The Practice and Science of Drawing

Among artists in the classical art world we call it “the Bible” of drawing. It is excellent for teaching classical art principles in drawing. I refer to it frequently and have to rebuy it occasionally because the book gets beaten up. I am sharing this with my granddaughter who is an excellent artist and could used further information.

I'm glad I bought this book. Very clear and understandable instructions, a "must-have" in my opinion!

Harold Speed's book lets us know that he got the full classical training artists need, only to proceed that he feels we don’t need it. He hints at proper tools of the trade, but replacing solid wood frames with flimsy cardboard that would bend in the wind.Essentially he has access to everything, but refuses to give us the same education he got. And his chapter on tools of the trade won’t introduce something as simple as a flexible ruler to you, even though these do exist and will come in handy when portraying realistic subjects in fine detail like in Hooke’s "Micrographia."He tries to write full sentences, but fails miserably at putting together a cohesive story, even in a single line of prose. He simply has no command of the English language in terms of writing long sentences. They don’t flow naturally and leave the reader questioning what it is exactly that he means.To make matters worse, his book really focuses on trying to provide a philosophical view of what art is, and tries to convince us that we don’t need all of the tools of the trade and should rely on some kind of innate feel alone. He supposedly doesn’t value the education he got the least.In practice, people like Harold Speed always feel that it isn’t fair that other people can do this, because they don’t see it. Then they get their education and instead of providing the education they got for free like the rest of us do, he’s now actually the one turning everything into a trade secret.Any treatise on the arts should be short, to the point, and clear. It should provide you with the basic techniques and considerations in single lines of prose. Instead Harold Speed only hints at everything, the only benefit being that he does reference the books that you should read, like perhaps Leonardo da Vinci’s “Treatise On Painting.”Leonardo da Vinci was not just an artist, but also a scientist, and this seems to be key in the art of instruction: the fact that you not only search for knowledge, but you do so to distribute it to others to make life and living easier and more enjoyable.

Excelente obra

Po stu latach, ten podręcznik jest nadal aktualny, świetnie uczy nie tylko samej techniki, lecz przede wszystkim patrzenia okiem rysownika. Szkoda, że nigdy nie przetłumaczony na j. polski. Lektura obowiązkowa dla wszystkich pragnących zostać rysownikami i malarzami.