New Encyclopedia of Drawing, Painting, and the Graphic Arts

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1

n/U, 1

ENCYCLOPEDIA * DRAWING, PAINTING,

and

A

the

GRAPHIC ARTS

complete, fundamental book of instruction for

hobbyists, art students,

by

and professional

artists

ARTHUR ZAIDENBERG

^

PRINTING

LARGE

THIRD

ENCYCLOPEDIA

DRAWING,

0/

PAINTING,

GRAPHIC ARTS

-J*.

BY ARTHUR ZAIDENBERG Here

and complete book

a basic

is

for the

hobbyist, the art student, and the professional

artist,

Written ishly

art.

in clear, concise

terms and lavdeals with

volume

this

illustrated,

important

every

covering

aspect of the world of

many

almost every technical problem, in different media,

which

is

likely to confront

the beginning or the advanced coal,

crayon,

oils,

cutting, etching,

artist.

Char-

water colors, linoleum

and numerous other

tech-

niques are explained simply, yet in full detail.

The volume, arranged by

easy-to-find

alphabetical subject listings, also includes

information about the methods and techniques of all major schools of

art,

ancient

and modern, and about the kinds of found

The

in different parts of the

world.

well-known

artist

author,

illustrator,

of this

a

and

has brought to the preparation

work many

tion with

art

years of close associa-

hundreds of contemporary

and considerable experience

artists

in all fields of

drawing, painting, and the graphic

arts.

His form of presentation and instruction is

the

same

as that

which he has used

suc-

cessfully in teaching literally thousands of art students.

Complete, concise, and authoritative, the

New

Encyclopedia of Drawing, Painting,

and the Graphic Arts

is

an invaluable

guide for the beginner and an indispensable reference

work

professional painter.

for every

"Sunday" or

Art,

ENCYCLOPEDIA

• l »/

DRAWING, PAINTING,

and a.

GRAPHIC ARTS

n/U, 11

*

ENCYCLOPEDIA DRAWING. of

PAINTING, and** A

GRAPHIC ARTS

complete, fundamental book of instruction for

hobbyists, art students,

and professional

artists

by

ARTHUR ZAIDENBERG

A.

S.

BARNES & COMPANY,

THOMAS YOSELOFF

LTD.

INC.

•

•

NEW YORK LONDON

©

1961 by A. S. Barnes & Company, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 60-9866

A.

S.

Barnes and Company, Inc. 8 East 36th Street

New York

Thomas

16,

New York

Yoseloff Ltd.

Charing Cross Road London W.C. 2, England 18

First printing July 1961

Second printing March 1962 Third printing January 1964

Printed in the United States of America

1

CONTENTS Introduction

7

Subject Still

Life

1

and Landscape

115

Color

129

Equipment

LSI

Media

138

Technique

163

Drawing

174

196

Reproduction Style

Through

the Ages

207

INTRODUCTION The

study of art

inevitably as wide as

is

the study of thought

Each work of

art

is

describes are not the only ones that can

be used successfully. There are innumera-

itself.

distinctive,

and

nei-

ble private approaches to almost any paint-

ther psychiatrists, fellow artists, nor even

ing or graphic problem, and in the

the creator himself can trace all the ele-

analysis each artist develops his

ments of which

cedures.

The

artist,

it

is

called

composed.

upon

to describe the

There

are,

however,

many

own

last

pro-

basic aids to

exact train of thought that led to the in-

help reach that point of ease with mate-

ception of his work, and then to follow the

rials

steps

he has taken in carrying out the comfind that he

plete conception, will

must

and methods which

relatively

unhampered

many techniques

the

leave large areas of the process unexplained

ist.

because of the great parts that accident

area of this book.

and the unconscious have played. The picture that is easily traceable from its birth is

be a plodding, uninspired thing.

likely to

How scribes

then

is

a

book

the mechanical

justified

that de-

methods involved

in the creative process?

The point,

It

that the technical

be overcome spirational

at the

ones,

for

problems must as the in-

inspiration

will

main unexpressed without technique. This book will deal with such areas

known to own

author through research and his perience.

my

available to the art-

will explore in the limited

earnest belief that too

much

too short.

same time

the creative process as are

is

allow for

knowledge of the chemistry of color pigments and scientific research into matters of permanence, etc., are encumbrances to the creative process, for which time is all

That

answer, from this author's standis

These we

will

creative activity in

The methods and

these

to the student

just as the

pages will be of assistance is

my

confident opinion, but

twenty-volume encyclopedias of

re-

general knowledge serve only as introduc-

of

vidual effort, so this book will only have

tions to be greatly

supplemented by

the

validity for the art student

ex-

its

materials he

if

he

indi-

utilizes

information as a springboard for his

own

flights of creative fancy.

nrt, ''

ENCYCLOPEDIA 4

DRAWING, PAINTING,

-j*.

GRAPHIC ARTS

THE SUBJECT

.

\rP

Basic

Anatomy

addition,

it

is

desirable

general shape of the

important to understand the basic skeleton in its general proportions and in the range of its movement potential. In It is

to

know

the

main muscles and

of

such close-to-the-surface forms as will be vital to

the

drawing

human

a reasonable facsimile of

figure.

The

exhaustive study of

anatomy, which was a must for the dent of past generations, pertinent, however.

is

art stu-

no longer very

lOClt

o Good drawing

or painting

is

not repro-

duction of nature in all its infinite detail, but rather a statement of the artist's attitude toward nature. Nonessentials are detrimental to that statement.

