Plein-Air Architecture in Two-Day Sessions

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iHR2oqktpfVvh8XW2JXW4m0CsQfSyhWlNDKlpXgrHVnt6CZcVdFjs7H03ec52Uomo2J4p6Nm6TKePxcTsDtvDI9P4Ebpeiiel320wyltKmr62eup8KdjjS7SZx39WHvi8H2x5tPg5mmK/s1600/Richard_Parkes_Bonington_Grand_Canal_Venice.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iHR2oqktpfVvh8XW2JXW4m0CsQfSyhWlNDKlpXgrHVnt6CZcVdFjs7H03ec52Uomo2J4p6Nm6TKePxcTsDtvDI9P4Ebpeiiel320wyltKmr62eup8KdjjS7SZx39WHvi8H2x5tPg5mmK/s1600/Richard_Parkes_Bonington_Grand_Canal_Venice.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This painting of the Grand Canal in Venice by Richard Parkes Bonington (1801-1828) looks immensely detailed and at first it looks like it would have taken a long time to paint. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But he used a time-saving method that works really well for both plein-air and studio paintings of architecture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi479sKaujPuoD9jklTGYvsCnoLx3OTwrC7zZt2l0V-tolfNfkwRsgOe-Ntp783F7cXjvozIQu2ZU9m6V6ZyU0uVhSW40o_TeATy1qK69eIOpTY3GrCKyDlWHoVZgpTmnXfd5OWOOiXppD8/s1600/Richard_Parkes_Bonington_det2.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi479sKaujPuoD9jklTGYvsCnoLx3OTwrC7zZt2l0V-tolfNfkwRsgOe-Ntp783F7cXjvozIQu2ZU9m6V6ZyU0uVhSW40o_TeATy1qK69eIOpTY3GrCKyDlWHoVZgpTmnXfd5OWOOiXppD8/s1600/Richard_Parkes_Bonington_det2.sm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The trick is to paint the large areas of the building fronts in opaque paint with big bristle brushes. Then let that dry completely. This might take 24 hours or several days, depending on whether there's a drying agent in the paint, such as Liquin or a drop of cobalt drier.<br /><br />On the second day's session, you can go back over those big areas with a smaller brush to subdivide the building fronts. A straightedge can help you find the vanishing points and keep the horizontals in perspective and the verticals true. Note that underneath the vertical strokes of the big windows above, he lightly marked the spacing of the windows in burnt sienna before actually painting them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XFJqHvtfjnLUClrM9o-GfbH1GFzwNkCJtBbq2_Cfv1NlKtJhGXgCu5RwH8YWjkEvAlriPxN_3kCDPA-TI8IzL0yCSR72kWGa-hZuGZk__xJw8scPiwjUWkgDw7yi6k7A9cRt3u7GbJsX/s1600/Richard_Parkes_Bonington.det.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XFJqHvtfjnLUClrM9o-GfbH1GFzwNkCJtBbq2_Cfv1NlKtJhGXgCu5RwH8YWjkEvAlriPxN_3kCDPA-TI8IzL0yCSR72kWGa-hZuGZk__xJw8scPiwjUWkgDw7yi6k7A9cRt3u7GbJsX/s1600/Richard_Parkes_Bonington.det.sm.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Not all of the strokes are dark. You can also pick out some light accents, such as the light stones and the insides of the windows catching light on the brown building at left.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgK133m_kCSCFslwxJos-X3Nxp7rrKJIlTS0ixE57brQ3O7vRewwBOfkXdY0LMFutuoM3g31dAnf2PsXSg4WJT604TQO2hkrd1VyLDKD7v0PfY1EK1OzBvhgpR5duqi0ewBbW-o0J4neL/s1600/bonington-acquisition-full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgK133m_kCSCFslwxJos-X3Nxp7rrKJIlTS0ixE57brQ3O7vRewwBOfkXdY0LMFutuoM3g31dAnf2PsXSg4WJT604TQO2hkrd1VyLDKD7v0PfY1EK1OzBvhgpR5duqi0ewBbW-o0J4neL/s1600/bonington-acquisition-full.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Here's another Venetian painting by Bonington. This one is on millboard, 14 x 18 inches, and was painted on location in 1826. It uses a similar technique—and it's also similar to the technique used by the master of Venetian architecture, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaletto">Canaletto</a>. You can <a href="https://www.kimbellart.org/collections/recent-acquisitions/bonington">read more about this image and about Bonington </a>at the website of the Kimbell Art Museum, which owns this painting.<br /><br />If you're painting on location in oil, these two-day paintings take some planning, and you have to be staying somewhere for a while. You can start several paintings one morning, then put them aside and go back to that spot a day or two later to finish them up. But if you're painting in gouache, acrylic, or casein, you can use this method all in one sitting. The mantra is "Large shapes first, small shapes last."<br /><br />The first painting is from the <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Parkes_Bonington_-_Grand_Canal,_Venice_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Yale Center for British Art</a> in New Haven, Connecticut.<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Parkes_Bonington">Richard Parkes Bonington on Wikipedia</a>

