Life Drawing Class: A Comprehensive Course in Figure Drawing [Paperback]

Lucy Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

The figure has always held an especially important place in representational art, capable of bringing enormous impact to any work, from serene meditative calm to explosive physical dynamism. However, conventional wisdom says the figure is one of the most demanding and arduous subjects to translate onto a canvas.



Life Drawing Class challenges this long-held assumption, demonstrating creative, original strategies to make figure drawing an exciting, enjoyable, and above all successful experience. This hands-on guide offers a fresh approach to the subject, introducing a variety of mediums, drawing techniques, and simple methods that sharpen powers of observation while also encouraging the artist’s individual creative style and expression.




• An invaluable course for artists without access to a real-life figure drawing class

• Covers the most basic elements of figure study—anatomy, proportion, and movement in precise detail

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This brief, accessible guide will appeal to amateur artists encountering figure drawing for the first time. Watson presents each chapter as a class in which she introduces basic concepts such as measuring angles, plotting positions, perspective, light and tone, and so on. Also included in each section are suggestions for pose lengths, lists of materials, and clearly explained, illustrated step-by-step instructions. Throughout Watson includes examples of her and other professionals' work in a wide range of styles and media. More ambitious projects follow the classes, and a directory of media finishes the text. Watson's introduction is brief, and while her text seems geared toward the beginning artist, some basic information, such as preparation and care of drawing materials (sharpening techniques, for example), is lacking. Still, the book's attractive format and clear, concise directions will appeal to many artists who are looking for a basic, friendly introduction. For more thorough guides, suggest Anthony Ryder's The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing (2000) and Louise Gordon's How to Draw the Human Figure (1979). Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Lucy Watson graduated from London’s prestigious Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design. Her drawings, prints, and paintings have been exhibited all over Europe. She lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823027678
• ISBN-13: 978-0823027675
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,092,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth it..., May 19, 2007

By 

N. Brett "DarlingNikiWyre" (Clearwater, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life Drawing Class: A Comprehensive Course in Figure Drawing (Paperback)

I don't often write reviews. I read them with each purchase and normally I don't feel the need to contradict others. I found that Bruce Bain's "pretend you never seen one before..." to be chilidish and absolutely off the mark. I am an art student and art appreciation major. When I first went to art class I was self-taught without instruction. This was a good thing. My first professor advised the class "Everything you learned before now forget. You learned it that wrong way! I will teach you the right way". It is just like this that the artist is telling you to forget your preconceived notions and look at subjects with a fresh eye. I picked up this book in the book store and ending up reading ten pages standing in the aisle before I knew it. Its a marvelous find. I highly recommend. I've always had problems drawing the human form and this was immensly helpful.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A first-rate "how-to" instructional resource, July 19, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Drawing Class: A Comprehensive Course in Figure Drawing (Paperback)

Life Drawing Class: A Step-by-Step Course In Figure Drawing And Painting by artist and art educator Lucy Watson is a self-teaching or art education course supplement tool for learning how to draw representational art in a variety of different media, including charcoal, chalk pastel, white conte pencil, watercolor, and more. Color illustrations, examples of working from photographs, theory, and practice, all combine for a first-rate "how-to" instructional resource ideal for anyone seeking to improve human figure drawing skills.

8 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "pretend you've never seen one before...", June 29, 2004

By 

Bruce Bain "Romans 9:33/Remember Jackie Robinson" (Englewood, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life Drawing Class: A Comprehensive Course in Figure Drawing (Paperback)

"Life Drawing Class" by Lucy Watson:

...begins Chapter 1 under the following headliner:

"When you start drawing figures, pretend you've never seen one before." -Lucy Watson

First of all, nobody needs to PRETEND anything, in order to draw. I mean I'm sorry, but most of us are already living in reality. We have SEEN figures before. and secondarily, if the answer to drawing is PRETENDING, why can't everyone just PRETEND to be able to draw and be done with it? The author's mindset here is absolutely silly with circular logic. This is like saying, "All you have to do to be able to learn to drive a car, is to *...pretend you've never seen one before.*

All I'm saying here is that if an author is going to give a tersely-worded command, articulating a fundamental rule for drawing, why can't it just be something that makes common sense?

An Author might say, "Take your time!" "Be patient." "Never, EVER, beat yourself up!" ....but no; we get, "Pretend you've never seen one before."

I suppose I'm suggesting a better standard for authorship; that is to say, that someone writing a book should be familiar with a subject, and that if somone is offering a rule or commandment as part of a METHOD, then it ought to reflect a more generalized common sense such as ordinary working people are familiar with.

I have continually in my mind, one particular rule regarding drawing instruction books. (this is my personal rule, but I find it critical in judging HOW-TO-DRAW books). THOU SHALT NOT, in a beginning drawing book, instruct the student in the use of color and painting. Learning simply to draw is fundamental, and requires the total dedication of most of any beginning book. Watson violates this rule with a foray into the use of color, halfway through this book, which at only 128 pages, is far too short on basic drawing. In my opinion it is the multitude of cloned books like Watson's that cause many beginners to give up drawing (and subsequently, painting as well) as a HOPELESS endeavour, and convince themselves that they just cannot "get it". In fact, it's a clear case of The-Instructor-Just-Cannot-Teach.

The illustrations of drawn figure models are stiff, lifeless and inarticulate. It is MASSIVELY overpriced with an exorbitant list price of $24.95. Is this for real??? Unbelieveable! A gross rip-off.

I think I'll simply take Lucy Watson's advise in Chapter #1 and "PRETEND" I never saw this book before.