Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School: Classic Techniques and Expert Tips from the Golden Age of Illustration - Featuring the work and words ... illustrators (Art Studio Classics) Paperback – June 1, 2017

Take advantage of year of experience from masters of rendering. There is something here for everyone. This is not a "how-to" instructional manual but a "how to get your art to more fully express your vision" tutorial.

There are so many tutorials on graphic art out there, you'll be forgiven for asking if this book is really necessary. After all, it's hobbled together from materials used in the now-defunct Famous Artists School - a correspondence school for aspiring illustrators that pre-dates the "Mad Men" era of advertising and focused on publication options that haven't existed for decades.However, this book is priceless for many reasons.1. The Famous Artists School was founded by a dozen of the top American illustrators of the 20th century. Norman Rockwell, Austin Briggs, and Albert Dorne are probably the three names that are still most widely remembered today. These gentlemen knew their stuff and weren't going to lend their names to training materials that were of poor quality. If you can find the entire course for sale second-hand, it's an embarrassment of riches.2. Rather than focus on the nuts-and-bolts of learning "how to draw," this book distills the unique insights that Rockwell and his colleagues had and focuses on them. There are many, many books that can teach you about cubes, cones, prisms and cylinders. This is the only one that contains behind-the-scenes insights from such a diverse group of master illustrators.3. Most of the dated stuff has been weeded out. The original Famous Artists materials had a full chapter on lettering (yes, lettering), and a full chapter on "television art" (cartooning, really). You won't find any of that stuff here. This is all killer, no filler.4. This book is a great companion piece not only for an artist's book collection but also for a collection of great illustrations. Norman Rockwell fans, for example, are definitely going to want this one on their shelves.5. It's compiled in an intelligent way. Even though no full chapter from the course appears here unabridged, in no way does this seem like a Frankenstein. This is a testament to the quality of the sequencing and editing.6. Last but not least, while you could track down bootlegged PDFs online, by buying this book you are supporting the idea that there is still commercial interest in a quality resource such as this. The price tag is reasonable, and it's great to have a book in your hand instead of constantly going back to a computer screen.I've read a lot of art books over the past few years, and I've found a lot to like about each one of them. But this is the only one that I love to curl up with and enjoy for its own sake. Very well done!!

Good but not quite enough

I was hoping for more technique from this book, but it does give a lot of good information on the thought process of some of America's greatest artists and illustrators. It's fairly strong on Composition elements; and the "behind the scenes" look at other artists preparation of working space and design thoughts is fantastic. A great book to have if you are a fan of any of the Famous Artists School alumni and I did get a whole lot of new ideas from it. It's a great purchase.

El libro es muy bueno, lo recomiendo.

I used this book to help improve my art. It came well protected from the rain. I'm very happy with my purchase.

A wonderful book for all levels, students and professionals will benefit. Full of drawings, paintings (from early roughs to finished art) and lots of inspiration.

nothing new here