The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed (review)

84 Books form and motion, which Wilfred, Malina and others have recognized as central aspects of the medium. For the central part of the book, where one may obtain a clear understanding of the four instruments with which Jones has worked, 1 have only praise. In the context material that has been selected to accompany these details, I find too much missing. An overview of the possibilities of lumia available to the reader of Leonardo has been ignored. Perhaps I ask too much of an author who tries to be comprehensive. The Practice and Science of Drawing. Harold Speed. Dover, New York, 1972. 296 pp., illus. Paper $3.50. Reviewed by David Friend* It is gratifying to renew acquaintanceship with an old classic, for this is an unabridged paperback of the third edition of the book originally published in 1917. Although it includes specific drawing exercises, this is far from the usual how-to-do-it book on technique. Upgrading the artistic vision while exposing the rigidities of academic training is paramount. This Speed attempts to do through an extensive and clear discussion of the rhythmic principles of unity and variety in line and mass, balance and proportion. Chapters on Portrait Painting, the Visual Memory and Materials and Procedures complete the book. The author begins with a study of line drawing and mass drawing, the two basic approaches that he feels areessential for the student to master. His goal is always the making of a work of art. To implement his objective, historical art references are combined with the very aspects of each technique that he emphasizes. Here, again, the aim is to develop the ability to see a work of art as an artist approaches his task and, simultaneously, to help the beginner to improve his own work technically but aesthetically. Despite the passing of 57 years since its original publication , the book is just as necessary today. Millions of amateur artists have sprouted since then. While they have made some progress in certain areas of art appreciation, most of them are far from understanding what makes a drawing a work of art or how to produce it. This book helps to clear such a pathway. The Joys of Watercolor. Hilton Leech with Emily Holmes. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1973. I I 1 pp., illus. $12.50. Reviewed by David Friend** This book has much to offer for those who have advanced beyond the stages of elementary training and wish to improve their technical skill. The chapter on The Value of Mixed Media is worth the price of this small book. The chapters on Materials and Tools and on Methods and Approaches will also be found to be practical. The contents are based on the author’s years of painting and teaching. They were largely organized before the author’s death and completed by an appreciative student from class notes and memory of Leech’s training. He, in turn, was inspired in his early years by George Pearse Ennis, a skilled technical academician and by the artist, Arshile Gorky. Had he followed the latter’s path and concentrated more on the aesthetic qualities of art by studying the old and modern masters, as Gorky did, he might have become an outstanding watercolorist. Instead, Leech’s accomplishments, to judge by the illustrations, lean more to the technical, despite his obvious break with traditional academic training. The chapters on Composition, Working from Memory and Imagination and Creative Renewal, so essential to the gropingstudent, are unfortunately too brief and too general to be meaningfully applied. For instance, ‘where can I find more information on composition’ is the one question Leech reports he has been asked more than any other. *P.O. Box 405, Menlo Park, CA 94025, U.S.A. **P.O. Box 405, Menlo Park, CA 94025, U.S.A. The advice that he gives, in my opinion, will merely generate a repetition of the question. I t needs much more detailed discussion to enable students to see sensitive relationships as a whole, if teachers are to help them ‘open the eyes to the real purpose of art’. But this is a common problem among teachers. Training in technical skills...