I copied a bit from John Ruskin’s ‘Elements of Drawing’ at the beginning of sketchbook number 7 (July) of 2010. I do a lot of reading and looking at artists’ images. I used advice from the masters to learn the basics of sketching and drawing. I continue to be impressed by the myriad of ways […]
This is probably my last warmup and exercise in the book from which I am learning: the Tate Watercolour Manual, Lessons from the Great Masters by Tony Smibert and Joyce Townsend. The last lesson is about observation with remarks from John Ruskin a writer, art critic and champion of J.M.W. Turner, on of the masters discussed in […]
After yesterday’s less-than-stellar pencil drawing of the back yard, I took some advice from John Ruskin, 19th century artist, through his book Elements of Drawing. In the first few pages of ‘Elements’ there are some basic exercises intended to instruct a beginner in uniform shading of and area, and shading from dark to light with a pen or a […]
Yesterday I bit off a bit more than I could chew. I used mixed media paper. I usually use watercolor paper. I also tried to draw/paint a complicated form AND concentrate on the dark and light areas. The composition was passable, but today I am taking a step back. Today’s experiment: I happened upon a book […]
I was looking through my (modern) copy of John Ruskin’s The Elements of Drawing, which was first published in 1857. His advice to those learning to draw was to observe nature. For instance, he noted that most people think that grass in the shade is the same color as grass in the sun. However, if […]
