Begin here and here if this is new to you.
The systematic training of the memory is a thing rarely attempted, and yet perfectly easy, and of so great use, that some artists have insisted that the true method of study was to go out and look at Nature, then, returning from her, to paint from recollection. By doing this repeatedly, each time correcting some error, or supplying some deficiency, the improvement in the memory will be astonishing.
But this one thing ever remember, that before Nature you are to lose sight of yourself, and seek reverently for truth, neither being captious as to what its quality may be, or considering whether your manner of telling it may be the most dexterous and draughtsmanlike. It is not of the least consequence whether you appear in your studies or no – it is of the highest importance that they should be true. You will find, in after times, that the rudest effort to tell a fact in Nature will have a value, which will shame your studied prettinesses into the obscurity of rubbish portfolios.
These quotes come from the June 6, 1855 issue of The Crayon. The author is unknown but was likely Asher B. Durand’s son, John, who was one of The Crayon’s founders. You can read the letter in its entirety here.
This week, work on the same drawing, from the same scene, all week. Find a simple scene, like the photograph above, and study it during dawn or dusk. Return to it each day at the same time.
Search out the big shapes and values first.
Once again, take a photograph, not to draw from nor even check for errors, but to use during review at a later date.
Darren R. Rousar studied privately with Richard Lack and attended Atelier LeSueur, both in Minnesota, as well as Studio Cecil-Graves in Florence, Italy. He was the assistant director and an instructor at Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, after which he became vice president of The Minnesota River School of Fine Art in Burnsville. He has been a professional artist for more than 20 years, focusing mainly on Christian themes. Darren is currently an art teacher, technology coordinator/coach at Providence Academy in Plymouth, MN. He is the author of three books, Cast Drawing Using the Sight-Size Approach and Cast Painting Using the Sight-Size Approach and Memory Drawing: Perceptual Training and Recall as well as the producer of a companion DVD, Sight-Size and the Art of Seeing. Through his company, Velatura Press, he republished an expanded edition of E.G. Lutz's 1921 book, Drawing Made Easy and edited a combined reprint of Asher B. Durand's 1855 Letters on Landscape Painting with Birge Harrison's 1910 Landscape Painting.
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See If You Can Help
Clearly, sight is very important to all of us. But not everyone sees clearly and not everyone can afford eye care and glasses.
Books and DVD
Memory Drawing teaches you how to visually perceive and accurately recall those perceptions.
Landscape Painting by Asher B. Durand and Birge Harrison, together in print for the first time.
Sight-Size is a way of seeing and comparing nature to your artwork from a given distance. The books and DVD shown below explain it in detail.
Children and young adults can learn constructive drawing through Velatura Press' reprint of E.G. Lutz's 1921 classic, Drawing Made Easy.
