Master all the art techniques you need to produce a quality sketch drawing. Simple, fuss-free methods of sketching are accompanied with step-by-step illustrations, thorough explanations and great techniques. Suitable for all artists at all levels.

Master all the art techniques needed to produce quality sketches. Simple, fuss-free methods of sketching are accompanied by step-by-step illustrations, thorough explanations and tips from experts. Suitable for artists at all levels, Sketching Masterclass will help improve and enhance sketching skills used in various arts and design fields, including architecture, interior design, industrial design, graphic design, multimedia and the applied arts. Fully illustrated

Easy to follow instructions and step-by-step illustrations provide readers with fuss-free methods for creating quality sketches.

Gorgeously illustrated and practical, this guide to the art of drawing employs a close analysis of great works to reveal techniques and lessons that will help practitioners at every level. The art of drawing is an essential skill for any artist. This beautifully produced book uses 100 great works on paper as its lessons. Each spread features a reproduction of one work, and offers invaluable lessons about the approaches and techniques the artist used. Organized into chapters on nudes, figures, landscapes, still life, heads, fantasy, and abstraction, the book breaks down the featured works in different ways. For instance it explores how differences in tone and shadow bring life to a standing figure and how many different weights of line can be achieved with one crayon. In addition, readers can learn from the artist’s own words in quotations drawn from interviews and archival materials. There is no better way to learn a skill than from the masters. Beginning and experienced artists can learn from masters as diverse as Kandinsky, Rubens, Monet, da Vinci, Basquiat, Beckman, and Miro, while professionals in the field will find great value in side-by-side comparisons of works from different genres and eras.

"This unique book invites you to study and learn the art of drawing as a student of Ron Bowen's Drawing Masterclass. An animated and informative discussion of drawing - its masters and masterpieces, basic techniques and innovative methods - this volume is, most important, a series of lessons with the aim of allowing each one of us to discover and utilize our innate ability to draw. Drawing Masterclass will take its place as a classic work of art instruction, theory, and history, teaching its readers to draw by revealing the many and varied levels at which drawing works." "Ron Bowen believes that everyone can draw. The difficulties in drawing arise not from a lack of technique or coordination, but rather from untrained perception, an inability to "see" as the art requires. For this volume, Bowen re-creates the approach he uses in his classes at The Slade School of Fine Art: guiding by example rather than dictating a method, revealing possibilities and options rather than circumscribing technique and style." "Drawing Masterclass draws on and explains the work of scientists, linguists, philosophers, and psychologists but never loses sight of the magic of drawing and how to create it yourself. Each chapter centers on one element of drawing and builds to a "game" in which the reader participates in visual experiments that grow incrementally in complexity - from drawing an object or your own face, to constructing a space, changing light sources, elaborating and reducing form, and using methods of measurement and perspective. Each game is a step toward discovering the skill to draw freely, spontaneously, and effectively." "Drawing Masterclass contains many of the world's greatest and most interesting drawings. Here are works not only by the finest artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Durer, Rembrandt, Picasso, Matisse, and O'Keeffe, but also drawing in its more popular form - images of Spider-Man, a tattooed woman, and sketches made by the Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. Each drawing is relevant to the text, revealing the full range of drawing technique and method, illustrating Bowen's lessons about line, tone, light, size, distance, movement, and space, as well as providing an excellent historical overview of fine drawing." "Paper, a pencil, a mirror, and an open mind are the only tools you need to follow this practical and challenging guide."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Like having 100 of the world’s greatest painters at your side, giving you their own personal tips and advice – Painting Masterclass examines 100 paintings from art history: the way they were made, what they do well, and how and what we can learn from them. Throughout the history of painting, one of the best ways in which many great painters have developed their own personal approaches has been by copying other artists’ work. Learning from great artists helps to encourage a discerning eye, as well as an understanding of colour, materials and perspective, and can inspire further innovation. With the detailed analyses and instructive creative tips sections in this book, you can learn how to convey movement like Degas, apply acrylic like Twombly, and command colour like Matisse. With paintings comprising a broad variety of styles, approaches and materials, the book studies the techniques of many of the greatest painters who have worked across the globe from the 15th to the 21st centuries, using watercolour, gouache, tempera, fresco, oils, encaustic and mixed media, including: Titian, Francisco Goya, Gustave Courbet, Georges Seurat, Edvard Munch, Paul Gauguin, Gustav Klimt, Amedeo Modigliani, Jenny Saville, Caravaggio, Egon Schiele, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Paul Klee, Claude Monet, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Leonardo da Vinci, Marlene Dumas, Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Marc Chagall, Sandro Botticelli and Jackson Pollock. Perfect for students as well as professional painters, and with a broad historical and global reach, this book is an indispensable introduction to the rich history and practice of painting. Organized by genre: nudes, figures, landscapes, still lifes, heads, fantasy, and abstraction. Includes practical tips and advice, allowing you to weave some of the great artists’ magic into your own work. Selected masterpieces serve as perfect examples of a particular quality in painting: light and shade, rhythm, form, space, contour, and composition are all covered in detail. Explores each artist’s creative vision, describing how they made the artwork. Use it as a guide, a confidence-booster, a workbook, a companion – or simply admire the paintings!

The author brings his skills and expertise to each project, constructing useful and enjoyable exercises to help every artist achieve their goal. The book comes complete with an instructional DVD.