Principles of Figure Drawing

375 Pages·2010·26.57 MB·English

by  Alexander Dobkin

DEGAS, LA SORTIE DU BAIN, COURTESY OF MR. HERBERT H. ELFERS,
DURAND-RUEL GALLERIES, NEW YORK.

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Bibliographical Note This Dover edition, first published in 2010, is an
unabridged republication of the 1960 revised edition of the work originally
published by The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New York, in
1948.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dobkin, Alexander, 1908–
1975.
Principles of figure drawing / Alexander Dobkin.
p. cm.
“This Dover edition, first published in 2010, is an unabridged
republication of the 1960 revised edition of the work originally
published by The World Publishing Company, Cleveland and New
York, in 1948”—T.p. verso.
Includes index.
9780486139814
1. Figure drawing—Technique. I. Title.
NC765.D57 2010
743.4—dc22
2010006982
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
47658801
www.doverpublications.com
TO KIKI
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Introduction
Proportions
Bone Structure
Muscles OF THE TORSO
The Limbs
Head and Neck
Differences BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE
Action and Motion
Methods OF DRAWING
Mediums
The Draped Figure
Conclusion
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX OF ARTISTS
A CATALOG OF SELECTED DOVER BOOKS IN ALL FIELDS OF
INTEREST
“The highest object for art is man.”
—MICHELANGELO.
Introduction
FROM VESALIUS
IN THE following pages I have given some basic information necessary for
good figure drawing, information gathered from years of experience as a teacher
and artist. As an artist, I know that there are no short cuts to learning how to
draw, and therefore, as a teacher, I have never believed in devising a simplified
method of drawing that could be taught to anyone with the intention of
producing speedy results. Learning by memorizing a few tricks may be the
quickest way of knocking off a picture, but after working in this manner for a
while, the student soon finds himself in a blind alley, unable to go ahead. The
rules he once thought helpful soon become burdensome and stultifying. What he
found easy to learn he now finds much harder to unlearn. For one thing is
certain. Rules are easier to acquire than to forget. That is why I have avoided any
pet theories in this book. Instead, I have enlarged upon the answers to the
problems that so many of my students encountered in drawing a figure, answers
that seem to have helped them to move ahead and develop.
We learn by doing, observing, and contact. We learn by doing when we pick
up a pencil and draw, improving the image as we develop our ability and