This instructive book presents excellent annotated line drawings of anatomical structure for the beginning artist. Explaining the subject in simple terms and with an extensive series of dynamic illustrations, the author identifies parts of the body and demonstrates a wide array of physical activities through his sketches. Following notes on proportion and drawing, chapters cover the human skeleton, head and neck, torso, arm, hand, leg, foot, and musculature. Numerous illustrations depict various views of these structures, movements of the human figure, as well as changes in the relative proportions of features at different ages. One of the best books in its field, Anatomy and Drawing helps demystify a complex subject by enabling students to visualize the muscles and bones under the skin, and covers just about everything a beginner needs to know about drawing the human anatomy.

Art Appreciation thoroughly investigates how quality is determined and created by artists in order to evaluate and appreciate art on a deeper level. This course emphasizes why each topic contributes to valuing a piece of art and provides the necessary knowledge to do so. Students are first introduced to the elements and principles of art and the importance of artists’ context and perspective. The course then covers different periods in art history, different techniques in art, and how to research and evaluate art.

This course explores the world’s visual arts, focusing on the development of visual awareness, assessment, and appreciation by examining a variety of styles from various periods and cultures while emphasizing the development of a common visual language. The materials are meant to foster a broader understanding of the role of visual art in human culture and experience from the prehistoric through the contemporary. This is an Open Educational Resource (OER), an openly licensed educational material designed to replace a traditional textbook.

This course is an exploration of visual art forms and their cultural connections for the student with little experience in the visual arts. It includes a brief study of art history, and in-depth studies of the elements, media, and methods used in creative thought and processes. It is the only resource I have found that approximates techniques, media, and an overview of different processes that is usually the first half of a printed text on art appreciation or an introduction to art. This is geared toward an undergraduate, lower-level student population. The art history survey is inadequate, but combined with another source, like Boundless' art history, this can be a complete text for an Art 100 course.

The history of Art is long and varied, spanning tens of thousands of years from ancient paintings on the walls of caves
to the glow of computer-generated images on the screens of the 21st century.

Known for its durability, a fresco painting is created in "sections" on freshly laid wet plaster, allowing the painter to comprehensively portray the subject and execute designs with ease. As both the paint and plaster dry, they become completely fused. Highly popular during the late-thirteenth to the mid-sixteenth centuries, fresco painting was almost a lost art by the time this book was first published in 1846. This volume, by a recognized authority in the field, was highly influential in reintroducing fresco painting to public attention. In addition to translating descriptions of painting methods used by such masters as Alberti, Cennini, Vasari, Borghini, Pozzo, and Pacheco, the author also interprets passages from rare manuscripts on the causes of fresco destruction and how to retouch, repair, and clean these works of art. Curators and art historians will find this classic reference work of immense importance and interest.

Unique in its presentation, Basic Drawing teaches by example. Through a profusion of self-explanatory drawings, simple rules of procedure are expertly illustrated for artists, enabling them to build a solid foundation in all aspects of art composition.Presenting informative facts rather than ideology, the author begins with perspective and progresses to the figure in movement; light and shade; and detailed anatomy such as the head, neck, facial features, back, hips, legs, feet, arms, and hands. Using hundreds of masterful illustrations from his own portfolio, Priscilla continues with drapery, composition, and trees and landscape, including outdoor sketching. A truly all-in-one manual that belongs on every artist's bookshelf, Basic Drawing outlines the fundamental skills of drawing with an effective and powerful simplicity.

This book aims to act as your map through the world of African art. As such, it will help you define the competencies you need to develop–visual analysis, research, noting what information is critical, asking questions, and writing down your observations–and provide opportunities for you to practice these skills until you are proficient. It will also expose you to new art forms and the worlds that produced them, enriching your understanding and appreciation.

In this essential guide to the basic principles of drawing the human figure, Pogany--one of the leaders of the Golden Age of Illustration--shows readers the path to artistic mastery. With a warm and supportive tone, he seamlessly blends instruction and insight with 375 masterful illustrations. The aim: to build a foundation for those who wish to draw skillfully and easily.Beginning with the humble dot and moving forward to perspective, anatomy, shading, portraiture, balance, motion, and more, this step-by-step resource is a genuine inspiration. Details of the human head, eyes, ears, and feet add depth to the instruction, followed by simple demonstrations that clearly illustrate how fundamental techniques are put into practice. Easy to follow and concise, this guide has long been considered an important resource for artists of all abilities.

Many art students and professionals have mastered the art of depicting unclothed figures, but still have trouble accurately rendering clothing or other forms of draped cloth. Part of the problem — before this book came along — was that there was a lack of concise and simple instruction on the subject, and much that was written was too vague to be helpful. This comprehensive, well-illustrated book was created to solve the problem.In these pages George Bridgman — a longtime instructor at New York's Art Student League and one of the nation's foremost teachers of figure drawing — offers expert advice on depicting draped figures. "Clothing is none other than a drapery arranged around a body that is beneath it. To express the multitudinous forms it takes, one should learn to express in a direct way the different characters of folds, for each one plays its individual part as distinctly apart as actors play their different characters upon the stage."Students learn the characteristics of seven different kinds of folds and how to render them, including pipe, zigzag, spiral, half-lock, diaper pattern, drop, and inert folds. Mastery of these principles is the key to realistic portrayal of garments, as well as the proper rendering of cloth in still lifes. The straightforward, easy-to-follow text is illustrated by 200 of Bridgman's own sketches and diagrams, reproduced from pencil renderings in crisp halftones. Art students, teachers, and professionals alike are sure to welcome this inexpensive republication of a practical, hands-on manual by a master of figure drawing.

The goal of this unit is to introduce students to the basic elements of art (color, line, shape, form, and texture) and to show students how artists use these elements in different ways in their work. In the unit, students will answer questions as they look carefully at paintings and sculpture to identify the elements and analyze how they are used by different artists.

Stephen Farthing R.A. presents eight practical drawing classes using John Ruskin's teaching collections to explain the basic principles of drawing. This series accompanies 'The Elements of Drawing', a searchable and browsable online version of the teaching collection and catalogues assembled by John Ruskin for his Oxford drawing schools.

The Gothic style brought both divine light and soaring height to medieval churches.

This book contains all of Smarthistory’s content for the Ancient Aegean, including Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean art.

This book contains all of Smarthistory’s content for Sumerian, Akkadian, Neo-Sumerian / Ur III, Babylonian, Assyrian and Persian art.

The “Beginner’s guide” introduces foundational concepts, such as the chronology of Byzantine history, sacred imagery, and wearable objects. Subsequent sections are arranged chronologically, covering the Early Byzantine period (c. 330–700), the Iconoclastic Controversy (c. 700s–843), the Middle Byzantine period (843–1204), the Latin Empire (c. 1204–1261), and the Late Byzantine period (c. 1261–1453) and beyond.

These sections include thematic essays on Byzantine art and architecture, essays that focus on key works (subtitled artworks in focus or architecture in focus), and essays that explore Byzantium’s relationships with other cultures (subtitled cross-cultural perspectives). Finally, we have included questions for study or discussion to encourage teachers, students, and other readers to engage with videos and other content on the Smarthistory website which could not be included in this book format but which we believe richly compliments what is presented here.