Plein-Air Architecture in Two-Day Sessions

This painting of the Grand Canal in Venice by Richard Parkes Bonington (1801-1828) looks immensely detailed and at first it looks like it wo...

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Popeye in Perspective

<br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKGa9hcAI-s">Video link</a>) In the 1934 animated film "A Dream Walking" by the Fleischer Studios, Olive Oyl sleepwalks on a skyscraper's scaffolding, as Popeye and Bluto try to save her. It's a tour de force of perspective, switching effortlessly between one-, two-, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(graphical)">three-point perspective.</a>

Popeye in Perspective

( Video link ) In the 1934 animated film "A Dream Walking" by the Fleischer Studios, Olive Oyl sleepwalks on a skyscraper's sc...

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Menzel's underdrawings

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unfinished paintings reveal insights about an artist's working methods.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RG7tRt4R4p5y0hpKOkjKmfnFCFjqWh2BgVsccDpkS0XTOHOeL4Lgb3X1oOK-B11o-0Xw5DXtBBT4dEEhRDZ-dAOkrgnp9dh9gZQTVyJ0N9Oud4s2ExkPOoANpf0Dm-tj3AHDZIAs6ebD/s1600/Menzel+Underpainting.det.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RG7tRt4R4p5y0hpKOkjKmfnFCFjqWh2BgVsccDpkS0XTOHOeL4Lgb3X1oOK-B11o-0Xw5DXtBBT4dEEhRDZ-dAOkrgnp9dh9gZQTVyJ0N9Oud4s2ExkPOoANpf0Dm-tj3AHDZIAs6ebD/s400/Menzel+Underpainting.det.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This unfinished painting of the inside of a church by Adolph Menzel shows the scaffolding of perspective lines that he laid down before covering them area by area in oil.<br /><br />Note the careful spacing of the steps and tiles, and the diagonally sloping centerline from the floor through the feet of the priest, to a point on the eye level. I believe this line helped him establish the correct relative heights of the figures.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGzFQj55yX2P_fXg6pYi7oLYQbXNIV9z1LxAy-_sHQ23HNYox3iyPLFQg3N-4wgM_SUIfz7J3DnCIWOUOgOz8DBdn3Nc6kcy401WpHOKuF_3mReCRREv7nCWdpJRFlZgnuJFiD9b7BZ02/s1600/Menzel_Underpainting.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoGzFQj55yX2P_fXg6pYi7oLYQbXNIV9z1LxAy-_sHQ23HNYox3iyPLFQg3N-4wgM_SUIfz7J3DnCIWOUOgOz8DBdn3Nc6kcy401WpHOKuF_3mReCRREv7nCWdpJRFlZgnuJFiD9b7BZ02/s400/Menzel_Underpainting.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One art historian wondered why Menzel painted that blank-looking face staring out at us. I believe that's just a stand-in figure placed there for measurement <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-toy-boat-problem.html">to set the heights of the other figures</a>. That figure would not have appeared in the final work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9A9jQj4YkHDb4I8hicvQUH-keuOEsVTXIAmo_j0Ykv0oMv-I5miQAZovsECWD_t_FboZTGxkCjfTxbI73ES-SHdGXEGKzW6xtxmS0863i-iVQMZiTedABzqDqh55ylDOWbFoA8ZGs6qf/s1600/Menzel+statues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9A9jQj4YkHDb4I8hicvQUH-keuOEsVTXIAmo_j0Ykv0oMv-I5miQAZovsECWD_t_FboZTGxkCjfTxbI73ES-SHdGXEGKzW6xtxmS0863i-iVQMZiTedABzqDqh55ylDOWbFoA8ZGs6qf/s400/Menzel+statues.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Such careful preliminary underdrawing would be necessary for an accurate study like this one, too. In fact, you can see some more uncovered preliminary lines in the lion in the lower right.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnplOjBZSk6zht-Y4Zmj1u3tKVmm1LOIeQW7Eto-7HQS3R8v-0HKqOwAmys6xhG7Yrvr2TlaH_agAPhp8gHiFeiAw5Do3io2uVVqAZkyvtOglslhxNVCJGxeGDfKvFh-b6zbv5xoKSqlk8/s1600/wl97.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnplOjBZSk6zht-Y4Zmj1u3tKVmm1LOIeQW7Eto-7HQS3R8v-0HKqOwAmys6xhG7Yrvr2TlaH_agAPhp8gHiFeiAw5Do3io2uVVqAZkyvtOglslhxNVCJGxeGDfKvFh-b6zbv5xoKSqlk8/s400/wl97.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Edit: Blog reader Ken did this diagram to explain. Thanks, Ken!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>

