Book of the Week: The Elements of Drawing

25 Aug 2013

I found The Elements of Drawing by John Ruskin through the iTunes U course. The book was published in 1857. I had to look up what india-rubber and a penknife are. The drawing instruments have have changed a little bit, but techniques haven’t. The book is divided into three letters. Drawing As a scientist, drawing is about conveying an idea to another person. As an artist, drawing is about what I want to make another feel. Leondardo da Vinici used his skills to create famous technical drawings and paintings. By reading this book, I hope to take a step toward becoming a Renaissance man. Letter I: On Practice There many exercises with explantations of their purpose. The goal is have control of your hand and work on seeing different parts of the world. The practice gives you tools, so you can draw. Drawing is not just reproducting what you see. Letter II: Sketching from Nature

You need never hope to get on, if you are are the least anxious that the drawing you are actually at work upon should look nice when it is done. All you have to care about is to make it right, and to learn as much in doing it as possible.

Ruskin uses drawings from famous artist to point of features of their work about how everything is purposeful. Need to know what to draw first before you draw. In a way that is like writing. You have to have something to say, before you can start writing. Sketching is about choosing what to include and what to leave out. Letter III: On Color and Composition Color is hard. Color is more than just the value of a pixel on your computer screen. In physical media, color is mixed and layered. You need to think about how those colors interact with each other. Layers in Photoshop model some of those interactions.