The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head [Paperback]

William Maughan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 1, 2004

In this innovative guide, master art instructor William Maughan demonstrates how to create a realistic human likeness by using the classic and highly accurate modeling technique of chiaroscuro (Italian for “light and dark”) developed by Leonardo da Vinci during the High Renaissance.

Maughan first introduces readers to the basics of this centuries-old technique, showing how to analyze form, light, and shadow; use dark pencil, white pencil, and toned paper to create a full range of values; use the elements of design to enhance a likeness; and capture a sitter’s gestures and proportions. He then demonstrates, step by step, how to draw each facial feature, develop visual awareness, and render the head in color with soft pastels.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Maughan has taught advanced head drawing, head painting, and landscape painting at both the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He lives in Napa, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; First edition (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823003590
• ISBN-13: 978-0823003594
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Themes > Human Figure
  • #6 in Books > Arts & Photography > Drawing > Figure Drawing
  • #9 in Books > Arts & Photography > Study & Teaching

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 104 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, useful book on portrait drawing June 12, 2004

By S. F. Bell

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a previous reviewer has noted, the title of this book is a bit misleading- it's not a "complete" guide to drawing the head. It really has a rather narrow focus: it concentrates on drawing three-quarter view portraits with (if you follow Maugham's instruction precisely) using two particular colors of pastel pencil on shaded drawing paper. In addition to his specific materials and subjects, Maughan concentrates on teaching chiaroscuro (use of light and shadow to depict form) in a "classical realist" style. However, for what the book really does, it does quite well. Keeping a narrow focus in a drawing instruction book is a virtue. Many drawing books (and I have a lot, since I've been trying to teach myself) try to cover far too much. They try to summarize in a page or two each of the different drawing mediums (pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen, etc.) and different elements of drawing (line, tone, etc.) while not giving you enough depth or detail about any one thing to learn much that's useful. Maughan, though, sticks to his central focus, describes the basic principles of chiaroscuro in an understandable manner, breaks down his drawing process into basic steps, and provides more demonstrations and detail than most books of this sort. The best evidence I can give in its favor is that my drawing immediately improved after I read this book and started practicing its techniques (even though I've mostly been using pencil rather pastel, so you don't have to precisely follow Maughan's recommendations).

Overall, it's one of the clearest and most useful drawing instruction books that I've seen. It's not really an ideal book for people just taking the first steps in learning to draw realistic portraits (for absolute beginners I would still recommend Betty Edwards' flawed but effective "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"). It doesn't have much depth on some of the things that beginners need to learn, such as judging proportion. However, it's a good book to use early in your drawing career.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK November 10, 2006

By Schamae ben Yaacov

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

By insisting that a likeness is obtained by concentrating on the shadow shapes and avoiding line, Maughan makes it clear how to make a magical three-dimensional image rather than the typical ideogram obtained with line. It's the difference between drawing two lines down the side of the nose, signifying "nose" and two dark circles signifying "nostrils", and drawing the cast shadow of the nose, its form shadow as it turns into the dark, and adding a high light to have the visual sysem of the viewer construct a nose for itself.

He's clear about the materials (a white and a sanguine Stabilo pastel pencil)--even how to sharpen the pastel pencils -- and suggests a simplified 4-value structure. He points out how important the light is on a head. He can be forgiven the repetition, a section on drawing monsters by combining animal and human heads, and a section on color that should have been left out.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The keys to the castle, all you need to know.... November 24, 2007

By E. Johnson

Format:Paperback

I took classes with William Maughan, several of them in fact and I need to set the record straight. This is the best drawing instruction book I have ever read. It will give you fundamental and instinctive understanding of techniques that can carry over to any medium (that includes oil and pastel and graphite). Your people will never look like aliens again, they will be shockingly realistic (if you want that) or effectively abstracted (if you want that). It's just a shame that Bills humor and approachability doesn't come through in the text, but all the info is there.

In this book you will learn:

An extraordinarily simple and instinctive understanding of how shadows really work. Chiurascuro is a fancy word for how shadow forms are shaped and he'll teach you how to see it and render it. This is the secret to realistic drawing.

How value works. Value is really just how dark or light something is, but there is a logic to it that ties into painting and drawing. You will also draw MUCH faster with more convincing results. The curious color of paper and charcoal Bill uses in this book simplifies values to become easier to render, instead of ten shades of darkness he compresses it to five, thus making it easier for you to understand. From there you can apply it to white paper or canvas and any color medium you want. All tools he teaches you to use here are instinctive and excellent.

The proper proportions for the head and face no matter the sex, age, or ethnicity of the subject.

An incredibly fast, effective, and instinctive drawing technique that WILL translate into other media and other subjects.

Sincerely, these are the core fundamentals. These are techniques rarely taught in school or presented in books. There is no perfect, all encompasing art book, but this one teaches fundamentals the self taught rarely understand. Bills techniques changed my life, the book has those techniques and teaches them in an extremely streamlined manner. I wish I had this book fifteen years ago....