Menzel's underdrawings

Unfinished paintings reveal insights about an artist's working methods. This unfinished painting of the inside of a church by Adolph Men...

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The Toy Boat Problem

Here's a rule for you: <b>When you're drawing boats on flat water, the horizon passes over every boat at the same height above its waterline.</b><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpisfBp8oCQqZp0YIlCjXYH9z-DNdXKVx79J3Wza_1M5TwaCwUMJZeL0uG250_xRArLH9fXRFRk8s3nA1pRPBWftPZR55IDAz3w-XMm07sqXj0lfy2u78jECTl6upAYI7yG3c61resDo6Q/s1600/Kayakers+in+perspective.line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpisfBp8oCQqZp0YIlCjXYH9z-DNdXKVx79J3Wza_1M5TwaCwUMJZeL0uG250_xRArLH9fXRFRk8s3nA1pRPBWftPZR55IDAz3w-XMm07sqXj0lfy2u78jECTl6upAYI7yG3c61resDo6Q/s400/Kayakers+in+perspective.line.jpg" width="336" /></a></div><br />The photo above shows several kayakers in a harbor. Each kayaker is overlaid with a graphic of a kayaker's silhouette multiplied three times to reach the horizon. Each of their boats is sitting about eight feet below the horizon. That's because the viewer is standing with the camera about eight feet above the water.<br /><br />If you were drawing this scene, and wanted to add another kayak, whether close or far, you would have to make sure its waterline was also a little over three sitting man-heights below the horizon.<br />A boat placed at a given distance below the horizon must be of a certain size, and a boat of a certain size must be a certain distance below the horizon.<br /><br />If you get this wrong, the harbor will be filled with toy boats. A lot of artists have made this mistake, even a lot of famous artists, such as<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Weston_Benson"> Frank W. Benson </a>(1862-1951). Mr. Benson has established that observer is about four feet above the water, because the horizon crosses about one head higher than the standing boy.<br /><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOf0oxr2Cgg_ntT87OWiqdklrmM8_jtQPovsPos7jYMvg5pdEAFFjPmEEMPFVP7dCM6HobbBflrb_jCIE-uMyl9XObAeLLiw62_CIlxrDxTJYzmP3-yWrIPNBsE16qp7trdFonTm2IqRs/s1600/Benson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOf0oxr2Cgg_ntT87OWiqdklrmM8_jtQPovsPos7jYMvg5pdEAFFjPmEEMPFVP7dCM6HobbBflrb_jCIE-uMyl9XObAeLLiw62_CIlxrDxTJYzmP3-yWrIPNBsE16qp7trdFonTm2IqRs/s400/Benson.jpeg" width="330" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But if we apply that measure to the rowboat to the left, we have a problem. That rowboat now looks four feet long. If you stand it on end