John Sloan on Drawing and Painting [Paperback]

John Sloan (Author), Art Instruction (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2000

This illustrated, practical record of talks and instructional advice by a member of the "Ashcan School" of American painting discusses line, tone, texture, light and shade, composition, design, space, perspective, related issues. Also: figure drawing, painting, landscape and mural painting, much more. Wealth of helpful suggestions and exercises.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (April 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486409473
• ISBN-13: 978-0486409474
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Art > Instruction & Reference > Study & Teaching
  • #12 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Art > Art History > Criticism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy read, December 3, 2006

By 

Brian Asquith - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: John Sloan on Drawing and Painting (Paperback)

I place Sloan's book alongside Robert Henri's "The Art Spirit" (100% recommended) and Charles Hawthorne's "Hawthorne on Painting" (also recommended). Sloan focuses upon starting with as good a drawing as possible from which a painting will develop. Unlike Hawthorne who is more focused on the "juxtaposition of spots of colour is the only way". To me they are both correct - no matter how good the underlaying drawing might be - without the correct placement of colour and tones then you won't be painting anything of any value. Sloan is all about being competant with technique, and once you've mastered that then you're ready to move on to wherever your own creativity leads you. Focus is placed on the "Master's": Durer, Rubens, El Greco, Rembrandt etc. and tries to provide insight in to the artists particular technique. The book is published by Dover hence it's low price. Given it was first published in 1939 and is still considered a useful reference today indicates the value of the comments/advice contained within. A good book to have on the shelf for both drawing and painting.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read but long-winded, June 6, 2004

By 

Michael (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Sloan on Drawing and Painting (Paperback)

Overall the book is interesting but it does get boring at times. Sloan is a big advocate of drawing. What a big difference from other teachers like Hawthorne who says not to worry about drawing and just concentrate on color. It's good to hear both sides. This is one of those books you read for theory, it's not a step by step or how-to book. Overall it's a good read but not one of my favorite books. I prefer Henri's Art Spirit better. Henri was a teacher of Sloan.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's rare to find a good art book, by a great artist, August 29, 2001

By 

John Jacobsen - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Sloan on Drawing and Painting (Paperback)

This book, transcribed by Sloan's wife (who was a former student of his), reads something like a working notebook at times, but, if you are a serious student of art (as every working artist should be), there are sentences in this book worth digesting over and over again. You might not agree with everything Sloan says, but there is an obvious strength here, built during a lifetime of study and teaching. Sloan was yet another great teacher from the Art Student's League (other teachers included Bridgeman, Hale, and Nicolaides who published significant books of their own), and one of the major painters of the Ashcan school of painting. I'm grateful for this book and wish that there were dozens more written by other significant painters.