Book Review: 'Figure Drawing' by Gabrielle Dahms

I’m more familiar with the writer’s challenge when facing a blank page. But as a kid, I believe I began to sketch in earnest when I was ten. In high school I took up painting in watercolor, then oil. I use some of the digital tools now, but mostly for book illustrations and social-media posts.

It’s a right-brain kinda book!

When I wrote Bonfire of the Vanderbilts about the Belle Epoque painter Julius LeBlanc Stewart, I studied both his training under teachers such as Gerome, as well as the meticulous oil techniques he developed for his figurative event paintings.

Inspired by Picasso and Matisse. What did they teach her?

I’m sharing some of my background in the subject by way of explaining why I admire Gabrielle Dahms’ Figure Drawing series so much. As of now, it’s two volumes. The first is Rhythm and Language of the Human Form, and the second is its companion workbook.

A sheet of quick gestural drawings. Rather like automatic writing? You could get those impressions on paper almost before you know you have them.

There are myriad how-to books on all kinds of art instruction. As you will appreciate if you’ve consulted any such training manuals, they can be variously difficult to follow, tedious, or downright boring. Stepwise instruction might be appropriate for computer programmers, but the artist’s mindset literally uses the other side of the brain!

Volume 2 is a workbook. Apply the approaches she describes in Volume 1.

Gabrielle is a colleague and friend. And until now she’s authored a series of practical guides on real estate and financial investing. No question - the left side of her brain is working perfectly fine.

But what Figure Drawing achieves is a description of her artistic process - from the viewpoint of her personal journey. I’m reminded of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Although broadly addressed to creative people generally, that book has become a favorite of writers for its insights on purpose and process.

The artist who wants to draw must first learn how to observe, then how to see. The how-to approaches in other books might talk about evolving form from the basic Euclidian shapes, and that’s all appropriate for the mechanics of deconstructing a form.

Yes, the two volumes of Figure Drawing are sufficiently practical and technical to rival any how-to manual. But the experience Gabrielle shares is not just as if she were looking over your shoulder in the studio - you’re getting inside her head.

Gabrielle Dahms is a renaissance woman: artist, author, presenter, and entrepreneur. She holds a master’s in history and loves to research and write. Her Figure Drawing books impart technical and artistic considerations and knowledge when drawing the human figure.The books cull teachings from over four decades of drawing the figure. ─ Her other nonfiction publications include the titles in The Real Estate Investor Manuals series, and hundreds of articles and blog posts about real estate. When away from the keyboard, she enjoys nature, travel, and other cultures. She also volunteers for local food banks and animal welfare causes.

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