0 J. fi I II •sjuspnjs JJE snouas joj 3Sjno3 WE snouas E si J.3iiny Suimo-iQ /vjtssv/3 'Suutdsui puE snbiuQ -sand UMO -ipi{J JE 5JJOAV OJ UI31JJ §UlAiO[JE J3X 3A.H13 §U1UJE3J 3qj qSnOJlJJ dsjs Xq dajs sjuapnjs SupjEj 'SuuuiEd pus SuiMEjp jsipaj jo sajdpuud 3ijj ij3E3} puE ajEjjsuoiuap oj sjspjE JSIJE3J p3J33ds3J JSOIU S^ n{j sasn sapijsuy '3§Ed uoijEDnps jaipjE UE jo jnoj B si j.3ijiiySuim,ej.Q jvousvj[) •Suijured oj ssajSojd oj 3]qE 3JE sjuapnjs 'dopA3p SJIPJS SulAVEJp Jpm Sy "SISpOUI 3AIJ U1OJJ sSuiMEJp JIEJJJod puE 3.inSg qjoq Sup^EUi X[]EUIJ puE 'ssjnidjnDS jEDisssp JO SJSED UIOJJ SupJJOM U31JJ 'SJ3JSEUI JE3UOJSIIJ Xq S5]JOAV jEUOisusiuip-OAU SuiXdoa Xq uiSsq sjuspmg -sjEaX jo pousd E J3AO JSIJJB J3JSEUI E qjiM ui3qj Suuied Xq SJSIJJE Suiq3E3J JO ppOUI XjnjU33-lJ}U3313UIU 3qj UO p3SEq 3JE 'SuiUIEJJ JJE JE3ISSEp OJ UJHJ3J B 'SOIpllJS 3S3qj^ '33UESSIEU3J E §UpU3U3dx3 SI ppoul JBUOIJB3np3 JEqj MOU pUB 3UIIJ [|E jo SJSIJJB jsajEsjS aqj jo XuEui pasnpojd 3ABIJ sjaipjy U3I131V 1VDISSVTD C L A S S I C A L D R A W I N G A T E L I E R A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice J U L I E T T E A R I S T I D E S W A T S O N - G U P T I L L P U B L I C A T I O N S / N E W Y O R K Previous spread: Randolph Melick, Study for Headless Man on Topless Bar, 2001, green 1 3 wax-based pencil on paper, 11 /2 x 8 /s inches, courtesy of Hirschl e? Adler Gallery Copyright © 2006 by Juliette Aristides First published in 2006 by Watson-GuptiU Publications, Nielsen Business Media, a division of The Nielsen Company 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 www. 'watsonguptill. com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Aristides, Juliette. The classical drawing atelier : a contemporary guide to traditional studio practice / by Juliette Aristides. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. iSBN-r;: 978-0-8230-0657-1 (alk. paper) ISBN-io: 0-8230-0657-3 (alk. paper) i. Drawing—Technique, i. Title. NC73O.A68 2006 741.2—dc22 2006006985 Executive Editor: Candace Raney Editor: Alison Hagge Editorial Assistant: Maureen Lo Designer: Christopher Cannon and Eric Baker, Eric Baker Design Associates Production Manager: Ellen Greene Every effort has been made to trace the ownership of and to obtain permission to reproduce the material in this book. The author, editors, and publisher sincerely apologize for any inadvertent errors and will be happy to correct them in future editions. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—without written permission of the publisher. Printed in China First Printing, 2006 3 4 5 6 7 8 / 13 12 ii 10 09 08 07 To Constantine Aristides Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who helped make this book possible: thanks to Candace Raney for believing in the merits of this book before there was anything to see; and to Pamela Belyea and Gary Faigin, Director and Artistic Director respectively of the Gage Academy of Art, without whom this project would never have been started. I appreciate the amazing generosity of those who contributed work from private collections, especially Fred and Sherry Ross from Art Renewal Center, and Allan Kollar from A. J. Kollar Fine Paintings. Special thanks to Dino Aristides for your mathematical expertise applied in chapter two. Much gratitude goes to Al and Kathy Lopus for being the patron saints of art, in word and deed. I greatly appreciate gallery contributors: Ramon Frey from Frey Norris Gallery; Dr. Gregory Hedberg, Director of the Department of European Art at Hirschl 8c Adler Galleries; Steven Diamant, Director of Arcadia Gallery; and Nicola Lorenz from Forum Gallery. Thank you to all the models who spent many long hours posing and to the students, photographers, and professional artists who contributed such beautiful work to this book. Special thanks to D. Jeffrey Mims, who provided so much encouragement. Much appreciation goes to Mark D. Mitchell, Assistant Curator of Nineteenth-Century Art at the National Academy Museum. This project could not have been completed without the help of my editors. Many thanks to Sarah Campbell, Sarah Jardine, and Alison Hagge for your valuable insights. I am very grateful to design diva Susan Bari Price for your labor of love in providing tireless assistance on many aspects of this project. Thanks to Carol Hendricks, the Gage Academy resident art historian and friend, for