Galleries - November 2019

C HRISTMAS booking Ways of Drawing: Artists’ Perspectives and Practices I t is only when confronted with a two dimensional glowing smooth white surface – a canvas or piece of paper – with the intention of leaving traces on it representing a view of the world stricly personal to you, that you discover a series of emotions, feelings and often frustrations particular to the process of drawing. Conversation with others who draw makes you realise that these responses are not yours alone and are familiar to all who are brave enough to make marks, particularly on paper, and allow scrutiny by others. 'Ways of Drawing' , comprises a series of structured essays authored by tutors and artists of the Royal Drawing School (RDS) which in 2020 celebrates its 20th anniversary. While there are, and have been, countless books published on 'how to draw', normally lavishly illustrated with progressive ‘sketches’ and drawing ‘tips’ this book is, in my experience, rare in its approach. Instructive art books tend to be books that you don't actually read, but this volume is absolutely credible as a good if not compulsive read for a practising artist - in both senses of the word, which takes you effortlessly from one essay to the next. Divided into three approaches looking at Studio Space, Open Space and Inner Space, these headings set out to describe 'artists' perspectives and practices'. Each 'space' has an introduction by Julian Bell (an academic board member of the RDS Faculty) followed by six or seven essays on aspects of the topic. As the authors are practically involved with teaching or drawing on a daily basis, their words are insightful and instructive for someone who has not benefited from structured tuition, and while being edifying to the nth degree in their philosophical analysis of process, they must also give support to practised artists looking for new views on pragmatic problems they may face in the course of their drawing exercises. For the reader who also has little or no formal experience of practical tuition, each essay concludes with practices drawn from the curriculum of their tutelage at the RDS, allowing the reader to break out of what can become introspective repetition into real thinking outside of the confining boundries of the edges of a work surface, both practically and even spritually. Moving from essay to essay, particularly from the point of view of distilling thoughts into a review, quotable lines build up to the point where there is a realisation that an entire consideration of the book could comprise these quotes. A heartfelt recommendation to buy this book for yourself or as a gift for an artist I can promote with confidence. Additionally and in conclusion, for four days from November 8 Christie’s, King Street, London is hosting ‘The Best of The Drawing Year’ a selling show of over 100 works on paper by 30 graduates of ‘The Year’, the RDS’s intensive year long programme for creative practitioners. Paul Hooper Ways of Drawing: Artists’ Perspectives and Practices edited by Julian Bell, Julia Balchin and Claudia Tobin Royal Drawing School £29.95 published by Thames and Hudson - 308 ills/HB. ISBN 978 0 500 021903