Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 The Timeless Fundamentals of Drawing June 12, 2008
Nicholas Payne (NJ USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a great addition to the student of drawing's library. The author does a superb job of analyze some excellent examples of classical drawing and elucidates the formal and structural concepts in each. Although this book does not provide very much in the way of "step by step" style technical instruction, it does provide the reader with a way of conceptually approaching a drawing. br / br / The author demonstrates where the great artist used a cylinder, or a sphere to conceptualize a part of the subject's anatomy. He shows how lines are modulated to give varying degrees of tone and shape to the figure. Many of these ideas will stew around in your head as you approach your own drawing projects. Eventually, you will notice that you are more aware of certain parts of the form and that these are being incorporated into your work. Overall, this book is a very interesting and enjoyable way of delivering basic drawing concepts to a student reader.
 Excellent reference April 12, 2008
Heather Anne (Australia)
This is an excellent text/reference for drawing enthusiasts, or students of drawing. Both the way it is broken down, and uses examples from the masters to illustrate the concepts offer a really solid grounding in how line is used to describe space, shape and tone.
Excellent Reference February 18, 2008
Short Bald Yogi (Tulsa, OK)
This is one of the "timeless" drawing reference books every artist should look at when he/she needs inspiration. Hale picks some of the most dynamic life drawings by the old masters--Leonardo, Ingres, etc.--and disects them in terms of composition, tone, thrust, etc. He is right on in his suggestions that artists should study human and animal surface anatomy to understand the figure. I found his discussion of light and shadow especially instructive.
Fantastic February 16, 2008
More of a philosophical approach to drawing than instructional. But, often i find it enlightening to learn HOW to think...more so than WHAT. A great artist can synthesize his ideas rather than simply comprehend them. This book exemplifies and necessitates this philosophy.
Analysis is great October 3, 2007
A. B. King
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I like that he has a full page to show the drawing and on the facing page he has a smaller version with commentary. He places capital letters on the drawing so you can see exactly which line or shape he is discussing.
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