Study the forms shown here and conlife, but do not allow anatomical data to encumber your tinue your studies from

drawings beyond

13

essentials.

Figure

The human heir

to, is

enormously complicated,

It is also

much skilled

depict

is

figure, for all the ills it is

a marvelous bit of engineering.

so

any

for

artist,

and painstaking he it

in all

its

far too

no matter how is

in trying to

natural detail.

What must be done in depicting humans to make the drawing "live." Unless you

seek the "life" quality, you will be draw-

ing store-window dummies.

You must

study structural elements, of

you are so constituted, you may learn, without wasting too much time, all the bones and muscles by name and location. Do not insist, however, on trying to course. If

use

all

this

knowledge in your drawing,

because you will surely overwhelm the

important

life

spark in doing

all-

so.

Observe the simplified forms of body structure

how

shown

in

these

pages.

Notice

they approximate "real" figure forms

and how much has been left out for the sake of strength and grace. Sketch the movements of people about you and, above all,

these

capture

the

movements.

emotions

involved

in

>N

Classic Figure.

ualization

is

As

pure figure

far as

concerned,

the

of

art

vis-

the

Greek Golden Age excelled that of all previous periods by as great a margin as our mechanical

advances excel

those

of

the

nineteenth century. In a sense the Greeks

were the

human

first

artists to actually

"see" the

was the

first civili-

figure, for theirs

make

zation in history to

among

cluded

a cult that in-

major deities "beautiful" physical specimens. Their concept of the beautiful was not an unearthly super-specimen, as Michelangelo was later to conceive, but the lithe, clean athlete, modits

own well-trained The Athenian youth was not

eled after their

ramrod military

for

ance in brutal

youth.

prepared

precision, for endur-

His physical ideal was a supple, strong, healthy body for its own sake, and he transferred to the images of his gods his own high concept of physical beauty— a beauty that was a virtue conflict.

distinctly possible of attainment.

The

artists of

Golden Age

the

of Greece,

affected as artists invariably are

by the philosophical ideals of the period, formulated almost ritualistic measurements and proportions for the ideal figure and produced

an enduring school of the emotional,

art,

which, avoiding

humanized gods and

deified

humans. In these pages of

the

we

beautiful

will try to follow

formalizations

of

some the

Greek figure— both in sculpture and drawing. As a basis for modern figure drawing, the Greek proportions are perhaps too noble;

but

trace

it is

these

of great instructional value to

proportions,

the

finely

con-

ceived relations of forms, and the compressions of complicated

Etruscan Dancing Girl 5th century

anatomy into simple,

:

imaginative patterns of design that express not too literally the character of muscle

and sinew. 16

B.C.

*

was until very recent times the cusEurope and Amer-

It

tom ica

°r

'

^s vy

plaster casts of

of art academies in to insist

%

classic

Greek sculpture-

in order to recapture the classic concepts

musty Victorian instiGolden Age. Valiant attempts were made to re-estab-

and

that each student devote at

two years to cast drawing— painstakingly reproducing in charcoal the dusty

re-create within

tutions the culture of the

least

17

lish as a

"way of

art" the style

and "man-

ner" of the Golden Age, disregarding the

and good

fact that great art

evade

present,

cannot

artists

compelling influences

the

the

of

and that escape into the past can

only produce sterile counterfeits.

Of

we do not advocate

course,

that the

student emulate the classic and draw his figures in just that way;

ble that

much

but

undenia-

it is

can be learned about the

human form and

the

way

chitecture from looking

at,

to "see" its ar-

sketching, and

ist, for during the course of a dance the whole gamut of gestures the human body is

capable of will be run.

If

he cannot get

nude model to pose in dance postures, let him try them himself before a mirror and then quickly sit down and draw them from memory. Incidentally, this memory a

practice

is

invaluable.

It

is

procedure

a

that should not be neglected; for the

mem-

ory economizes far better than the eye, and the salient features of a face will be

remembered long

after

the details of

it

have been forgotten.

studying classic figures.

The marvelous

figures

by Michelangelo

have been sources of study for countless art

Drawing. Every student likes to copy works that he admires. Although there is no doubt that there are benefits to be

students through the centuries.

gained from this, there is a danger that in copying drawings the student may fail to arrive at the understanding of form that

chelangelo,

Cast

can only come from seeing the three-dimensional

figure. Since

models are not

ways available, nor are they always structive as

many

of the classic pieces of

sculpture available for copying in

and

art

classes,

al-

as in-

museums

drawing from sculpture

seems to us an excellent alternative. Exact

representation

of

piece

the

of

sculpture should not always be the objective in els,

mind. Rather,

as in the use of

the student should

shape, and

form.

bulk in an

Classic

casts

are

work

mod-

for contour,

effort

to achieve

available

to

him

everywhere— in museums, on public buildings, and, in miniature, in many homes; they are unfailing sources for study of pro-

portion and beautifully simplified muscles

and forms.

He

should study the fleeting gestures of

dancing

figures.

The dance

has always been

an endless source of fascination for the

art-

They

are

not "perfect form" studies of the ideal hu-

man. Rather they are "inventions" of Miwho merely used the human form in general to model his heroic conceptions on. They are to be studied and drawn as examples of magnificent stylization to suit a purpose. Indeed, anatomy was the blueprint from which Michelangelo

made

his

architectural

foundations

and then superimposed

his

powerful

fig-

The

student can learn

manner

of stressing

and elimination, from

which evolved the most dramatic

ure "stories."

much from

his

all art history.

m

v