Look! Drawing the Line in Art - Hardcover

Wolfe, Gillian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845078241 ISBN 13: 9781845078249

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2008

Synopsis

How a line is drawn is often the first lesson a child learns about drawing. But how have the world’s great artists used lines to represent emotions, actions, or important issues? In this entertaining and educational book, award-winning art historian and children’s author Gillian Wolfe explores paintings with disappearing lines, hidden lines, solid lines, facial lines, and many other lines. Questions within the text encourage readers to examine each work more closely and to think about the artist’s techniques and intentions. The paintings represent a wide range of periods and cultures and include works by Picasso, Winslow Homer, Bernard Perlin, and Vincent van Gogh.

About this title

About the Author

Gillian Wolfe CBE is Director of Learning and Public Affairs at Dulwich Picture Gallery, one of the most renowned private collections in the UK. She also works as a freelance consultant, and has lectured all over the world. Her previous art books for children include My First Art Book, winner of the Parent Choice Silver Honour Award, USA; and Art Activity Book and Children's Art Book, both winners of the Gulbenkian Prize for Best Museum Publications of the Year. Her titles with Frances Lincoln include Look! Zoom in on Art, which won the English Association's Award for the best children's non-fiction book, Look! Body Language in Art, Look! Seeing the Light in Art and Look! Drawing the Line in Art. In 1995, Gillian was awarded an MBE and in 2005 the CBE for services to Arts Education. She lives in South London.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3—5—Look! lies somewhere in between Bob Raczka's No One Saw (Millbrook, 2002) and Antony Mason's A History of Western Art (Abrams, 2007). Each spread introduces a different technique, such as "strong lines" and "leafy lines" and shows a work of fine art demonstrating it, reproduced with clarity and in full color. Occasionally, the text defines artistic techniques, such as perspective and shading. Each spread has kid-friendly ideas for making one's own creations; the suggestions range from simple (breathing on a windowpane and drawing a line with your finger) to intricate (designing a bridge). There is a wide range of dates for the art featured, beginning in the 1600s and ending in 2003. The text describes how each piece was created and includes some anecdotal stories about the artist and the work. However, it can be puzzling: for instance, in a scene depicting Jesus praying while Judas and his soldiers advance to arrest him, the first line of text reads, "What an astonishing landscape!" Ultimately, however, this is an accessible introduction to art history. A concluding section gives a bit more information about the artist next to a small reproduction of the featured art.—Laura Lutz, Queens Borough Public Library, NY
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About this edition

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1845078241
• ISBN 13: 9781845078249
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 48