Without shading, even a beautiful drawing can appear flat. But artists can learn to add dimension to their work with these techniques, illustrations, and exercises that show how to achieve effects with light and shadow.

“Form,” writes the author, “is developed by means of light and shade; without these every object would appear flat.” Originally published in the mid-nineteenth century, this classic approach to three-dimensional drawing was the first book to provide art students with instructions for correctly illustrating perspective outlines of various objects. An art historian noted for her authoritative reference works, Merrifield clearly demonstrates the principles of light and shade by revealing the effects of common daylight, sunshine, and candle or artificial light on geometrical solids. Her simple explanations are accompanied by illustrations of cubes, prisms, pyramids, cylinders, spheres, ovals, and cones. As useful and practical today as it was when first published well over a century ago, Light and Shade provides beginning and advanced art students with valuable insights into effective drawing and sketching.

It takes the proper infusion of light and shade to accurately represent an object's solidity and character. With this time-honored guide, artists will easily develop a keener, more educated eye for introducing shadow, light, gradation, and reflection to drawings. This insightful study begins with fascinating artistic experiments and exercises, moving on to illuminating advice on how to deepen volume, evoke sunlight, and create mood. Various shapes such as pyramids, cones, spheres, and vases each necessitate different shading techniques, and are all expertly described in a wonderfully instructive tone and eighty-seven skillful illustrations. Thorough guidance on materials and how they should be manipulated to achieve specific effects is also included in this concise and enlightening resource for artists of all levels.

Intermediate and advanced art students receive a broad vocabulary of effects with this in-depth study of light. Diagrams and paintings illustrate applications of principles to figure, still life, and landscape paintings.

DIVConcisely written text accompanied by more than 150 simply drawn illustrations together demonstrate vanishing points and eye level and explain such concepts as appearance versus reality and perspective distortion. /div