Customer Reviews

A Foundation Course in Drawing: A Complete Program of Techniques and Skills

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm a professional artist and, for fun (as well as drawing tips), I like to check out How-To Drawing Books. A Foundation Course in Drawing is the best one I've ever read. It gives clear, concise instructions which have immediately given me a whole new range of options for my work. I'm recommending this book to all my colleagues--it's a must read!

This is a great book filled with constructive projects for Drawing. It is good for people who are beginning to draw to Art teachers. If you are an Art teacher the projects are useful for your classroom in developing student's drawing skills. It thoroughly covers the basics of Drawing. It covers drawing from still life to abstract. I highly recommend this book. It is easy to understand and filled with diagrams for those visual learners out there.

"A Foundation Course in Drawing" by PETER STANYER & TERRY ROSENBERG

As a general rule, there are not many "really good" co-authored books out there. This rambling and disjointed introduction to drawing is no exception. It seems as though, when books have two authors, that both persons simply agree to give a half-effort, in hopes that the two of them can put together a whole, dynamic book. It just doesn't seem to work here.

Extreme language on the cover of a book is a *WARNING*

Words like "Complete guide to" or "Ultimate" or "Essential guide to" etc. "Basic" or even "FOUNDATION COURSE" might seem to give the authorship a great deal of liberty. In fact, it requires that an author really cover the basics, the FOUNDATION, in a very clear and well organized manner. This book lays an incomplete FOUNDATION.

It is limited to "Gesture Drawings" in the first 20 pages, and then, after a lot of wordy text, you reach page 41 before you see the SIMPLIFIED FIGURETTE, or BLOCK PUPPET. Only two of them: One drawn with Cylinders, the other with Ovals. That's it. Just two images, and no more.

The book is over-reaching. It outlines more material than it can cover adequately in a FOUNDATION COURSE. There is a bit of an "attitude" in this book. It's as though the authors are saying:

"If you know already how to copy the line drawings in our lessons, FINE! If you are a BEGINNER, and cannot....TOO BAD!"

The book is divided into Five Sections:
Life drawing, Still Life, Landscape, Abstract Drawing (in a FOUNDATION COURSE??????) and Drawing Systems. Neither of the last two sections belongs in a book on FOUNDATION in drawing. See what I mean? The book is "over-reaching".

Allow me to give yet another example. The Back Cover says this:
"Will help artists of all abilities."

Excuse me, but shouldn't a course laying a FOUNDATION, be of help to BEGINNERS? If someone is already an "artist" shouldn't they be using more advanced books? That is why this book is "over-reaching". The authorship has a fuzzy focus about who the intended audience is.


This book does move into INTERMEDIATE material, but sacrifices BASICS to get there. (over-reaching)

The problem with a multitude of these drawing instruction books are flaws that fall into several categories:

(1) they try to cover virtually EVERYTHING in art generally, including PAINTING or COLOR, or COMPOSITION which means they must skip quickly over their DRAWING BASICS for the beginner to do so. A good drawing book must start with DRAWING, and stick with DRAWING only, for at least 3/4ths of its chapters. The really good drawing books do this.

(2) the author is extremely dull and uninspiring to begin with, illustrating the book with ordinary household objects for suggested drawing exercises; objects like can openers, coffee pots, key chains, tables, chairs, bicycles and has no true justification for putting another drawing book on the market (good books are already in print), and copying the same outline for growth that other books have.

(3) the author is too wordy, loading down the book with unnecessary theory and intellectualizations.

With those flaws in mind, it is clear that "A FOUNDATION COURSE IN DRAWING" is too broad in scope and moves too quickly away from basics into intermediate material (flaw 1), is no better than other books on the market (flaw 2) and the drawings and illustrations are among the worst availble in a basic drawing HOW-TO. (they are REALLY BAD!) The text is alternatively overly-simplistic or overly-complex.

"A FOUNDATION COURSE IN DRAWING" is a poor introduction for any beginner, but the book is inexpensive for 276 pages if that's all you want.

mr.mary ivens report..all books especially on art are either appreciated or not and the reviews attest to that..in my own case i found this book to be ideal for my needs.....it provided me with many ideas and to the reviewers who did not like try reading from outside your square....i think you will find something....i say buy it .

would I recommend this book. I am a professional artist and I find there are so many good books out there... this is not one of them. The drawings are good but not great, and certainly not great to learn by. The lessons are so, so. Each time I open and close this book, I get hardly anything at all...

One of the best drawing books I have found. Covers a lot.