Drawing from Life

The leading textbook for college figure-drawing classes, DRAWING FROM LIFE provides a clear, comprehensive, and thought-provoking guide to drawing the human form for anyone interested in exploring this time-honored artistic tradition. For centuries, drawing the human figure has given artists the tools and vocabulary for creating paintings, sculpture, drawings, or prints-from Renaissance classical to contemporary expression. In addition to working from the model, the figure-drawing student needs instruction in anatomy, history, and conceptual approaches to drawing the human form; such instruction is often missing from life drawing classes due to time constraints. DRAWING FROM LIFE offers these elements, along with a tremendous selection of drawings that represent the broad range of approaches, techniques, and media for drawing from life. The chapters follow the natural development of a student's growth, from fundamental sketching and gesture drawing to creative expression and exploration. An entire chapter on drawing the figure in perspective offers information that is not available in comparable textbooks. Students begin with quick sketches and gesture drawings, giving them a non-threatening introduction on a level they can readily understand and master. The cohesive presentation of anatomy, including a chapter on the human head, helps students understand the human structure and its impact on visible form. The final section brings the concepts, vocabulary, and history presented in the earlier chapters to bear on contemporary use of the figure in art.

Intended as a supplement to studio experience, this textbook discusses the major elements of drawing the human figure, updating the material related to figure drawing in contemporary art. Chapters discuss proportions and perspectives, the use of line and value, and the understanding of the human anatomy. Also discussed is the use of the figure in contemporary art and the continuum between compositional and expressive approaches to figure drawing. Many examples of figure drawing from a wide range of artists are included. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Clint Brown is Professor of Art at Oregon State University. He has taught life drawing classes to college students at several institutions for more than thirty years. He also spent a year teaching at Nottingham Trent University in England on a Fulbright exchange. He has exhibited his drawings, paintings, and sculpture in a variety of media, but drawing remains his first and abiding love.

Cheryl McLean is a writer and editor with more than twenty years' experience in art and literary publishing. She has served on the art and editorial boards of CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, since 1979, and she has taught at Western Oregon University. Currently, Cheryl runs ImPrint Services, an editing and design firm in Corvallis, Oregon, and is the publisher of Jackson Creek Press.