Drawing as Expression: Techniques and Concepts - Softcover

Brooke, Sandy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130893137 ISBN 13: 9780130893130

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2001

Synopsis

Benefiting all visual artists regardless of their level of expertise, this instructional guide to drawing covers all aspects of the craft from the Renaissance to present day—from basic skills and formal elements to introductory figure drawing and the advanced concepts of contemporary drawing—showing users how to combine their critical thinking skills with intuition and technical knowledge to create a visual language through drawing. Covers key drawing techniques, the function of drawing, and the concepts associated with good drawing. Offers a brief history of drawing, and follows with complete chapters on drawing media, the formal elements, line, value, perspective, texture, composition (space, plane & shape), cross-hatching and drapery, portrait, figure drawing, landscape. Concludes with an in-depth study of modern to contemporary drawing that covers everything from Cezanne through abstract expressionism, pop art, minimalism, postmodernism, primitive and neo-expressionism, earthworks, installation, performance, and conceptual art. Incorporates over 400 professional art pieces, drawings, and illustration throughout, and includes many historical profiles of artists with discussions on their unique direction, style, and use of drawing. For all visual artists.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Drawing as Expression: Techniques and Concepts was written directly to the student in an effort to be user friendly. It covers all aspects of drawing from basic skills and formal elements, to introductory figure drawing and advanced concepts of contemporary drawing. It provides students with information about drawing techniques, the function of drawing, and the concepts associated with good drawing.

There are drawing exercises throughout the chapters that reinforce the concepts and techniques the students are studying. Historical profiles of artists are distributed throughout the chapters that discuss an artist's direction, style, and use of drawing. Examples of student drawing as well as fresh and new images different from the currently available drawing books are used.

Drawing as Expression: Techniques and Concepts is about thinking through drawing, to create a visual language from critical thinking skills, intuition, and technical knowledge.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The title Drawing as Expression directly refers to both the tradition of drawing prior to 1900 and the change in the direction that drawing has undertaken since the beginning of the twentieth century. Drawing has changed even more dramatically since 1940, when the possibilities of drawing expanded across media and disciplines. But in addition to discussing this historical division, Drawing as Expression is about thinking through drawing. Through drawing we express our ideas, create a visual language, a narrative, and use critical thinking skills in addition to our intuition. Drawing is equally a function of the left brain—structure and logic—and the right brain—chaos, deconstruction, and dreams.

The book is addressed directly to the student and designed to be user-friendly. It was not intended to cover only what an instructor might complete in one term or one semester. It covers all aspects of drawing to help professors with instruction from basic skills to the figure, and concepts. It can be used in many ways. If instructors want students to gain more knowledge about an aspect of drawing that they can only touch on with a couple of lessons in class, they can assign the students to read a few pages of the book. This will reinforce their teaching and increase the students' understanding of the material. The book is not written sequentially. Instructors may use any chapter in any order they prefer. Instructors may also use any amount of the chapter that fits their curriculum. Students can use the book as a resource to look up what the instructor is teaching or to better understand the concepts and techniques of drawing. The book was written with a running glossary. The vocabulary of art is defined as it is used in the text. Some words are defined two or three times because the chapters may not be read in order. Therefore, a student may encounter the word "chiaroscuro" first in Chapter 5, The Formal Elements: Value, and again in a later chapter.

The book was designed to provide instruction on many levels. It provides students information about drawing techniques, the function of drawing, and the concepts associated with good drawing. Drawing exercises are placed throughout the chapters providing students lessons to reinforce the concepts and techniques they are studying. Chapters 3 through 12 of the book cover the basic skills from the tradition of drawing. Historical profiles of artists are distributed through the chapters in which the profiled artist's direction, style, and use of drawing are discussed. Chapter 1 is a brief overview of the history of drawing to orient the students from the beginning of drawing through the changes in its purpose and function. Chapter 2 covers the various drawing media defining them in depth to help students understand the different characteristics of the tools of drawing.

I have tried to keep the writing in the book direct, factual, and short, neither flowery nor ambiguous. I have used quite a few student examples of drawing that I hope will relate to the students and provide them a window into the process of drawing. These student drawings were made in a Drawing I course. There are many new examples of drawing by professional artists. An effort was made to locate fresh, new images different from those available in other drawing books. In addition I have written an in-depth discussion of certain drawing processes, such as hatching and crosshatching, the process of drawing drapery, and foreshortening. Professional and student drawings are analyzed in the book to explain drawing concepts such as the picture plane, the importance of value, and the qualities of line. Drawing Exercises generally follow the discussions about the drawings in the book to give students an experience in dealing with the concepts that were discussed. I have expanded the discussion of contemporary art into installation and performance. Chapter 13, Modern to Contemporary Drawing, is a discussion of the changes in drawing and thinking in the arts from Paul Cezanne to Jonathon Borofsky. It is the type of chapter that instructors might use in a concepts of drawing course.

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0130893137
• ISBN 13: 9780130893130
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304