from bow to stern, it would just reach from the waterline to the horizon. The rower would have to be just one foot tall. And the figure in the the sailboat at right would have to be the size of a GI Joe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOx163k2T9u0pJg0W63ncs96pKvX7W2J1-3tnyvCGAEMtuChUg2gxhC_HWnNYEIuQVpJhREdWjlhP6me-aU2-7WFECiNgFVoom7KfZJzI48ceVmoyK9dVZOxs7srMsE8MJcT17y06XrrD/s1600/Benson.Corrected.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOx163k2T9u0pJg0W63ncs96pKvX7W2J1-3tnyvCGAEMtuChUg2gxhC_HWnNYEIuQVpJhREdWjlhP6me-aU2-7WFECiNgFVoom7KfZJzI48ceVmoyK9dVZOxs7srMsE8MJcT17y06XrrD/s400/Benson.Corrected.jpg" width="330" /></a></div>Will you forgive my effrontery in revising Mr. Benson's perspective? Here's a corrected version. I raised the sailboat and also raised the rowboat and made it bigger. If you prefer that rowboat to be smaller for compositional reasons, that's OK, as long as it intersects the horizon in the right place.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cpwV1WNnVGhLb2JxjMUJL25LqYlYshG14Vn5UpRcfEmySz7fAYHeiWuWvROYfq5f_PMYlRWlD6eb0mBeNWO3Bou5H-fuQuOB9QsSpuIBrEwPkTX1cuoSjVE-ITQjk8xI6m9t-otsVIGI/s1600/Benson+with+corrections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cpwV1WNnVGhLb2JxjMUJL25LqYlYshG14Vn5UpRcfEmySz7fAYHeiWuWvROYfq5f_PMYlRWlD6eb0mBeNWO3Bou5H-fuQuOB9QsSpuIBrEwPkTX1cuoSjVE-ITQjk8xI6m9t-otsVIGI/s400/Benson+with+corrections.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Edit: Since so many people asked about the Loomis explanation of this principle using figures on land, I have added them here. Thanks, Ben!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDf2LfHPTZK9N_OYCjYm9aWSbdC_F0KKpDUY7CS_l4pTaVUMzge1bs8RQYHTjGz2LfN390UqqOoGsbb0e0BlZ95PGM6K6i0T3UmSPg2beOnZ1WrCqi8GyiRyvCI7Fy-ez_Srhrc52m5LFg/s1600/figure_drawing_hanging_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDf2LfHPTZK9N_OYCjYm9aWSbdC_F0KKpDUY7CS_l4pTaVUMzge1bs8RQYHTjGz2LfN390UqqOoGsbb0e0BlZ95PGM6K6i0T3UmSPg2beOnZ1WrCqi8GyiRyvCI7Fy-ez_Srhrc52m5LFg/s1600/figure_drawing_hanging_01.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://carlten.net/cruise_photos/puget_sound/gig_harbor.html">Source for photo of kayakers</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Related post: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/02/tiny-train.html">Tiny Train</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/02/tiny-train.html"><br /></a></div>

The Toy Boat Problem

Here's a rule for you: When you're drawing boats on flat water, the horizon passes over every boat at the same height above its wate...

