240 pages | Mariner Books | English | ISBN-10: 0395530075 | PDF | 44 MB
Great for the beginner and the expert, this book offers readers exercises to improve their work.
work it takes to start learning. In Mr. Nikolaides’ words: “The job of the teacher,… is to teach students, not how to draw, how to learn to draw.”
The exersises are of the “artistic” kind. It is nothing like the outlines and negative shapes one see in other books, what little mention there is about materials is almost obsolete; what matters is communication. The term “gesture” is used extensively throughout the book: “You should draw, not what the thing looks like, not even what it is, but what it is /doing/” (p. 15).
Later, the student is asked to draw “weigt”, i.e. to convey in a similar way, onto paper how heavy an object is. After that, the student is asked to try to capture poses of people he or she sees in streets, malls etc.
All such concepts are enforced in terms of exercises. There is large variation between long exercises, lasting for hours, and short ones, where the student is expected to make one drawing per minute for half an hour.
To me, the value of this book is in the exercises. The text only motivates, explains what should be achieved by the exercise. The exercises are also described by text, so they are demanding in that the student needs to think through what is expected, in a different way than if the ecersise was illustrated in terms of demonstrations and images. To me, this adds to the value of the book. I liked the many, short exercises wery well. For several years I have carried a small drawing pad and a couple of pencils with me, wherever I went. Mr. Nicolaides has shown me what to look for, what to try to get on the paper, when I sit at airports and cafes, and scribble away.
The highly motivated student will find this book indispensable.
PLZ SEED
SHARING IS CARING
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup
