Charles Bargue Et Jean-Leon Gerome: Drawing Course

[jpohl]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/286770166X/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Does anyone have a copy of this book or have thoughts on it?

When I was about to graduate from art school in Newfoundland some years ago the head of the dept. handed me a pamplet for the London Royal Academy and said I should think about applying and "fulfill my potential"... after severals years of academia and busy with being busy exhibiting I didn' t feel compelled to do a masters at the time... I'm wondering if this book may be the next best thing? Or at least I'm imagining it's the sort of thing they learn there...

My drafting skills could do with some work... I've always painted in a pretty fluid, open way, finding the painting as I went... a bit of an issue with egg tempera. A hundred dollars could buy me a lot of brushes or pigment.. is this book worth the cost? I have a feeling it might be.

[dboles]

I got it a year or two ago and it is nice but I'm not entirely convinced it was worth the price. It's divided into three parts. The first is plates of plaster casts. They start with simple things and move on to the more complicated which makes good sense. If you follow those and do the drawing along with it they will train you hand and eye and it can be really helpful. But the book is considerably smaller than the original plates for the course so some of the pictures are pretty small. The second part is master drawings. Again, good but small. Many are too small to be of any use in copying without having them enlarged. The third part is quick figure drawings that I personally wasn't particularly thrilled with. There is also an appendix with a discussion on sight/size drawing that was pretty nice.

So here's what I took from the book. The object is to train your eye and hand using sight/size drawing by copying the cast and drawing plates. Really not a bad idea IMHO, and it will work. Also keep in mind that the original book/course was put together for people that didn't have access to the actual plaster casts. The plates are nice but not magical.

I can't really give you a definite yes or no. If money's not a real issue, yes get it. If money is an issue maybe you could do just as well finding a site that discusses and explains sight/size drawing. There's plenty of images of sculpture on the net to draw from or maybe you could get your own plaster cast. Although that would probably cost as much as the book.

[jpohl]

Thank you for the review. :)

Can anyone tell me if these plates are in the public domain? (Charles Bargue died in 1883.) I am wondering if it is legal for artist's to share the plates online for educational purposes?

[Salamander]

I have heard good things about Bargue's method. As well as copying the old masters. My favorite though is Andrew Loomis. His methods and insights to the form and gesture are invaluable. Another favorite is Bridgeman, (reprinted and very affordable).
e-in-o

[jpohl]

Bargue smargue! I was doing a search for cross hatching, and is it ever a small world! I just found out that Brenda Hoddinott, a forensic artist and author of the Dummies Guide to Drawing, and the Complete Idiots Guide to Drawing People is a Newfoundlander. :smile: She grew up in the same town I went to school, and it's hard to believe I've never heard of her.

And you have to love her crazed genius head shot.

http://www.drawspace.com/brenda/

Maybe I should start with this lesson:

http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/lesson.php?id=f07

Newfoundlanders have a talent for making people smile.. maybe it's all the fish oil they've consumed over generations.

( p.s. I just received an incredible photos of icebergs behind a house in Little Harbour Newfoundland today. I'll forward it to anyone if they are curious. It's pretty amazing. It says something about the spirit of the place... sorry if this is off topic, but some things are worth sharing. :smile: )

btw. Just kidding about the Bargue book... I received my copy which I treasure and intend to make very good use of it for years to come.

[RobM]

You can now upload photos to your profile page to share with us.....just go to your User CP and use the links.

[DLH]

Jennifer, My grandfather was a Newfe! He left in his teens, married and started a family in Montreal, finally landing in Detroit as an illegal alien. My father became an instant citizen after being drafted into the US army for WWII. My dad once asked his dad if he wanted to return to visit Newfoundland. He said, “Hell no.” He had no pleasant memories. I’m sure it was not because it isn’t beautiful. He had a stern and cruel father. As a child he was forced to work on the fishing boats.

[jpohl]

Jennifer, My grandfather was a Newfe! He left in his teens, married and started a family in Montreal, finally landing in Detroit as an illegal alien. My father became an instant citizen after being drafted into the US army for WWII. My dad once asked his dad if he wanted to return to visit Newfoundland. He said, “Hell no.” He had no pleasant memories. I’m sure it was not because it isn’t beautiful. He had a stern and cruel father. As a child he was forced to work on the fishing boats.

Wonder if we are distantly related? :smile:

It true there are harsh parents to be found every where, but since I've already led us off topic (sorry about that) I'll add a little historical perspective. It was often a hard way of life, with people starving in winters and surviving on less than a thousand dollars a year. It was the reason they grew to rely on the kindness of one another, and why laughter was so important. Years ago, the mercantile fishing system was often a stone's throw away from slavery for most of the people. They worked hard. My grandmother cooked for ship loads of men when she was just 13. ( You'd think I'd be a much better cook :smile: . ) In many ways Newfoundlander's have been Canadian's migrant workers. They helped to build many of the great sky scrapers in New York (being used to being high up in the riggings in stormy waters.)