Viewing drawing as a unique art form, this book was deigned to simplify and clarify the instruction of drawing for beginning learners in a manner that allows for specificity in instrumentation and concept. It discusses drawing as an underlying structural principle in relation to other art forms, with its own particular language rooted in direct tactile experience of media and the analytical investigation of the visible. Readers will gain an understanding of the basic workings of drawing by finding connections between natural visual phenomena and the more abstract principles of design and pictorial construction.
Explaining vision, perception, and right-brain hemisphere theory in a clear style, this book brings together art and science in a way that readers can use to increase their visual perception and draw more sensitively and creatively. Illustrated.
A Harvard neurobiologist explains how vision works, citing the scientific origins of artistic genius and providing coverage of such topics as optical illusions and the correlation between learning disabilities and artistic skill.
Heralded as a revolutionary right-brain approach to figure drawing, this guide focuses on mentality rather than technique. More than 180 black-and-white drawings and eight pages of color illustrations.
In the New York Times Michael Kimmelman called them "sleek, whimsical contraptions in a modernist mode"; the Basler Zeitung termed them "net-like structures . . . like hedgehogs or serpents." The kinetic sculptures of Tim Prentice create a novel geometry of air and light. Concentrating on movement rather than object, Prentice harnesses natural elements into his art machines-delicate structures that walk the tightrope between order and chaos, control and serendipity, understated technique and extravagant wonder. Prentice purposely circumscribes the artist's prerogatives, distilling the power of wind and sun into an ever-changing dance of light and shadow. These understated, subtle inventions provide endless distraction, delighting the child in all of us. Drawing on Air offers a many-sided vision of the kinetic sculptor and his works. An essay by Nicholas Fox Weber introduces the artist and his work, while a chapter on "Mechanics" explains some of the physical principles underlying Prentice's whimsical sculptures. Photographs of works-in-progress, principal public commissions as well as occasional pieces created for casual amusement are punctuated by the artist's mordant, sometimes mischievous comments. "Prentice's sculptures . . .are about fluid movement and change, reminding us that everything is in flux. . . . Wonders of engineering, they create evanescent drawings in thin air." -Michael Amy, Art in America "What is grand in these sculptures is the sense of immensity created by their movements, a sense resonant with our most pleasurable apprehensions of land, sea, and sky." -Elaine Bleakney, Sculpture "These refined sculptures are never ponderous, plump or boring but constantly and slowly transforming themselves as though imbued by perpetuum mobile." -Karen Gerig, Basler Zeitung Experiencing Tim Prentice's work is like taking a ride on a roller coaster" -Catalog of the Connecticut Biennial
The Creative Eye - vision, drawing and the brain is a textbook for the next generation of visual artists about How To Draw - the very act of drawing and the act of human sight. This book takes the teaching tradition of the previous 80 years and hauls it into the 21st century. It provides a masterclass of research and practical examples for students, instructors, professional artists, life drawing classes, and any reader curious about creativity. The Creative Eye closely examines the act of drawing, the act of human vision, includiong depth vision, not just "seeing flat" as is taught by recent how-to-draw manuals. How do the eyes really see? The Creative Eye accesses new research explaining what goes on in the hard-working visual brain - even what hinders us as we try to draw. Spears' method, developed over nearly half a century of international teaching, obsessive drawing and more than 20 books published, began as studio experiments and emerged as unique exercises in drawing. The book uses hundreds of illustrations of her own and student work, research on visual perception, and quotes and anecdotes of artists and poets. Heather persuades, informs and stimulates both the student and professional artist, injecting the fun and enthusiasm of the classroom into this new and amazing work. The Creative Eye stands highly praised, a modern classic in the theory and practice of drawing.
This revelatory study of Georges Seurat (1859–1891) explores the artist’s profound interest in theories of visual perception and analyzes how they influenced his celebrated seascape, urban, and suburban scenes. While Seurat is known for his innovative use of color theory to develop his pointillist technique, this book is the first to underscore the centrality of diverse ideas about vision to his seascapes, figural paintings, and drawings. Michelle Foa highlights the importance of the scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, whose work on the physiology of vision directly shaped the artist’s approach. Foa contends that Seurat’s body of work constitutes a far-reaching investigation into various modes of visual engagement with the world and into the different states of mind that visual experiences can produce. Foa’s analysis also brings to light Seurat’s sustained exploration of long-standing and new forms of illusionism in art. Beautifully illustrated with more than 140 paintings and drawings, this book serves as an essential reference on Seurat.
