Anatomy reference for thi expenimieci artist Comprehensive, easy-to-ffii| 28 full-color reprodtfetlons 120 black-and-white drawir i tioHN eRIilli (V I — §'- THE BASIC HANDBOOK OF FIGURE DRAWING Students, professional artists, Sunday painters here is the definitive book on the basic principles and techniques of fine figure drawing. John R. Grabach, the author and illus- trator, has taught life drawing, figure and landscape painting for twenty years at The School of Industrial and Fine Arts in Newark, New Jersey. Henry Gasser, who wrote the Introduc- How tion, is the author of the successful to Draw and Paint, recently published by Dell (#FE54). / HOW TO DRAW HUMAN THE FIGURE JOHN GRABACH by R. with an Introduction by HENRY GASSER Published by DELL PUBLISHING CO., INC. 750 Third Avenue New York 17, N.Y. © Copyright, 1957, by John R. Grabach Laurel © TM 674623, Dell Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved Photographs by Jackson O'Sullivan The author acknowledges the assistance of Stephen Haff. GWYNNE LENNON Dedicated to: — First printing —August, 1958 Second printin—g November, 1958 Third printing —August, 1959 Fourth printing March, 1963 B-383 Printed in U.S.A. INTRODUCTION It was my good fortune to have had John Grabach as my teacher. Years later, our happy association was renewed when I became Director of the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts where Grabach was the head of the Draw- ing Department. During his twenty-five years on the faculty he has taught drawing and painting to more than four thou- A sand students. superb draftsman, he possess—es also that priceless attribute of every really good teacher the ability to inspire his students. Today, when "isms" flourish and drawing is often con- sidered secondary, Grabach is a reassuring landmark to stu- dents seeking a meaningful path in the multi-directional world of art. He stresses the fact that time spent in drawing the living figure is never lost. In this book he sets forth his sound principles of good drawing, constantly emphasizing the importance of the search for the key line. It is the knowl- edge of this line in the drawing of the figure, he points out, that gives a vigorous strength to the structure of the drawing. The key line may be straight, convex, or triangular. A line that may appear to be concave will be visualized by the art- ist as though it were composed of a number of convex or straight lines. Throughout the book, Grabach analyzes each drawing to show the key-line foundation. Once this is determined, the realization of the volumes that create the form follows, al- ways looking for the big masses or shapes. Only when all this has been put on paper are the details added. While the student should not limit himself to one medium, charcoal is the most versatile of these. It is particularly adapted to making drawings with tonal qualities ranging from the palest gray to the most velvet of blacks. Charcoal is unsurpassed for preliminary sketches and studies for sub- sequent paintings. If the student has acquired a slovenly manner of work- ing, slurring over diflficult passages, Grabach recommends drawing with a lead pencil of not too soft a quality as a means of acquiring discipline. His chapter on silver point and pencil drawing gives an excellent approach to this medium. Generous space is given to anatomy from the artistic point of view, and to the drawing of drapery. Too frequently this latter subject has been neglected. The influence of the un- derlying figure on the drapery is shown with excellent ren- derings, again employing the key line in determining the folds of various materials. The section on painting is presented in color and shows step-by-step guidance from the painting of simple mono- chromatic studies to the use of full color. With a bare minimum of text (a gratifying accomplish- ment for any artist) Grabach has created a book that I am confident will be of inestimable assistance to those who are seriously interested in improving their mastery of drawing and painting. Henry M. Gasser, N.A. THE ART OF DRAWING FROM THE FIGURE Art is to be found in all objects, the ordinary and unpleas- We ant as well as the strange and the beautiful. consider the rose a thing of beauty, but not the toad; yet the toad has in its appearance —potentialities for artistic invention as much as has the rose perhaps more, because it is less static. Art is the artist's expression of delight in what he sees, and his attempt to communicate that feeling to others. As a means of expression it is infinitely varied. The student may express his art in any number of styles, and still work within the realm of today's art. Differing states of the public mind lead to the emphasis of different styles of art at various periods, but there is no era, except one of utter decay, in which sound draftsman- ship will not be recognized. Because representation of the human figure is the most difficult of all drawing, the artist who can draw figures well is necessarily more skilled than those who do other subjects. vf Accurate drawing is not copying the model, as if one were a photographer. Mechanical copying of a figure is rigid, satisfying neither the artist nor the observer. Instead, one should draw freely, with enthusiasm, exercising the facul- ties of interpretation and expression. The superior drafts- man is never indifferent to his subject. Development of his ability to express and interpret will continually give him greater power. In working from the figure, the artist must be in the main a realist. Though outward understanding of appear- ances cannot be his only goal, he still must be able to render those appearances, to express their substance, to represent softness and hardness, lines and masses, design, and the in- terrelationship of the whole. The best progress in drawing the figure can be made by use of the living model; no other subject yields as much practical experience. Drawing from the living model will develop force in handling, enlarge one's capacity for in- terpretation, and continually add to one's knowledge of the figure. From the living model one can get the most highly idealized of all artistic expressions. Drawing can be a vast and many-sided performance or a shallow affair, depending on how much the artist sees in the figure and how well he can express it. The true drafts- man applies all his will and energy to the work, concen- trating his entire attention on the subject and seeking to express everything that can be represented. His precise and accurate rendering must express through line, form and rhythm the variety of tones created by light and shade, vol- ume, substance and texture, and must translate color values into black and white. More, the true draftsman will seek to express the inner meaning, the very soul of the subject. Line, form and rhythm are all of vital importance, and their handling is an essential part of what this book endeav- ors to impart. How much can be expressed in the simple line is shown by the figures ornamenting the best Greek vases. Delineation, that is, representation through the use of the simple line, differs absolutely from the method used by the masters of the Renaissance. The Renaissance masters used the most rapid means of expression, indicating shading by sure but rude means, a few hasty strokes of charcoal or crayon. They caught the form, but paid no attention to the outline that is so essential in delineation. Rhythm is produced by the interplay of fast and slow lines, stiff and flowing lines, strong and weak lines, and of A forms, all in proper relationship to the subject. straight line is fast, while a helical line, resembling a coiled spring, is slow. The more one stretches out the spring the faster the line; the more closely it is coiled the slower the line. This is because the eye moves faster over a straight line than over a curved one, and the more complex the curvature the