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Best How-To Art Books

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOyHYTyP0ZFxv3xesI0XtDvAwF8Yk-fWTuwSUBBWXLxfOOJN_Dk7lNQNtW-u7aKVOQpZx35vJ3Bd8fSBYda-N6bbH4s9cwWRMcS7-MdUh2qIhwQ7KYKZncs3ZiUcSelVDdDeFp-Sr4BM/s1600/Loomis.Figure.Drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOyHYTyP0ZFxv3xesI0XtDvAwF8Yk-fWTuwSUBBWXLxfOOJN_Dk7lNQNtW-u7aKVOQpZx35vJ3Bd8fSBYda-N6bbH4s9cwWRMcS7-MdUh2qIhwQ7KYKZncs3ZiUcSelVDdDeFp-Sr4BM/s320/Loomis.Figure.Drawing.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>The poll results are now final for the crowd-sourced list of best classic art instruction books. I asked you to nominate your favorite how-to books that were older than 50 years, and then you voted in <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2012/07/classic-art-instruction-crowd-sourced.html">a poll.</a><br /><br />The top three slots are occupied by Andrew Loomis (1892-1959), whose drawing is at right. Loomis attended the Art Students League in New York, where he studied under George Bridgman. (Bridgman himself has two books himself in the top ten.) Loomis did a variety of story and cover illustration, but his upbeat, glamorous style was especially well suited to advertising illustration. He taught at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.<br /><br />Loomis's books are practical, encouraging, well-illustrated, and clearly written, though some people have faulted the figure drawings for a lack of ethnic diversity—there really are a lot of 1940s glamour nudes in high heels.<br /><br />All of these books were huge favorites of mine when I was an art student, except Successful Drawing, which I was unaware of at the time.<br /><br /><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">1. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0857680986/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0857680986&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth by Andrew Loomis </a></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">128 votes (39%) Available in a facsimile edition from Titan books.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">2. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KGD43O/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000KGD43O&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis  </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000KGD43O" style="background-color: white; border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div class="p1"><span style="background-color: white;">108</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes </span><span style="background-color: white;">(33%) Now out of print and expensive, but soon to be republished by Titan.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">3. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0857687611/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0857687611&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis  </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0857687611" style="background-color: white; border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1" style="background-color: white;">71</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (21%) </span><span style="background-color: white;">Available in a facsimile edition from Titan books.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">4. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486227103/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486227103&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Bridgman’s Life Drawing by George Bridgman </a></div><div><span class="s1" style="background-color: white;">70</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (21%)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">5. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1619492377/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1619492377&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1619492377" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">61</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (18%)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">6. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B1611M/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008B1611M&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgman  </a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">60</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (18%)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">7. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JJVBLO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000JJVBLO&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Fun With a Pencil by Andrew Loomis</a></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">52 votes (15%)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">8.</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486229270/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486229270&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;"> Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting by John F. Carlson </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0486229270" style="background-color: white; border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div><span class="s1" style="background-color: white;">49</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (14%) </span></div><div class="p1"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="background-color: white;">(tie with above) </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BPIO5M/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000BPIO5M&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Famous Artist’s Course by various authors</a><br /><span style="background-color: white;">49</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (14%) </span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">9. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823045293/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0823045293&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptill </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0823045293" style="background-color: white; border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div><span class="s1" style="background-color: white;">43 </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes </span><span style="background-color: white;">(13%)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">10. </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195030958/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195030958&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;">Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist by Peck</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195030958/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195030958&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20" style="background-color: white;"> </a></div><div><span class="s1" style="background-color: white;">41 </span><span style="background-color: white;">votes </span><span style="background-color: white;">(12%)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">I feel like I should add a couple of titles that I didn't include because they came up after the nominations closed and therefore were not part of the voting. But they're also favorite classics: </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486436403/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486436403&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">The Artist's Guide to Animal Anatomy by Bammes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0486436403" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486436411/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486436411&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">The Artist's Guide to Human Anatomy by G. Bammes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0486436411" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399507914/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0399507914&linkCode=as2&tag=gurnjour-20">Drawing the Head and Figure </a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0399507914" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Jack Hamm. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;">----</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2012/06/survival-guide-for-art-students.html">Related post: My list of 10 favorite Dover art instruction books--"Survival Guide for Art Students"</a></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>

Best How-To Art Books

The poll results are now final for the crowd-sourced list of best classic art instruction books. I asked you to nominate your favorite how-t...

