On Drawing

This new edition of On Drawing introduces the main elements and domains of drawing throughout history, including seminal topics such as letter design, geometry, and subjects, but also drawing for picture books and graphic novels, as well as providing practical information of how one learns to draw professionally. A brief glossary is included, as well as a helpful appendix which offers a series of exercises on several core topics for student use.

This new edition draws on Roger Winters' considerable experience from several years of classroom instruction as well as professional work, culminating in a thoroughly revised introduction to the elements and domains of drawing. More attention is given to the visual ideas of drawing in this edition, dealing with seminal topics such as letter design, geometry, and subjects, but also drawing for picture books and graphic novels, as well as providing practical information of how one learns to draw professionally. While the Internet has permanently reduced the distance between cultures, this new edition reflects this phenomenon with content on the emergence of a global art. This book shows a special interest—without taking sides—in the intellectualizing of art brought about by university art departments and technology, and the effect this has had on traditional skill-based approaches to art. A brief glossary is included, as well as a helpful appendix which offers a series of exercises on several core topics for student use.

Part 1 Chapter One: A Brief History
Chapter 2 Nascent Drawing; Prehistoric Drawings; Replication; The Age of Disillusion; New Questions
Part 3 Chapter Two: Process or Product?
Chapter 4 Drawing as a Verb; Gesture Drawing; Ephemera; Drawing as a Noun; A Complete Sentence
Part 5 Chapter Three: Cutting
Chapter 6 Scissors; Assemblage; Installations
Part 7 Chapter Four: Drawing and Writing
Chapter 8 Early Writing; Hieroglyphics; Arabic; Chinese Calligraphy; Illuminated Books; Contemporary Hand Lettering; Modern Pictography
Part 9 Chapter Five: Geometry
Chapter 10 The Golden Section; Geometry in Aboriginal Art; Geometry and the 20th Century; Linear Perspective; Isometric Drawing; Oblique Drawing; Options; Vernacular Geometry; The Geometric Figure in Contemporary Art; Pure Form
Part 11 Chapter Six: Subjects
Chapter 12 The Nude; The Head; Landscapes; More Flora and Fauna; Social Commentary; Della Street; The Landscape of the Mind
Part 13 Chapter Seven: The Picture Story
Chapter 14 The Comics; Graphic Books; Animation; Illustrated Children's Books
Part 15 Chapter Eight: The Learning Process
Chapter 16 The Academy; The Atelier; University Art Departments; A Challenge; Teaching and Technology
Part 17 Epilogue
Part 18 Appendix