Life Drawing in Charcoal

Douglas R. Graves

Watson-Guptill Publications, Incorporated, New York

Achieving a likeness in portrait requires close coordination of the hand and eye; Douglas Graves, a professional portraitist, has developed this basic premise into a functional technique. He describes portraiture as an evolving process: observing the basic surface shapes, discovering how these features deviate from the symmetrical ideal, envisioning the underlying human anatomy, interpreting the sitter’s personality, then conveying all this with a direct medium in a tonal drawing. Mr. Graves begins with a list and discussion of the necessary materials—compressed and vine charcoal, chalk, Conte, graphite pencils, papers, erasers, and fixative. He next focuses on the single most important element of the portrait—the sitter’s head. He examines the overall bone structure of the head, it’s proportions and planes, and the structure of the individual features—the eye, nose, neck, ear, and mouth. Of course, portraiture often includes the hands, and so Mr. Graves devotes another chapter to the bone structure, muscle, and proportions of the hands. In subsequent chapters, he considers common portraiture problems: lighting the sitter, reflections and shadows, composing the portrait with one or more figures, the most effective views of the head, and positioning the head and the hands in relation to each other and to the body. After these preliminary instructions, Mr. Graves proceeds to analyze and illustrate how to actually draw the individual elements of the portrait. Eight projects offer step-by-step demonstrations of front, side, and three-quarter views of the eye, nose, mouth, ear, and hand. Also included are demonstrations of drawing a plaster cast of the head, the torso and arm with drapery, and various hair textures and colors. In the succeeding ten projects, Mr. Graves develops complete portraits, demonstrating his technique step by step. He covers a wide range of subjects and media: a woman, child, and man in charcoal; a woman, teenager, and older man in pencil; a woman and man in chalk; a mother and child, and a full family group in Conte. Mr. Graves also supplements his technical instructions with some advice about drawing from photographs, using unusual or offbeat poses, and the question of flattery. Drawing Portraits is simply yet engagingly written, with over 260 black and white illustrations. Artists, beginning and advanced students, and teachers will find Mr. Graves’ technique of portraiture clearly and logically presented and a solid basis for developing a personal style.

Drawing Portraits

Arts & Photography

Drawing

Pitman Publishing

Drawing a Likeness

"The guidance to be found within these covers reflects the author's inspired ability as a teacher and artist of the highest magnitude. It is probably the finest book on the subject of drawing the human form that I have ever seen." — Irving Shapiro, A.W.S., Director, American Academy of Art This unique guide offers a bold, innovative approach to drawing from life. Instead of teaching the traditional method of building up a drawing from lines, leaving mass and tone till later, noted art instructor Douglas R. Graves takes precisely the opposite tack. The student is encouraged to begin seeing and thinking in terms of tonal masses immediately. This approach enables students to draw quickly and accurately without the need for a line drawing first. The author compares it to learning to "paint" with charcoal. Step-by-step demonstrations and over 200 of the author's own drawings offer inspiration and practical guidance in the technique. You'll learn how to "see" tonal quality, how to key a drawing, how to translate color into black and white, and valuable techniques for keeping the figure from looking "stiff." Other topics include the role of alignment in achieving proper proportions, foreshortening, male and female figure distinctions, the use of modeling to achieve added dimension, drawing the face, positioning the figure, and many other aspects of life drawing. For students of drawing — beginner to expert — this book is an invaluable guide not just to drawing from life but to the essential principles of observation, composition, and draftsmanship that underlie all successful drawing and painting. It belongs in the library of every artist. For this edition, the author has revised previous chapters and added a new one on "Different Modes of Charcoal."

Life Drawing in Charcoal (Dover Art Instruction)

Dover Publications

Everyone who paints or draws portraits worries most about one thing: getting an accurate likeness. But getting a likeness doesn't take genius and isn't based on a bag of tricks. It's really a matter of learning to use a logical procedure, based on careful observation of the subject, and then lots of practice. Drawing a Likeness is divided into three parts. In the first part you learn how to analyze a head—how to recognize the basic shapes and their variations, and place the features within the larger form of the head. Drawings of many different subjects serve as examples. In the second part, the actual drawing procedure is analyzed in minute detail as three different-shaped heads—oval, rectangular, and round—are drawn. Each of these three demonstrations contains a photograph of the subject and develops the portrait in great detail (45 actual steps) right down to the finished drawing. In the third part of the book, you learn how to use different combinations of drawing materials to create a wide range of effects: charcoal, Conté, and carbon pencils on both gray and white charcoal paper, graphite pencils on illustration board, soft and hard charcoal sticks and pencils on smooth board, charcoal and carbon pencil worked over acrylic-gessoed chipboard. There are six demonstrations in this section showing how to draw men and women of different ages. Each demonstration has ten steps, one per page, and includes a photograph of the subject. Drawing a Likeness is a basic, practical book for anyone who has ever tried to draw or paint a portrait—students, amateurs, professionals, and teachers.

Watson/Guptill

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Books by Douglas R. Graves