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Wheels in Perspective

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuuU8dDzU2IpfNwvBeWkykkr70NaDAWFO_xtp-yipeMrmJkmOaSfMR7jjZs9WszA-x_8qL3QHmBPqKEdMGVFseNd2uLbQkUySiv3SbKrZvcMAicAVYEMkhvH6FbId-c06qjqSIy4y6x8/s1600/Slanting_Wheels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAeBliT75ofGo0Zjq8CwtSVl_3iCLdzIqHmHJThNpta8GqF9OOGirs1eSN_gjCiLZLDn8dfF-pR5PVvuSDk9Rv0rgv8HDl3B1g4T92lMf1L7rGNYxfctbwSk2CaD-XkN11She8-Yfbtw/s1600/Indianapolis-500-US_Postage_stamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><br /> Last May, the US Postal Service released a stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAeBliT75ofGo0Zjq8CwtSVl_3iCLdzIqHmHJThNpta8GqF9OOGirs1eSN_gjCiLZLDn8dfF-pR5PVvuSDk9Rv0rgv8HDl3B1g4T92lMf1L7rGNYxfctbwSk2CaD-XkN11She8-Yfbtw/s1600/Indianapolis-500-US_Postage_stamp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAeBliT75ofGo0Zjq8CwtSVl_3iCLdzIqHmHJThNpta8GqF9OOGirs1eSN_gjCiLZLDn8dfF-pR5PVvuSDk9Rv0rgv8HDl3B1g4T92lMf1L7rGNYxfctbwSk2CaD-XkN11She8-Yfbtw/s1600/Indianapolis-500-US_Postage_stamp.jpg" /></a><br />The stamp shows the Marmon “Wasp” in an Art Deco style. The car is lifting off the ground, with the wheels leaning forward.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5I63mgyCKSgxLrV74LpKBE_3z5z3PusXje3Fd7sH-It6YQDmrvKlbScvkACnPrdj2nbpdI_PFlhoNfChLjcc9gLk15otjuWn9Tl8uK9aPT4YVxzHGcb3LJsmeY7LRatfl5bID6tQOcoo/s1600/Ellipse+in+Perspective.Window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoz6xRtakVdS6W3LPe7T4iWEKMU1ukF5-vQFcFW-CJ8klG-Vd1zCKMF42kBdcAaMqIPEb7XCpd2NqeK9bju_7RJE2lRN-y-1M7QyPB-ET15BFn9Ejt0XmuovM1w1vAzPLhX2kDPfC3ds/s1600/Helck_Peter_Race_Car.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoz6xRtakVdS6W3LPe7T4iWEKMU1ukF5-vQFcFW-CJ8klG-Vd1zCKMF42kBdcAaMqIPEb7XCpd2NqeK9bju_7RJE2lRN-y-1M7QyPB-ET15BFn9Ejt0XmuovM1w1vAzPLhX2kDPfC3ds/s320/Helck_Peter_Race_Car.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />The “leaning wheels” look was probably influenced by the illustrator Peter Helck, who was renowned for his pictures of early race cars. In both of these pictures, the artists made deliberate artistic choices to make an aesthetic point, which is completely OK.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmoz6xRtakVdS6W3LPe7T4iWEKMU1ukF5-vQFcFW-CJ8klG-Vd1zCKMF42kBdcAaMqIPEb7XCpd2NqeK9bju_7RJE2lRN-y-1M7QyPB-ET15BFn9Ejt0XmuovM1w1vAzPLhX2kDPfC3ds/s1600/Helck_Peter_Race_Car.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />But I wouldn’t want to ride in either of those cars, though, whatever the speed. Why? In real life, the axles on that poor car would have to be broken -- or those wheels would have to be out of round.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3qt6uCTbwNTgJIjwBbxsF8u71XRyZFumvXSFuoAQ-DbYZFjptoQUjUeWiL34i-5ei3raA-pJZm7UufyA3Th061qT1lp82DcxVnULSrC0GeV5PuNMcQ-MzkaSGxJLCo7DQGXdHjFCG2o/s1600/Cylinder+in+Perspective.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3qt6uCTbwNTgJIjwBbxsF8u71XRyZFumvXSFuoAQ-DbYZFjptoQUjUeWiL34i-5ei3raA-pJZm7UufyA3Th061qT1lp82DcxVnULSrC0GeV5PuNMcQ-MzkaSGxJLCo7DQGXdHjFCG2o/s400/Cylinder+in+Perspective.