discoveries of the Impressionists. His assessment of Monet has stood the test of time, as have his splendid instruction on the nuts and bolts of drawing. If you can only have one book on drawing -- and I have a vested interest in this area -- Speed's is the one to get.

This book is an in depth study on the elements that make a piece of art. It covers the style and movement of line, (both the drawn and implied), mass, tone, rythym, balance and proportion. It also discusses variation and unity within the individual elements, how all the elements work with the subject to create a piece of art and the differences between a piece of art and a great piece of art.I could ramble on, but will not, though there is so much more in this book. It is bursting at the binding with insight on drawing. It is clearly written by someone who obviously knows what he is writing about. It is a fantastic art course by a man who knows how to teach. It is as relevant today as it was when written, probably even more so given my experience of modern art tuition over the years. If you want to be an artist, no, if you want to be a great artist, read this book.

Though written nearly a hundred years ago, Harold Speed's book is a gem. We live in a time when traditional drawing techniques are hard to come by, but Speed takes us back to the essential skills of the late nineteenth century. If you dream, as I do, of drawing like Ingres and painting like Sargent, this book will point the way. An absolute classic.