Question: How many artists does it take to change a lightbulb?
Answer: Two. One to change the bulb, and one to say "I could do that!"
When I learned about the original daily painting blogger, Duane Keiser, I thought, "I could do that!" My thanks to Duane and the other leaders in the Painting-A-Day movement.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
After Andrew Loomis
Charcoal on newsprint
Study after Andrew Loomis, a wonderful illustrator and author of artist instruction books in the 20th century.
A different style! It's nice; I like it. It’s more muted than the other sketches, I think. It’s sort of dreamy. The shadows have a neat effect, as do the dusky eyes.
Andrew Loomis was one of my favorite artists, partly because he gave so much good instruction in his books, and we (my classmates and I) learned so much from him. And partly because his beautiful work inspires me.
He worked during a time when idealization was a big part of the illustration business. Typically, he would find attractive models for his illustrations, and then idealize them, making them even more glamorous. The dusky eyes, and the softness of the painting were part of the process. This copy was from his book Creative Illustration. It was a four step demonstration, starting with a drawing, ending with a painting, of "the soft approach".
Very interesting! I guessed 1950's and then Google-Searched Andrew Loomis. :) not a bad guess! But then, I rather like 1950's illustrations, and have collected a small number of the classic Whitman books for their stories as well as for their 'idealistic' illustrations. I'm enjoying your blog.
I know that my local library doesn't have any drawing books worth checking out (I already looked at the half-dozen of them) or else I would go look for Adrew Loomis among them.
Loomis books are rare and expensive, but Walter Foster Publishing has been selling excerpts of two of them for many years. The excerpts are booklets, just a few pages taken from the original books. They are from Loomis's Figure Drawing For All It's Worth, and Drawing The Head And Hands. They are common in art supply stores, cost around $8.00 last I checked, and are worth reading and studying. The titles will be different, so you have to just look for the author's name. Foster has a habit of changing titles and covers on their books every few years, and raising the price. Unfortunately, they sometimes eliminate a few more pages at the same time, which is really a shame. Some libraries can borrow books from other libraries through a network. But anything Loomis wrote, drew, or painted is inspiring. If you search the internet, you can find all of his books available to view off the computer screen. I don't know the name of the website offhand, but a little searching will turn it up. Some dedicated person has scanned all of Loomis's books and put them on the internet for others to read. Hooray!
Charcoal on newsprint
A different style! It's nice; I like it. It’s more muted than the other sketches, I think. It’s sort of dreamy. The shadows have a neat effect, as do the dusky eyes.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Loomis was one of my favorite artists, partly because he gave so much good instruction in his books, and we (my classmates and I) learned so much from him. And partly because his beautiful work inspires me.
ReplyDeleteHe worked during a time when idealization was a big part of the illustration business. Typically, he would find attractive models for his illustrations, and then idealize them, making them even more glamorous. The dusky eyes, and the softness of the painting were part of the process. This copy was from his book Creative Illustration. It was a four step demonstration, starting with a drawing, ending with a painting, of "the soft approach".
Very interesting! I guessed 1950's and then Google-Searched Andrew Loomis. :) not a bad guess! But then, I rather like 1950's illustrations, and have collected a small number of the classic Whitman books for their stories as well as for their 'idealistic' illustrations.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your blog.
I know that my local library doesn't have any drawing books worth checking out (I already looked at the half-dozen of them) or else I would go look for Adrew Loomis among them.
ReplyDeleteLoomis books are rare and expensive, but Walter Foster Publishing has been selling excerpts of two of them for many years. The excerpts are booklets, just a few pages taken from the original books. They are from Loomis's Figure Drawing For All It's Worth, and Drawing The Head And Hands. They are common in art supply stores, cost around $8.00 last I checked, and are worth reading and studying. The titles will be different, so you have to just look for the author's name. Foster has a habit of changing titles and covers on their books every few years, and raising the price. Unfortunately, they sometimes eliminate a few more pages at the same time, which is really a shame. Some libraries can borrow books from other libraries through a network. But anything Loomis wrote, drew, or painted is inspiring. If you search the internet, you can find all of his books available to view off the computer screen. I don't know the name of the website offhand, but a little searching will turn it up. Some dedicated person has scanned all of Loomis's books and put them on the internet for others to read. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteThe website that has Loomis books to download is "Save Loomis!"
ReplyDeleteNice! :) I'll check that out!
ReplyDelete