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />According to Dora Norton's <i>Freehand Perspective and Sketching,</i> the rule is: “The long diameter of a wheel seen in perspective is always perpendicular to the axle.” Or, put another way, a “the long axis of an ellipse on the end of a cylinder is always perpendicular to the long axis of that cylinder.” <br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5I63mgyCKSgxLrV74LpKBE_3z5z3PusXje3Fd7sH-It6YQDmrvKlbScvkACnPrdj2nbpdI_PFlhoNfChLjcc9gLk15otjuWn9Tl8uK9aPT4YVxzHGcb3LJsmeY7LRatfl5bID6tQOcoo/s1600/Ellipse+in+Perspective.Window.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5I63mgyCKSgxLrV74LpKBE_3z5z3PusXje3Fd7sH-It6YQDmrvKlbScvkACnPrdj2nbpdI_PFlhoNfChLjcc9gLk15otjuWn9Tl8uK9aPT4YVxzHGcb3LJsmeY7LRatfl5bID6tQOcoo/s400/Ellipse+in+Perspective.Window.jpg" width="255" /></a><br />Similarly, a round window seen in perspective above the eye level follows the same rule. The long axis (AB) is perpendicular to the short axis (CD), which vanishes along with the other lines to the horizon at left.<br />------- <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuuU8dDzU2IpfNwvBeWkykkr70NaDAWFO_xtp-yipeMrmJkmOaSfMR7jjZs9WszA-x_8qL3QHmBPqKEdMGVFseNd2uLbQkUySiv3SbKrZvcMAicAVYEMkhvH6FbId-c06qjqSIy4y6x8/s1600/Slanting_Wheels.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVuuU8dDzU2IpfNwvBeWkykkr70NaDAWFO_xtp-yipeMrmJkmOaSfMR7jjZs9WszA-x_8qL3QHmBPqKEdMGVFseNd2uLbQkUySiv3SbKrZvcMAicAVYEMkhvH6FbId-c06qjqSIy4y6x8/s400/Slanting_Wheels.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Addendum: In the comments, several people pointed out that early action photography often used a slit shutter, which traveled upward vertically, capturing the subject at slightly different instants in time. This photographic technology resulted in images which actually did have this "leaning forward" quality.  Above is an example. Thanks, Mike, PeteJoe, <a href="http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208476&highlight=wheels+leaning+in+pictures">The Jalopy Journal,</a> and those who commented.<br />-------<br /><a href="http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/indy500/news/show/40808-100th-anniversary-indianapolis-500-to-be-honored-on-2011-u-s-stamp/">More about the stamp at Indianapolis 500's site.</a><br /><a href="http://www.peterhelck.com/">Peter Helck.com</a><br />The diagram is by Dora Norton from her classic book <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1112529721/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=gurnjour-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=1112529721%22%3EFreehand%20Perspective%20and%20Sketching%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=gurnjour-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1112529721&camp=217145&creative=399373%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">Freehand Perspective and Sketching. </a><br />The book is available as a <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/freehandperspect00nortrich">free download</a><br />or as a book: <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=gurnjour-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1112529721&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>

Wheels in Perspective

 Last May, the US Postal Service released a stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. The stamp shows the Marmon “Wasp” ...

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