Arthur Zaidenberg (1908–1990)

For a book that prides itself on teaching the reader how to draw, there's awfully little instruction going on here. The only bit that Zaidenberg gives is how to draw an overly simplistic human frame, and even then, he feels the need to tell us that his directions aren't terribly in-depth. His drawings are little more than doodles.

But then again, I didn't read this to learn how to draw (I can barely draw a stick figure!). I read this to get a feel for historical uniforms. Aaaaand...yeah, I can say it delivered on that part. The organization was a bit odd - I'm not sure why were hurdled from air force uniforms to chef ones - but I didn't exactly walk about worse for it. The outfits were interesting, at the least. I guess you can say I got what I came for.… (more)

The book begins with several pages covering anatomy for the sculptor; the arm, hand, leg, foot, head, eye, ear, nose, and mouth.
To start off the author begins by sculpting heads in blocks of soap. There are examples provided of heads sculpted by Rodin, Michelangelo, the Greeks and Egyptians, as well as modern examples such as sculpture by Amy Small. We then move on to the torso, taking into account action with sketches and photographs as reference.
Tools and materials are covered in detail.
Modeling in plasteline and clay, and metal putty, liquid 'cold' metal, or building up layers of solder over an armature (as shown on pg.87). The book also covers welding metals with an acetylene torch, and brazing.
Casting; such as lost-wax and using rubber molds and plaster casting, including waste mold, and casting in stone (cement with stone particles).
The back pages also cover carving; as mentioned at the beginning, soap sculpture is joined by soapstone and limestone, moving up the harness scale to marble before beginning a new chapter on wood carving in bas, and haut-relief.
Kinetic works such as mobiles in cardboard, plywood and even heavy metals are briefly covers in the final pages in 'The New and the Daring', covering the use of synthetics, plastics, Plexiglas, and the idea of self-destructive sculptures, and empaquetage - wrapping buildings or even areas of coastline in plastic sheeting (see: Robert Hughes' The Shock of the New, which covers this matter in slightly more detail).

All in all, I do recommend this as a very good book on the subject, especially if you appreciate the art forms of the 50s and 60s.… (more)

This book from 1939 (of which I own a 1947 reprint) has the greater mission of reassuring the reader that the skill of drawing is not some mystical ability handed the fortunate few from birth. Luck or talent have little part to play when considering the study and practice of sound draftsmanship.
The author stresses the importance of studying the figure as a whole rather than concentrating too much on drawing individual parts on the page and hoping that they will come together to form an accurate representation of the figure (a typical mistake).

With over 200 pages dedicated to the study of the human form, the artist has broken down individual lessons into parts of the body (head, shoulders, legs, feet, ears, eyes, etc.) including the clothed figure, although once again he stresses that each person should be treated as an individual and that learning to draw a generic nose for instance won't help as much as learning how to really study your subject in detail and as a while. This is when the text becomes imperative, since the images on their own could provide the wrong message.
Also included are fifty pages on the lower animals (cats, dogs, horses); finishing with a bit on composition and a gallery of drawings by the world's great masters for inspiration.
The author stress throughout that this is a study aid is not a substitute for drawing from life.

I see nothing wrong with this book's teaching method, but have to admit that the real reason that I bought this book was for Arthur Zaidenberg's skillfully rendered Art Deco sketches which show such an understanding of the human form in simple unhesitant strokes that one cannot help but marvel each time I look at such fluid lines on the page.… (more)