Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner, Revised: 15th Anniversary Edition

✍ Scribed by Claire Watson Garcia

• Publisher: Watson-Guptill
• Year: 2018
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 456
• Edition: Revised
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This revised 15th anniversary edition of the bestselling beginning drawing book updates art and text examples to include new student pieces, up-to-date materials, and additional sections on drawing in 3D and travel sketching, along with refreshed and contemporary design.

Based on author and art instructor Claire Watson Garcia's successful courses and workshops for beginning and aspiring artists, Drawing for the Absolute and Utter Beginner applies a positive, accepting tone to a progressive series of lessons in sketching and rendering. The book's step-by-step methodology and examples of student works from earliest efforts to completed drawings give novices the tools and techniques needed to make competent and eloquent renderings of still lifes, portraits, and more. In this revised edition, Garcia covers such in-demand subject matter as drawing-on-the-go, drawing in three dimensions, and drawing the portrait at a three-quarter view. The reinvigorated art and text ensure that this drawing instruction classic will continue to appeal to new generations of aspiring artists.

✦ Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Contents
Notes on the 15th Anniversary Edition
Introduction: Starting Out
How to Use This Book
Supply List
1. Seeing to Draw
Making the Lines
Exercise: Wire Drawing
Recording Shapes Upside Down
Exercise: Upside-Down Drawing
Seeing as an Artist
2. Turning Lines Into Objects
Contour Drawing: Look Before You Leap
Exercise: Contour Drawing
Problem Solvers
Locating What Works
Your Drawing Experience Now
3. Adding Dimension to Contour Drawings
Value Basics
Exercise: Making Value Scales
Local Values and Shadow Values
Exercise: Pencil Sampler
Identifying Shadows
Exercise: Applying Shadow Values to Your Drawing
Exercise: Adding Local Values to Your Contour Drawing
4. Adding Accuracy
Sketching for Accuracy
Exercise: Sketching Warm-Up
Exercise: Previewing
Exercise: Horizontal and Vertical Lines
Sketching Symmetrical Shapes
Exercise: Circles
Exercise: Level Ellipse
Exercise: Oval
Exercise: Cylinder
Exercise: Bowl
Underdrawings for Symmetrical Objects
Exercise: Bottle
Exercise: Lining Up
Exercise: Relative Size
Exercise: Assessing
Exercise: Drawing Through
Rectangular Subjects: Angles
Exercise: Angles in One-Point Perspective
Exercise: Angles in Two-Point Perspective
Sketching Asymmetrical Objects
Exercise: Asymmetrical Objects
5. Expanding Techniques: Pencil
Extended Value Range: 6B and 6H
Exercise: Pencil Sampler
Lost and Found Edges: Abbreviated Contour Lines
Creating a Pencil Study, Step-By-Step
Problem Solvers
Using Your Small Sketch Pad
6. Expanding Techniques: Wash with Pencil and Pen
Accenting Pencil Drawings with Wash
Exercise: Creating a Wash
Exercise: Wash Sampler
Exercise: Pencil Studies with Wash
Pen Techniques
Exercise: Pen Sampler
Accenting Pen Drawings with Wash
Exercise: Adding Wash to Pen
7. Expanding Techniques: Charcoal
Using Charcoal
Exercise: Charcoal Sampler
Preparing to Make a Charcoal Study
Creating a Charcoal Study, Step by Step
Protecting Your Charcoal Drawing
8. Drawing the Face, Frontal View
Studying the Frontal Face
Exercise: Start with Your Own Face
Drawing the Frontal View, Step by Step
Exercise: Stage One: Blocking in Proportions
Exercise: Stage Two, Part One: Developing Features—Underdrawing
Exercise: Stage Two, Part Two: Developing Features—Adding Detail
Exercise: Stage Three: Shaping the Face
Exercise: Stage Four: Adding Dimension
9. Drawing the Face, Profile View
Finding Your Model and Observing the Profile View
Drawing the Profile, Step by Step
Exercise: Stage One: Blocking in Proportions
Exercise: Stage Two: Developing Features
Exercise: Stage Three: Finishing Up
10. Drawing the Face, Three-Quarter View
Studying the Three-Quarter-View Face
Exercise: First Look
Exercise: Your Face in Three-Quarter View
Find Your Model
Drawing the Three-Quarter Face, Step by Step
Exercise: Stage One: Blocking in Proportions
Exercise: Stage Two: Developing the Near Features
Exercise: Stage Three: Developing the Far Features
Exercise: Stage Four: Adding Dimension
11. Expanding Techniques: Conté
Using Conté
Exercise: Conté Sampler
Developing a Conté Drawing
Exercise: Conté Drawing of Fabric
Exercise: Black-And-White Conté Drawing on Gray Paper
12. Still Life
Seeing to Compose
Exercise: Observing Your Gaze
Thumbnails: Your Best Compositional Tool
Exercise: Thumbnails: Charcoal Sketching
Exercise: Making Connections
Still Life Reminders
Creating a Still Life, Step by Step
Exercise: Still Life Preliminary
Additional Strategies for Improvement
When Are You Finished?
Finishing Up: Your Inner Aesthetic
Exercise: Find Yourself in Your Art
Index