I’ve been wanting to read Robert Beverly Hale’s Drawing Lessons From the Great Masters for years. As I finally did, I jotted down a few notes: underlined items are an immediate “to-do” list.
Watteau’s “Nine Studies of Heads,” just one of many drawings I loved in the book.
* see things as cubes, spheres, cylinders, eggs
* contour lines add depth, purpose
* lines separate angular planes where they meet
* heaviness of lines indicates darkness, light
* practice drawing blankets over furniture
* draw transparent ice, cylinders, globes w/ lines around back
* lines disappear at highlight points
* darker shade where interior planes meet
* practice shading and highlights on interior and exterior of objects
* avoid cast shadows—don’t draw what you see
* practice w/ lights from below
* sketch large masses first
* side view: eggs for rib cage and hips
* must practice w/ construction lines—research them, and composition
* think of bones as rods and balls
* “up plane light, down plane dark; front plane light, side plane dark”
* practice reflection and shading on ribbons
* keep your highlight near your dark
I found Hale’s preoccupation with minute details of anatomy in the next-to-last section to be overwhelming–the anxiety of a rookie, I suppose. Still, I absolutely loved this book, both as a practical guide for developing drawing skill, and as a primer in art analysis and appreciation.
