Customer Reviews

The Practice and Science of Drawing (Dover Art Instruction)

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It's easy to pontificate and very, very hard to draw. Suspiciously absent from most books on drawing are drawings by the author. But Speed, a journeyman painter whose career bridged the 19th and 20th centuries, drew wonderfully well, and his drawings vindicate his ideas. Additionally, Speed's career embodies the best of the academic tradition and the then-contemporary discoveries of the Impressionists. His assessment of Monet has stood the test of time, as have his splendid instruction on the nuts and bolts of drawing. If you can only have one book on drawing -- and I have a vested interest in this area -- Speed's is the one to get.

If you're looking for a quick drawing book you can thumb through on the plane, this isn't it. However if you want a classical approach to drawing and painting theory, complete with very opinionated prose that teaches you the fundamentals of how drawing and painting should be - get this book. On a bookshelf filled with quick fixes and 30-second lessons on the go, Speed's drawing text is a welcome change. You'll read this again and again, gaining more knowledge out of it each time.

Though written nearly a hundred years ago, Harold Speed's book is a gem. We live in a time when traditional drawing techniques are hard to come by, but Speed takes us back to the essential skills of the late nineteenth century. If you dream, as I do, of drawing like Ingres and painting like Sargent, this book will point the way. An absolute classic.

This book is an in depth study on the elements that make a piece of art. It covers the style and movement of line, (both the drawn and implied), mass, tone, rythym, balance and proportion. It also discusses variation and unity within the individual elements, how all the elements work with the subject to create a piece of art and the differences between a piece of art and a great piece of art.

I could ramble on, but will not, though there is so much more in this book. It is bursting at the binding with insight on drawing. It is clearly written by someone who obviously knows what he is writing about. It is a fantastic art course by a man who knows how to teach. It is as relevant today as it was when written, probably even more so given my experience of modern art tuition over the years. If you want to be an artist, no, if you want to be a great artist, read this book.

I'm now a professional illustrator and art director. But for 17 years... from adolescence on, I was a hobbyist... someone who just loved to draw. It was this book, INGENIOUSLY simple and straightforward in both it's presentation and elucidation of "how to see," which brought me from hobbyist, to professional. I learned more from reading this book than from thumbing through any of the other 50+ art-technique books in my collection (this is a book to be read... primarily text, not primarily illustrations). Get this book. If like me, you're self-taught... and you already know how to draw... and are looking to hit the next level, it's invaluable.

This is one of the very best books on drawing I have ever read, and I've read several dozen. Speed argues that people normally see what they would feel if they could touch what they are looking at. Hence the tendency to draw outlines around things even though we don't actually find outlines around things in nature. Learning to draw is unlearning these ingrained habits and replacing them with a way of seeing how things appear on the retina and then finding ways to represent this retinal image with lines or masses. He makes a big deal about these two ways of drawing -- line drawing and mass drawing. He covers all the important basic topics -- unity, variety, balance, proportion, rhythm. His explanations are clear and straightforward. The writing is a bit old fashioned but highly readable. He illustrates his main points clearly with line drawings and b&w reproductions. I took ten pages of notes that I will study often. I can think of no better book for a serious student of drawing.

Before art instructors of the late 20th and early 21st century Betty Edwards or Mona Brookes shared their insights with us, Harold Speed wrote this profoundly analytical handbook explaining the psychological and technical foundations of drawing and observation, i.e. line drawing and mass drawing, and much, much more. Although his English is stiff, and perhaps colloquial to the locale where his style of English English was spoken (where he was raised or lived) and the 19th and 20th century periods in which he lived, it is still readable and understandable.
I found his tightly dissected views of how the (young person's) mind starts to perceive objects and to draw them, and how early artists approached drawing to be very helpful.
It contains clear explanations that methodically lay out the appoaches by which artists apply their talents. In doing so, he helps us to become more analytical and more understanding of art and the world around us. This work by Harold Speed helps us become better observers. It is the most penetrating book on drawing techniques I have found. This book is an excellent investment at about $10.00 on Amazon.con.

This practical guide, rapidly approaching its 90th birthday, is one of a few truly classic books for art students still in print, along with Nicolaides' Natural Way to Draw. However, it is also filled with admonishments, strongly held opinions, and the kind of written language that has mostly vanished from the printed page. I warn prospective readers not to be put off by the force or unfamiliarity of the prose style. There are many things to be enjoyed here -- classic exercises, useful diagrams and plates -- and perhaps equally important, a kind of philosophical courage about art and instruction that has otherwise gone the way of the dodo. ("[Lead pencil] is...an excellent training to the eye and hand...Perhaps that is why it has not been so popular in our art schools recently, where the charms of severe discipline are not so much in favor as they should be.")

I highly recommend this book as a complement to anyone's drawing practice.

Harold Speed offers answers to many of the greatest aesthetic questions of the twentieth century. This book is filled with insights that offer an understanding which far exceeds the simple instruction that is widely taught even in some of the best art schools and universities. As the cover suggests, buy it to understand drawing or buy it to aid drawing.
This is a book that takes beauty seriously and exposes much of modern art for what it is: "the emperor's new clothes."

if you are a Fine Arts student and you havent read this yet... well pick it up. It is well worth for the 1st and 2nd year student!