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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Practice & Science Of Drawing, by Harold Speed.

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Title: The Practice and Science Of Drawing

Author: Harold Speed

Release Date: December 6, 2004 [EBook #14264]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCIENCE OF DRAWING ***

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THE

PRACTICE & SCIENCE

DRAWING

HAROLD SPEED

Associé de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris; Member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, &c.

With 93 Illustrations & Diagrams

LONDON

SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED

38 GREAT RUSSELL STREET

1913

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Practice & Science Of Drawing, by Harold Speed.

Plate I.

FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF SAME MONOCHROME PAINTING IN DIFFERENT STAGES ILLUSTRATING A METHOD OF

STUDYING MASS DRAWING WITH THE BRUSH

PREFACE

Permit me in the first place to anticipate the disappointment of any student who opens this book with the idea of finding "wrinkles"

on how to draw faces, trees, clouds, or what not, short cuts to excellence in drawing, or any of the tricks so popular with the

drawing masters of our grandmothers and still dearly loved by a large number of people. No good can come of such methods, for

there are no short cuts to excellence. But help of a very practical kind it is the aim of the following pages to give; although it may

be necessary to make a greater call upon the intelligence of the student than these Victorian methods attempted.

It was not until some time after having passed through the course of training in two of our chief schools of art that the author got

any idea of what drawing really meant. What was taught was the faithful copying of a series of objects, beginning with the

simplest forms, such as cubes, cones, cylinders, &c. (an excellent system to begin with at present in danger of some neglect), after

which more complicated objects in plaster of Paris were attempted, and finally copies of the human head and figure posed in

suspended animation and supported by blocks, &c. In so far as this was accurately done, all this mechanical training of eye and

hand was excellent; but it was not enough. And when with an eye trained to the closest mechanical accuracy the author visited the

galleries of the Continent and studied the drawings of the old masters, it soon became apparent that either his or their ideas of

drawing were all wrong. Very few drawings could be found sufficiently "like the model" to obtain the prize at either of the great

schools he had attended. Luckily there was just enough modesty left for him to realise that possibly they were in some mysterious

way right and his own training in some way lacking. And so he set to work to try and climb the long uphill road that separates

mechanically accurate drawing from artistically accurate drawing.

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Practice & Science Of Drawing, by Harold Speed.

Now this journey should have been commenced much earlier, and perhaps it was due to his own stupidity that it was not; but it

was with a vague idea of saving some students from such wrong-headedness, and possibly straightening out some of the path, that

he accepted the invitation to write this book.

In writing upon any matter of experience, such as art, the possibilities of misunderstanding are enormous, and one shudders to

think of the things that may be put down to one's credit, owing to such misunderstandings. It is like writing about the taste of

sugar, you are only likely to be understood by those who have already experienced the flavour; by those who have not, the wildest

interpretation will be put upon your words. The written word is necessarily confined to the things of the understanding because

only the understanding has written language; whereas art deals with ideas of a different mental texture, which words can only

vaguely suggest. However, there are a large number of people who, although they cannot be said to have experienced in a full

sense any works of art, have undoubtedly the impelling desire which a little direction may lead on to a fuller appreciation. And it is

to such that books on art are useful. So that although this book is primarily addressed to working students, it is hoped that it may

be of interest to that increasing number of people who, tired with the rush and struggle of modern existence, seek refreshment in

artistic things. To many such in this country modern art is still a closed book; its point of view is so different from that of the art

they have been brought up with, that they refuse to have anything to do with it. Whereas, if they only took the trouble to find out

something of the point of view of the modern artist, they would discover new beauties they little suspected.

vii

If anybody looks at a picture by Claude Monet from the point of view of a Raphael, he will see nothing but a meaningless jargon

of wild paint-strokes. And if anybody looks at a Raphael from the point of view of a Claude Monet, he will, no doubt, only see

hard, tinny figures in a setting devoid of any of the lovely atmosphere that always envelops form seen in nature. So wide apart are

some of the points of view in painting. In the treatment of form these differences in point of view make for enormous variety in the

work. So that no apology need be made for the large amount of space occupied in the following pages by what is usually dismissed

as mere theory; but what is in reality the first essential of any good practice in drawing. To have a clear idea of what it is you wish

to do, is the first necessity of any successful performance. But our exhibitions are full of works that show how seldom this is the

case in art. Works showing much ingenuity and ability, but no artistic brains; pictures that are little more than school studies,

exercises in the representation of carefully or carelessly arranged objects, but cold to any artistic intention.

viii

At this time particularly some principles, and a clear intellectual understanding of what it is you are trying to do, are needed. We

have no set traditions to guide us. The times when the student accepted the style and traditions of his master and blindly followed

them until he found himself, are gone. Such conditions belonged to an age when intercommunication was difficult, and when the

artistic horizon was restricted to a single town or province. Science has altered all that, and we may regret the loss of local colour

and singleness of aim this growth of art in separate compartments produced; but it is unlikely that such conditions will occur again.

Quick means of transit and cheap methods of reproduction have brought the art of the whole world to our doors. Where formerly

the artistic food at the disposal of the student was restricted to the few pictures in his vicinity and some prints of others, now there

is scarcely a picture of note in the world that is not known to the average student, either from personal inspection at our museums

and loan exhibitions, or from excellent photographic reproductions. Not only European art, but the art of the East, China and

Japan, is part of the formative influence by which he is surrounded; not to mention the modern science of light and colour that has

had such an influence on technique. It is no wonder that a period of artistic indigestion is upon us. Hence the student has need of

sound principles and a clear understanding of the science of his art, if he would select from this mass of material those things

which answer to his own inner need for artistic expression.

