Harold Speed – författare

Stimulating, informative guide by noted teacher covers painting technique, painting from life, materials — paints, varnishes, oils and mediums, grounds, etc. — a painter's training, more. Speed also provides expert analysis of works by Velasquez, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hals, Rembrandt, and others. 64 photos. 5 line drawings.

Whether you're a trained artist or have never even picked up a pencil, this is the only sketchbook you need!Master artists George Bridgman and Harold Speed take you on a guided journey from the fundamental principles of human movement to capturing the dynamism of the human form. With a combination of inspirational images and drawing space, as well as tried and proven instruction on the best way to recreate the human body, your skills will grow and expand. Master balance, rhythm, and the interplay of body parts as you learn to capture the figure in action, and learn about line and mass, composition, proportion, and the nuances of anatomy, from the head to the feet.This book is perfect for anyone looking to improve their figure-drawing skills. With lay-flat binding and compact size, this 2-in-1 guide makes it easy to take it wherever you go, so you'll always have a valuable resource on hand whenever inspiration strikes!

This classic approach to the dynamics of drawing by a brilliant teacher is filled with insights and practical advice on line drawing, mass drawing, visual memory, materials, and much more. Throughout, the author offers historical backgrounds and specific exercises. 84 plates and diagrams reinforce Speed's clear presentation.

Permit me in the first place to anticipate the disappointment of any student who opens this book with the idea of finding "wrinkles" on how to draw faces, trees, clouds, or what not, short cuts to excellence in drawing, or any of the tricks so popular with the drawing masters of our grandmothers and still dearly loved by a large number of people. No good can come of such methods, for there are no short cuts to excellence. But help of a very practical kind it is the aim of the following pages to give; although it may be necessary to make a greater call upon the intelligence of the student than these Victorian methods attempted.

It was not until some time after having passed through the course of training in two of our chief schools of art that the author got any idea of what drawing really meant. What was taught was the faithful copying of a series of objects, beginning with the simplest forms, such as cubes, cones, cylinders, &c. (an excellent system to begin with at present in danger of some neglect), after which more complicated objects in plaster of Paris were attempted, and finally copies of the human head and figure posed in suspended animation and supported by blocks, &c. In so far as this was accurately done, all this mechanical training of eye and hand was excellent; but it was not enough. And when with an eye trained to the closest mechanical viaccuracy the author visited the galleries of the Continent and studied the drawings of the old masters, it soon became apparent that either his or their ideas of drawing were all wrong. Very few drawings could be found sufficiently "e;like the model"e; to obtain the prize at either of the great schools he had attended. Luckily there was just enough modesty left for him to realise that possibly they were in some mysterious way right and his own training.