Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice

Technique wise, it might be better to go with Harold Speed's "the science and practice of drawing." The pictures are nice in this book, but a little too many drawings by the author. The flaw with this book and the whole subculture of realist art is: the belief that art went wrong in the 20th century, that art
= beauty, and that rendered =finished. The design section is a bit of a joke, associating good design with the use of the golden ratio and its sacred quality because it has been handed down from the Greeks (as if one couldn't make a secondary piece of art using it). There are some nice drawings in the book from the past and present (Pontormo, Degas, Steven Assael) many of the drawings of contemporaries in the book don't offer much beyond the following of a method and therefore have a sameness to them. Drawing can be learned, and learned fairly quickly with practice and determination. The book can guide you to realistic drawing approaches, but there is much more that goes into art. Studying design, arrangement, media, and grouping, could broaden one's understanding of drawing/art and could add to the skills encouraged in this book. The techniques are sound but the ideology hinted at here, is narrow minded.

This is probably the most prized book in my art book collection. It is highly informative and is really for serious students of art that want to study in the ways of the old masters. It has made me want to draw everything in sight.

I really enjoy "Classical Drawing Atelier" and will use it for a long time coming to enrich myself and others in the art of drawing. I wish there were more pages added to the book. The style is appealing and clear...... a great tool in the hand of any artist or art teacher.
Thank you.
Helen le Roux

One of the best books I've read on studying art and drawing. All the basics you'd probably need are entombed here. The author is an excellent artist and all her plates are amazing. Definitely one of my top picks of books on drawing. For what it's worth, I don't say many good things about many books on art, but this one was an exception.

This book confirms and illustrates beautifully the principles of Atelier work. The later sections could be extended considerably and I hope it will be. A good reference to have on your shelf and a lovely present for an artist.