The position of art to-day is like that of a river where many tributaries meeting at one point, suddenly turn the steady flow to

turbulence, the many streams jostling each other and the different currents pulling hither and thither. After a time these newly-met

forces will adjust themselves to the altered condition, and a larger, finer stream be the result. Something analogous to this would

seem to be happening in art at the present time, when all nations and all schools are acting and reacting upon each other, and art is

losing its national characteristics. The hope of the future is that a larger and deeper art, answering to the altered conditions of

humanity, will result.

There are those who would leave this scene of struggling influences and away up on some bare primitive mountain-top start a new

stream, begin all over again. But however necessary it may be to give the primitive mountain waters that were the start of all the

streams a more prominent place in the new flow onwards, it is unlikely that much can come of any attempt to leave the turbulent

waters, go backwards, and start again; they can only flow onwards. To speak more plainly, the complexity of modern art

influences may make it necessary to call attention to the primitive principles of expression that should never be lost sight of in any

work, but hardly justifies the attitude of those anarchists in art who would flout the heritage of culture we possess and attempt a

new start. Such attempts however when sincere are interesting and may be productive of some new vitality, adding to the weight

of the main stream. But it must be along the main stream, along lines in harmony with tradition that the chief advance must be

looked for.

Although it has been felt necessary to devote much space to an attempt to find principles that may be said to be at the basis of the

art of all nations, the executive side of the question has not been neglected. And it is hoped that the logical method for the study of

drawing from the two opposite points of view of line and mass here advocated may be useful, and help students to avoid some of

the confusion that results from attempting simultaneously the study of these different qualities of form expression.

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Practice & Science Of Drawing, by Harold Speed.

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. DRAWING

III. VISION

IV. LINE DRAWING

V. MASS DRAWING

VI. THE ACADEMIC AND CONVENTIONAL

VII. THE STUDY OF DRAWING

VIII. LINE DRAWING: PRACTICAL

IX. MASS DRAWING: PRACTICAL

X. RHYTHM

XI. RHYTHM: VARIETY OF LINE

XII. RHYTHM: UNITY OF LINE

XIII. RHYTHM: VARIETY OF MASS

XIV. RHYTHM: UNITY OF MASS

XV. RHYTHM: BALANCE

XVI. RHYTHM: PROPORTION

XVII. PORTRAIT DRAWING

XVIII. THE VISUAL MEMORY

XIX. PROCEDURE

XX. MATERIALS

XXI. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX

INDEX

LIST OF PLATES

xii

I. SET OF FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SAME STUDY FROM THE LIFE IN DIFFERENT STAGES

II. DRAWING BY LEONARDO DA VINCI

III. STUDY FOR "APRIL"

IV. STUDY FOR THE FIGURE OF "BOREAS"

V. FROM A STUDY BY BOTTICELLI

VI. STUDY BY ALFRED STEPHENS

VII. STUDY FOR THE FIGURE OF APOLLO

VIII. STUDY FOR A PICTURE

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Practice & Science Of Drawing, by Harold Speed.

IX. STUDY BY WATTEAU

X. EXAMPLE OF XVTH CENTURY CHINESE WORK

XI. LOS MENENAS. BY VELAZQUEZ

XII. STUDY ATTRIBUTED TO MICHAEL ANGELO

XIII. STUDY BY DEGAS

XIV. DRAWING BY ERNEST COLE

XV. FROM A PENCIL DRAWING BY INGRES

XVI. STUDY BY RUBENS

XVII. A DEMONSTRATION DRAWING AT THE GOLDSMITHS' COLLEGE

XVIII. STUDY ILLUSTRATING METHOD OF DRAWING

XIX. ILLUSTRATING CURVED LINES

xiii

XX. STUDY FOR THE FIGURE OF "LOVE"

XXI. STUDY ILLUSTRATING TREATMENT OF HAIR

XXII. STUDY FOR DECORATION AT AMIENS

XXIII. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PAINTING FROM A CAST (1)

XXIII. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PAINTING FROM A CAST (2)

XXIV. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PAINTING FROM A CAST (3)

XXIV. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE PAINTING FROM A CAST (4)

XXV. ILLUSTRATING SOME TYPICAL BRUSH STROKES

XXVI. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SAME STUDY (1)

XXVII. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SAME STUDY (2)

XXVIII. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SAME STUDY (3)

XXIX. DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SAME STUDY (4)

XXX. A STUDY FOR A PICTURE OF "ROSALIND AND ORLANDO"

XXXI. ILLUSTRATIONS FROM BLAKE'S "JOB" (PLATES I., V., X., XXI.)

XXXII. ILLUSTRATIONS FROM BLAKE'S "JOB" (PLATES II., XI., XVIII., XIV.)

XXXIII. FÊTE CHAMPÊTRE

XXXIV. BACCHUS AND ARIADNE

XXXV. LOVE AND DEATH

XXXVI. SURRENDER OF BREDA

XXXVII. THE BIRTH OF VENUS

xiv

XXXVIII. THE RAPE OF EUROPA

XXXIX. BATTLE OF S. EGIDIO

XL. THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST

XLI. THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST

XLII. PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S DAUGHTER

XLIII. MONTE SOLARO, CAPRI

XLIV. PART OF THE "SURRENDER OF BREDA"

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