The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study

by Nicolaides, Kimon

• ISBN13: 9780395530078
• ISBN10: 0395530075
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-02-01
• Publisher: Houghton Miff

Summary

Great for the beginner and the expert, this book offers readers exercises to improve their work.

Author Biography

Kimon Nicolaides was born in Washington D.C., in 1891. His first contact with art was a subconscious familiarity with the oriental objects imported by his father. He decided early that he wished to paint, but he had to run away from home to study art because his parents were unsympathetic to the idea. He supported himself in New York by whatever came to hand - framing pictures, writing for a newspaper, even acting the part of an art student as a movie extra. His father was finally won over by his obvious seriouness and financed his instruction at the Art Students' League - under Bridgman, Miller, and Sloan.
When the United States entered the first World War, Nicolaides volunteered in the Camouflage Corps and served in France for over a year, receiving a citation. One of his assignments, involving the study of geographical contour maps, first opened up for him the conception of "contour" which constitutes Exercise One in this book.
After a period of work in Paris (1922-23), he was given his first one-man show by the famous Bernheim Jeune gallery there. Back in New York, he held his first exhibit at the Old Whitney Studio Club, now the museum, and settled down to painting and teaching. As a painter, choosing to work painstakingly and exhibit seldom, he became known to the critics gradually but unmistakably for "the range of his work," "originality of technical approach," "richness of mental concepts" and his "eager, restless pursuit of new aesthetic experience." As a teacher, during the next fifteen years, he became, as the Art Digest put it, "second father" to hundreds of students who passed through his classes at the Art Students' League of New York. Scrupulously honest and high-principled, endowed with humor, richness and warmth of personality, sanity and balance, his extraordinary talent for human relationships grew with his wide contact with increasing numbers of students. Although he died in 1938, at a tragically early age, he left behind a tremendously devoted following of brilliant young artists, as well as the unique and concrete system of art teaching presented in this book.

Table of Contents

How to Use This Book	1	(5)
Section 1. Contour and Gesture	5	(18)
Contour Drawing	9	(5)
Gesture Drawing	14	(6)
Cross Contours	20	(3)
Section 2. The Comprehension of Gesture	23	(9)
Potential Gesture	24	(4)
The Flash Pose	28	(4)
Section 3. Weight and the Modelled Drawing	32	(8)
Weight	33	(3)
The Modelled Drawing	36	(4)
Section 4. Memory Drawing and Other Quick Studies	40	(8)
Memory Drawing	41	(2)
Moving Action	43	(2)
Descriptive Poses	45	(1)
Reverse Poses	45	(1)
Group Poses	46	(2)
Section 5. The Modelled Drawing in Ink --- The Daily Composition	48	(19)
The Modelled Drawing in Ink	51	(1)
The Daily Composition	52	(15)
Section 6. The Modelled Drawing in Water Color --- Right-Angle Study	67	(6)
The Modelled Drawing in Water Color	68	(3)
Right-Angle Study	71	(2)
Section 7. Emphasis on Contour --- The Head	73	(18)
The Five-Hour Contour	74	(1)
Quick Contour	75	(3)
The Head	78	(2)
The Gesture of the Features	80	(1)
Right-Angle Contours	81	(10)
Section 8. Special Form Studies	91	(6)
Part of the Form	92	(1)
Ten-Minute Form Studies	92	(5)
Section 9. An Approach to the Subject of Technique	97	(5)
The Modelled Drawing in Ink --- Continued	97	(4)
Back to the Model	101	(1)
Section 10. The Simple Proportions --- Effort	102	(7)
The Modelled Drawing in Water Color --- Continued	102	(7)
Section 11. The Study of Drapery	109	(10)
Quick Studies of Drapery	110	(2)
Long Study of Drapery	112	(7)
Section 12. The Figure with Drapery --- The Subjective Impulse	119	(6)
The Figure with Drapery	119	(2)
The Daily Composition --- Continued	121	(4)
Section 13. The Sustained Study	125	(14)
The Extended Gesture Study	126	(1)
The Sustained Study	127	(12)
Section 14. Light and Shade	139	(5)
Section 15. An Approach to the Study of Anatomy	144	(5)
Study of the Bones	145	(4)
Section 16. The Long Composition	149	(8)
The Long Composition	151	(6)
Section 17. Exercises in Black and White Crayon	157	(9)
The Sustained Study in Crayon	157	(6)
Gesture in Black and White	163	(2)
Drapery in Black and White	165	(1)
Section 18. Studies of Structure	166	(7)
Gesture Studies of Anatomy	166	(1)
Hand and Arm	166	(2)
The Shoulder Girdle	168	(1)
Leg and Knee	168	(2)
The Foot	170	(1)
The Eye	171	(1)
The Ear	171	(2)
Section 19. Analysis Through Design	173	(7)
Contrasting Lines	174	(1)
Straight and Curved Lines	174	(6)
Section 20. Study from Reproductions	180	(4)
Composition from Reproductions	182	(1)
Anatomy from Reproductions	182	(1)
Analysis of Reproductions	183	(1)
Section 21. The Muscles	184	(5)
Study of the Muscles	185	(4)
Section 22. Exercises in Black and White Oil Color	189	(8)
Sustained Study in Oil Color	189	(6)
Gesture Drawing in Oil	195	(1)
Half-Hour Study in Oil	196	(1)
Section 23. Analysis Through Design --- Continued	197	(9)
The Predominating Shape	197	(1)
Modelling the Straight and Curve	198	(2)
Straight and Curve in Frames	200	(6)
Section 24. The Subjective Element	206	(7)
The Subjective Study	207	(6)
Section 25. An Approach to the Use of Color	213
Gesture on Colored Paper	214
Straight and Curve in Color	215
The Subjective Study --- Continued	215
The Sustained Study in Oil (Variations)	218
The Sustained Study in Oil --- Continued	218
Full Color	220
Arbitrary Color	220