Great Books on Art Technique

Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale

Great Books on Art Technique

            In this post, I want to talk about the books I read when I was in art school. I tried to pick out the books that I thought were most useful from a beginner’s perspective. Some of these books may be considered vintage now, but I’m sure they can be found online. After a while, you’ll notice that the books tend to repeat certain ideas, but they will reinforce your understanding of important principles and usually add a unique perspective or observation. These books focus on practice more than theory.

The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing by Anthony Ryder

            The first book I selected is The Artist’s Complete Guide to Figure Drawing by Anthony Ryder. Tony Ryder runs a figurative art school in Santa Fe (The Ryder Studio), and whenever there’s a figurative art show at a museum, this book is in the gift shop. The book has been around for a long time, and it’s one of the art books I think back on. It describes important subjects like light direction, form, contour, how to lay down hatching strokes, and materials. Ryder studied with Ted Seth Jacobs, who developed an incredibly comprehensive study of light, but his writing is a lot clearer and less abstract. While I don’t follow everything in this book, like enveloping, it will give you a great basis to build off of. The text is supplemented with his own illustrations.

Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale

           

              The next book is Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale. This is a classic. It’s broken down into a few sections: Form, Line, Light, Mass, and Anatomy. Hale has a great method of teaching wherein he superimposes his lesson over a master drawing. You will learn so much about the old masters from this book. From Raphael to Rubens, from Pontormo to Durer, you will leave this book knowing a lot more about art history. What I like about this book too is that Hale encourages you to work out of your head. When you think back on artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael, they all worked from a vast reserve of anatomical knowledge, i.e. they didn’t use a model. Not an east feat, and I admire them all the more for it. People often say there are two camps in figurative art: construction, and realism. Construction focuses on anatomical knowledge and structure, while realism studies the phenomena of light and form. Hale does a good job of combining both. As you get to the end of the book, Hale goes into the subject of anatomy, and while he doesn’t get the chance to expound upon the subject, he continues it in his follow-up book: Anatomy Lessons From The Great Masters. They have the same teaching method, and I recommend them both. If you can, search online for Robert Beverly Hale’s anatomy lectures. This man was basically a surgeon, and his videos are both entertaining and informative.

Lessons From Michelangelo by Michael Burban

            Another great resource on anatomy is Lessons from Michelangelo by Michael Burban. The book is broken down by anatomical section: the head, the torso, the upper limbs, and the lower limbs. This was the first book I read on the subject, and I think it’s clearer than Hale’s books. I remember, I would come home everyday from school and copy a drawing from this book. My work improved rapidly after that. It’s a great practice to copy from the old masters, especially when you’re just starting out.  This book is written in the same style as Hale, but it will be a bit harder to find. Anatomy books can get confusing with all the medical names, so this was the perfect book to start out with.

Figure Drawing Master Class by Dan Gheno

            The next book I have is Figure Drawing Master Class by Dan Gheno. Compiled from a series of articles that Dan wrote for Artist’s Magazine and Artist’s Network, this book delves more into the practice of drawing. It talks about line and line quality, proportion, gesture drawing, drapery, materials, perspective, as well as composition and narrative in art. Dan has dedicated his life to art and it shows. He will bring up commonly overlooked anatomical details such as the jugal furrow on the cheekbone, or the golden section compositional device. A section I particularly liked was a study of drapery folds and various points of tension on the body. The book features drawings by the old masters, and includes contemporary New York artists such as Robin Smith, Jerome Witkin, and Peter Cox. A comprehensive book that will get you to think in new ways.

Pictorial Composition An Introduction by Henry Rankin Poore

            Pictorial Composition by Henry Rankin Poore. This is an essential book for any artist. A book worth reading multiple times. Poore talks about balance, the steelyard effect, composing by color, isolation, in units, with light and shade, and with angles. If you are a photographer, cinematographer, abstract artist, or realist artist, you can benefit from this book. For some reason there aren’t many books written on composition. There are hundreds of books on anatomy, yet on the subject of composition, there are only a handful. This book makes up for it. It’s easily one of the most detailed texts on the subject. You must buy this book.

Perspective Made Easy by Ernest R. Norling

            On the subject of perspective, I would recommend: Perspective Made Easy by Ernest R. Norling. While the book may seem old fashioned, what with the way of speaking and the examples, it covers all of the rudimentary aspects of artistic perspective. Norling begins with the basics, (i.e. a plane in space, one point perspective, two point perspective.) subsequently moving on to increasingly more complicated problems in perspective (cylinders and cones in space, proportion in perspective, light in perspective, and vertical perspective). At the end of each chapter, Norling provides you with a summation and series of exercises. While these may seem tedious, they will help you in the long run. A great-cheap book to get started on perspective.    

From L to R: Heads, Features and Faces by George Bridgman, Bridgman's Life Drawing by George Bridgman, The Human Figure by John H. Vanderpoel

The next three focus on the figure, explaining concepts like planar construction, tilts, masses, and anatomy. They are Bridgman’s Life Drawing, Heads Features and Faces, and Vanderpoel’s The Human Figure. Bridgeman builds his figure using three major masses, which believe is a useful way to look at gesture. Vanderpoel writes his book in a similar manner, but his drawings are less cartoonish/more realistic. Copy from both of them. These are referenced a lot in the atelier world.

A Painterly Approach by Mary Beth McKenzie

            To finish it up, I chose two Watson-Guptill books: A Painterly Approach by Mary Beth McKenzie and Pastel by Daniel Green. Mary Beth’s book is divided into three sections: pastel, oil painting, and monotype. Her style is bold and exciting, and her work from this period exemplifies that. Not even considering this as a technical book, this is a great Art Book. Dan Greene’s book is just about pastel, but it talks about experimental practices like using fixative as a tool for tone, making your own pastels, and other portraiture techniques. A great book to have, but probably not for beginners.

Pastel by Daniel E. Greene

            Let me know if you have a favorite art technique book, or if you want me to talk more about a specific one. I will be adding to this list in the future.