The Visual Language of Drawing: Lessons on the Art of Seeing Hardcover – September 4, 2012

Full disclosure: I worked with the author of this book as his monitor (a sort of teaching assistant) at the Art Students League of New York for five years. That said, and leaving aside whatever possible bias you discern from someone this close to the author, there are certain undeniable facts about the book. The first of which is that this is far and away one of the most comprehensive examinations of drawing approaches and traditions within our culture that is available anywhere.That McElhinney is unusual in a number of respects should be immediately obvious to anyone who has ever examined a "How-to" art book. For starters, the author is not presenting only his own approach in a "my way or the highway" style. Over time I have come to respect but seldom admire those instructors who can only produce clones of themselves and their work in a classroom. If that's what you want you can certainly learn how McElhinney does what he does. But he's interested in something else, helping you become you and, as you might expect, that's a much trickier proposition.The other instructors whose approaches McElhinney examines in this book range from abstract artist Bruce Dorfman or expressionist Grace Knowlton to the sharply focused precision realism of Costa Vavagiakis. I leave it to others to decide where McElhinney falls along this spectrum but the point is that the author has gone to considerable lengths to present each as a discrete approach complete with testimony from the instructor as well as drawings from teacher and students. Some are articulate enough to state their own case for an approach. In other chapters McElhinney elicits the instructor's philosophy through a conversational interview presented as a lively transcript.If that were all there were to this book it would be more than enough. But McElhinney provides two other invaluable elements that will make this book a classic. The first is that the author conveys a sense of where drawing has been in our culture and education over the history of the republic. McElhinney has collected and shares with his readers (as he has done with his students) some of the early drawing manuals authored by people like Rembrandt Peale in the early 19th century.And finally The author has identified 29 essential issues for student and teacher alike to address in a drawing course.He takes nothing for granted. And so the absolute beginner is cautioned that one should not hold a drawing instrument in the same manner one holds a pen or pencil when writing (and you'll learn why as well.) One learns why horizontal straight lines are harder to draw than vertical straight lines (and what to do about it.) One learns - perhaps to some surprise - that the first mark one makes on that blank piece of paper is actually the seventh line in the drawing. (See page 142.)I suspect this book will be of more use to a greater variety of artists, teachers and students, experienced and inexperienced, than almost anything that has come before.

The Art Students League of New York is the grande old dame of academic realism in this country and the books written by its teachers over the last century are wonderful resources for anyone interested in learning to draw. This book--written in the last ten years--continues the tradition of Robert Beverly Hale's Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters, etc., but in its own voice. The first half of it consists of interviews, essays and short discussions of art and teaching focusing on individual current instructors at that school, and the second half of it is McElhinney's passionate ruminations on how drawing should be taught and learned. To call him opinionated and excitable would be an understatement, but I mean that in the most complimentary way. Reading it is rather like going out for coffee with a good teacher after the work is done and listening to him or her spout off about whatever. Kinda fun. One warning--this is the furthest thing from a 'how-to' book or instruction manual. He may have accidentally left some useful tips in his text, but that's not what you should be reading this for.

For all art lovers, and especially for artists who love to draw. Here are some of today's greatest artists and teachers sharing their insights into the power of drawing from life that infuses all of their artistic endeavors.

I would definitely recommend this to others. Very insightful, with interviews and examples from very hard working and skilled artist.

A good review of developing your own visual language

Great book for learning to THINK about the nature of drawing.

great instruction.book arrived in good condition and as expected.

I sent out as a gift

Another excellent book, about B4 size with 196 pages. This is the first art book I ever knowingly bought that has more words than pictures. Having bought the Classical Life Drawing Studio, one of my all time favourites, I read that McElhinney had authored a second book along with other instructors and the book was the best ever “how to” book. This was because McElhinney had gone to considerable lengths to present each of the authors as a discrete approach complete with testimony from the instructor as well as drawings from teacher and students. McElhinney has also collected and shares with his readers (as he has done with his students) some of the early drawing manuals authored by people like Rembrandt Peale in the early 19th century and finally identifies 29 essential issues for student and teacher alike to address in a drawing course. The book may be hard going for me with its volume of writing but I’m determined to stick the course.

This contains a lot of reading before you can put it to good use, but it is well worth persevering with. I am always dipping in and out of it when I need inspiration.

very inspiying book