Another Good Read

Continuing  with re-reading some of my favorite art books while travelling away from Comox.

I also ordered two new Andrew Loomis  books that I just finished reading for the first time: Creative Illustration and Successful Drawing. I have previously read his Drawing the Head and Hands and Figure Drawing for All its Worth  , both of which I found a worthwhile read.

Loomis was one of Americans more respected illustrators. His books were first published in the 1940s and his originals fetch a big price. All four have been re- released and sell for about $30 each. Great value.

I was concerned that Creative Illustration might not apply to my interest in landscape and figurative drawing and painting. Boy, was I wrong. This is an excellent book that should be on most artist shelves. Loomis does a great job describing line, form, composition, perspective and an outstanding job on working with values - for  creating tone and shape.

A particularly interesting chapter describes how the great American illustrator Howard Pyle organized his values – pushing his subjects into light, dark, and two mid-tones (mid tone light and mid tone dark) and the difficulty particularly in assigning to the mid tones.  Just cannot re- read enough any good description on organizing values – and this is one of the best.

The book includes excellent examples that remind me a bit of the examples in Edgar Payne’s great book on composition- Composition of Outdoor Painting.

The other book, Successful Drawing, I found to have limited interest for me. Good sections specific to drawing and probably worth the investment early in an artists development.