your help with art historical references. Also many thanks to Roy Zuniga for all the Saturdays you spent designing the diagrams, done only for the love of art. Finally, deepest thanks to my teachers to whom I am forever grateful, especially Myron Barnstone, Carlos Madrid, Jacob Collins, and Steven Assael. C O N T E N T S IX Preface xi Introduction PART ONE: WELCOME TO THE ATELIER PART THREE: TIMELESS SUBJECTS i CHAPTER ONE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 79 CH A P T E R S IX : MASTER COPY D R A W I N G Artistic Training in the Twenty-First Century Learning from the Past 85 CHAPTER S E V E N : CAST D RAWING Lessons from Master Sculptors PART TWO: TIMELESS PRINCIPLES 91 C H A P T E R EIGHT: F I G U R E D R A W I N G 19 CHAPTER TWO: DESIGN Man as the Measure Nature and the Golden Ratio 105 C H A P T E R NINE: P O R T R A I T D R A W I N G 31 CHAPTER T H R E E : LINE Window to the Soul Two-Dimensional Dynamics 53 C H A P T E R FOUR: V A L U E The World in Black and White PART FOUR: PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 67 C H A P T E R F I V E : FORM 121 C H A P T E R TEN: A T E L I E R D I S C I P L I N E S The Third Dimension Finite Principles, Infinite Applications 124 LESSON ONE: S P H E R E D R A W I N G 126 L E S S O N TWO! M A S T E R COPY D R A W I N G 130 L E S S O N T H R E E : CAST D R A W I N G 134 LESSON FOUR: REDUCTIVE F IGURE DRAWING 138 LES S O N F I V E : P O R T R A I T D R A W I N G 142 Appendix 143 Bibliography 144 Index P R E F A C E Drawing is an act of the will. Anyone can learn to draw. It is a matter of Opposite: Edgar Degas, Study for the Semiramis, late nineteenth century, gouache acquiring a series of finite skills that then have infinite applications. Once these on blue paper, with watercolor highlights, skills have been mastered they can then be applied in any way the artist envisions. iiVsx 85/s inches, Louvre, Paris, France The difficulty often lies not in learning the skills themselves, but in actually Photo Credit: Reunion des Musees Nationaux / applying them. A certain level of competence in drawing can be acquired by Art Resource, NY those diligent enough to pursue it. Anyone can learn to draw, but it takes both skill and talent to do it well. Previous Spread: Matthew Grabelsky, cast Daniel Parkhurst, author and student of the academic painter William drawing of Orfeo Boselli's Son Benedetto, 2004, charcoal on paper, 24 x 14 inches, courtesy of Bouguereau, wrote that "talent is just another name for the love of a thing." the Angel Academy of Art This love gives a person the desire to pursue an objective in spite of obstacles that arise and provides him or her with the stamina necessary for extended study. Just as not every piano student will become a professional pianist, most students of drawing will not become professional artists. However, art affords pleasure to all who study it and increases each student's ability to appreciate the art created by others. The world, both physical and emotional, provides an infinite resource for the artist to reference. In addition, each person born is distinctive in personality and circumstance. These factors combine to create a unique internal landscape, allowing each artist to bring his own singular vantage point to the work. The work of all good artists reveals some aspect of the world that was closed to us before or creates a meeting place where we can identify a kindred spirit. The artist's vision shows us a different world by allowing us to see through their eyes for a brief moment as their distinctive and particular vantage point reflects their view of the whole. The principles discussed in this book form the building blocks of art that, through the artist's vision, can be applied with unlimited variety. The face has just a few essential features—eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—that are applied in the human physiognomy with so much variety that we never see the same face twice. So too in art, there are principles that form the foundation of every successful work of art that have been applied and will continue to be applied with a breadth of variety to rival that found in the human race. Mastering the basic principles of art does not limit expression, distinctiveness, or personal freedom in our work. Rather, it strengthens these qualities by giving them structure.