Alyssa P.’s Reviews > Figure Drawing for All It's Worth > Status Update

"Take from the rest of us all that you can assimilate, that can become a part of you, but never still the small voice that whispers to you, 'I like it better my way.'"

"Do not draw every seam, every fold, and every button, but try to understand constructive principles and interpret them correctly in what you do put down, instead of being careless in these matters or remaining totally ignorant of them.

No matter what you draw - figure, costume, furniture - learn its construction, so that you *can* draw it."

"It should be repeated over and over to the student not to 'fake' light and shadow on the figure. Draw from the model or from a good photo. Five minutes of 'seeing' is worth days of faking. Shadows can be seen flatter and simpler than they are."

On photographic reference: "I do not admire a photographic-looking drawing, but I certainly detest a drawing that is meant to have virility and conviction but is inane and static through ignorance or laziness on the part of the artist."

"When working without a model or copy, you draw planes FOR the light, halftone, and shadow. When working with the model or copy, you draw the planes FROM the light, halftone, and shadow."

"The planes are worked out in the simple order of: (1) light, (2) halftone, (3) shadow - which is the darkest and is at the point where the plane parallels the direction of light, and (4) reflected light. This is called 'simple lighting.'"

"There is no other way to acquire a knowledge of anatomy than to 'dig it out.' Stay with it until you can draw the muscles from memory. Get further books on the subject. The author recommends the books by George Bridgman as excellent. There is also a very fine book of diagrams, 'Artistic Anatomy' by Walter F. Moses."

"'It pays to know,' so stay with it!"

"It woukd be both tedious and superfluous if, every time we drew a figure, we went through the whole procedure of figure drawing. The artist will want to make roughs and sketches that can serve as an understructure for pose or action..."

"Technique is not so important as the young artist is inclined to believe; the living and emotional qualities - the idealization you put into your work - are far more important."

"I cannot profess to know more than the experience of one individual. However, one individual experience if wide enough might well cover many of the problems that will doubtless come to others."