Nature Drawing: A Tool for Learning
Edition: 1
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 222
Edition: 1
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 222
Choose Your Format
Ebook
$24.26 USD
$30.33 USD
This is a book for anyone who wishes to come closer to appreciating and understanding the events of the natural world through drawing. It is for the beginner and the experienced alike, for the eight and eighty-year-old. There is no one way to draw nature. There is only the way that suits you. And that comes from hours of trying this wat and that until you are comfortable with your style. Throughout this book you will find exercises and techniques to try, some basic natural history information, ideas of subjects to draw, and many examples of artists’ works to study. Above all, the intent is to show you an approach to nature drawing which puts more emphasis on knowing the natural history of plants and animals than do other drawing books. Thus, this is a book about nature as well as about drawing.
eBook Version
You will receive access to this electronic text via email after using the shopping cart above to complete your purchase.
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE Beginning drawing exercises
CHAPTER TWO Materials
PAPERS
-Inexpensive Papers
-Medium-Quality Papers
-Specialty Papers
DRAWING TOOLS
-Pencils
-Pen and Ink
-Other Drawing Tools
-Washes and Colors
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
BASIC EQUIPMENT TO BE USED WITH THIS BOOK
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER THREE Methods and Techniques
GENERAL METHODS FOR DRAWING NATURE
-Quick Sketching in the Field
-Quick Sketching to Lay Out the Longer Drawing
-The Longer Study
SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES
-Line Drawings: Diagrammatic or Expressive
-Shading
-Watercolor
-Sketch Board
-Educational Diagrams and Displays
-Seeing and Using Design Forms in Nature
-Scientific Illustrations
GENERAL HINTS FOR ANY DRAWING
-Considerations before Beginning to Draw
-Considerations while Beginning to Draw
-Keep Your Study Growing
CHAPTER FOUR Plants: flowers, fruits, and vegetables
BEGINNING EXERCISES
TECHNIQUES FOR DRAWING PLANTS
-Compositions
-Proportion and Shape
-Foreshortening
-Leaf Veins
-Shading versus Line Drawing
-Depth and Variation between Planes
-Which Comes First: Color, Shading, or Texture?
-Above All, Draw to Learn and to Enjoy
DRAWING PLANTS THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS
-Winter
-Spring
-Summer
-Autumn
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER FIVE Plants: trees and shrubs
GETTING TO KNOW TREES
TREE BOTANY
DRAWING TREES THROUGHOUT THE SEASONS
-Winter
-Spring
-Summer
-Autumn
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER SIX Animals
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR DRAWING ANIMALS
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
-Cat
-Dog
-Animals in the Pet Store
-Farm Animals
-The Zoo or Wildlife Sanctuary
ANATOMY
WILD ANIMALS
-The Smaller Mammals
-The Larger Mammals
-Reptiles and Amphibians
-Fish
-Insects
-The Lower Forms of Life
ASPECTS OF DRAWING ANIMALS
-Animals in Motion
-Character and Expression
-Surface Tones and Textures:
-Fur, Scales, Coloration, and Shading
-Drawing Animals within an Environment, in Activity, or with Other Animals
-Drawing from Photographs
-Drawing from Study Mounts and Museum Dioramas
-Drawing from Televisions
-Studying the Works of Wildlife Artists
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER SEVEN Birds
WATCHING BIRDS
-Beginning to Draw: Sketching Birds Outdoors
BIOLOGY OF BIRDS
-Skeleton
-External Parts
TECHNIQUES FOR DRAWING A BIRD
-Drawing Feathers
-Drawing the Eye
PLACES AND RESOURCES FOR DRAWING BIRDS
-Sketching Birds in the Field
-Drawing from Photographs
-Drawing Birds at the Zoo, Farm, Wildlife Sanctuary, or Duck Pond
-Drawing Birds from the Museum Dioramas, Mounted Specimens, or Study Skins
ASPECTS OF BIRDS TO STUDY
-Drawing to Understand Behavior
-Birds in Flight
-Types of Birds
STUDYING THE WORKS OF OTHER ARTISTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER EIGHT Keeping a field sketchbook
SETTING UP A FIELD SKETCHBOOK
-Drawing Equipment
-What to Draw
-Keeping a Field Sketchbook Outdoors
-Exercise for Indoors
TECHNIQUES FOR KEEPING A FIELD SKETCHBOOK
SOME TOPICS FOR FIELD SKETCHING PAGES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CHAPTER NINE Landscapes
LEARNING TO LOOK AT LANDSCAPES
ELEMENTS IN A LANDSCAPE
-Masses and Planes
-Aerial Perspective: Value and Tone
-Light
-Smaller Masses and Planes
-Linear Perspective and Foreshortening
-Composition
SOME CONSIDERATIONS IN DRAWING LANDSCAPES
-When to Stop and What to Leave Out
-Drawing the Same Subject
-Drawing from Photographs
SKETCHING LANDSCAPES OUTDOORS
SUBJECT STUDIES
-Water
-Clouds
-Rock Forms
-Snow
-Trees and Other Natural Forms within a Landscape
-Small Vignettes
-Color
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Index
Clare Walker Leslie is a nature artist, educator, and author known for her pioneering work in nature drawing and journaling. Since the early 1970s, she has dedicated her career to observing, documenting, and teaching connections with the natural world through art. She is the author of fifteen books and has created more than sixty nature journals, helping establish nature journaling as a widely practiced form of creative observation around the world.