Figure Drawing Atelier

"The best way to learn about art is to make it. Discover the secrets of great figure drawing as you sketch along with past and present masters. This working artist's sketchbook guides you from beginning gestures to delicate rendering. It's your art, your tradition, your time. Take your voice and add it to the tradition as if the history of art has saved the best for now." Juliette Aristides Figure Drawing Atelier offers a comprehensive, contemporary twist to the very traditional atelier approach to the methods that instruct artists on the techniques they need to successfully draw and ultimately paint the figure. The book offers art instruction, practical and progressive lessons on drawing the figure, and high-quality sketchbook paper in a beautiful package that includes blank pages for sketching and copying. Artists will then have a record of their process, like with a sketchbook, which many artists like to document and save. In this elegant and inspiring workbook, master contemporary artist and author Juliette Aristides breaks down the figure drawing process into small, manageable lessons, presents them progressively, introduces time-tested principles and techniques in the atelier tradition that are easily accessible, and shares the language and context necessary to understand the artistic process and create superior, well-crafted drawings. Atelier education is centered on the belief that working in a studio, not sitting in the lecture hall, is the best way to learn about art. Every artist needs to learn to master figure drawing. Ateliers have produced the greatest artists of all time--and now that educational model is experiencing a renaissance. These studios, a return to classical art training, are based on the nineteenth-century model of teaching artists by pairing them with a master artist over a period of years. Students begin by copying masterworks, then gradually progress to painting as their skills develop. Figure Drawing Atelier is like having an atelier in a book - and the master is Juliette Aristides, a classically trained artist and best-selling art-instruction author with almost rock star popularity in the contemporary world of representational art. On every page, Aristides uses the works of Old Masters and today's most respected realist artists to demonstrate and teach the principles of realistic figure drawing and painting, taking students step by step through the learning curve yet allowing them to work at their own pace. Unique and inspiring, this book offers a serious art course for serious art students and beginners alike.

"Once again, Juliette Aristides proves how gifted she is, not only as a draftsman, but also as a cogent communicator of complex information. The close, living connection between past and present is apparent in her art and her teaching: what a rare pleasure, for example, to admire a historical master such as Michelangelo alongside a contemporary one like Steven Assael!  Aristides generously helps her readers—even those of us who do not draw – see and appreciate the excellence in every era."
–Peter Trippi, editor-in-chief, Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, New York
 

"Aristides, a true giant of art instruction books, advances the field once again with Figure Drawing Atelier. At last we have a volume that connects the transitions of constructive drawing with optical approaches in an elegant and comprehensive way. The synthesis is powerful and is sure to empower generations of artists to realize their creative potential."
–Joshua Jacobo, founder and CEO of New Masters Academy

"Juliette Aristides’s new book, Figure Drawing Atelier, beautifully presents the most important aspects of classical life drawing in a simple and straightforward manner. Every figurative artist, no matter his or her skill level, should have this book on their studio shelf."
–Jon deMartin, artist and author of Drawing Atelier 

Auteur

Juliette Aristides is an extraordinary draughts person and artist with a deep and well-rounded education and solid commitment to the atelier movement. She studied at the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and various private ateliers. She is now the director of the Aristides Atelier at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, Washington. She is the co-founder of the DaVinci Initiative, which works to bring skill-based art instruction into public education. Aristides exhibits in solo and group shows nationally. Her work can be seen at the John Pence Gallery in San Francisco and the Art Renewal Center Living Masters Gallery online.

Aristides is also the best-selling author of Classical Drawing Atelier, Classical Painting Atelier, Lessons in Classical Drawing, Lessons in Classical Painting, and Beginning Drawing Atelier. Visit her website at AristidesArts.com. She is based in Seattle, Washington.

Résumé
Figure Drawing Atelier offers a comprehensive, contemporary twist to the very traditional atelier approach to the methods that instruct artists on the techniques they need to successfully draw and ultimately paint the figure

Échantillon de lecture
OPENING 
All the past up to a moment ago is your legacy. You have a right to it. The works of ancient masters, those of the student next to you, the remark let drop a moment ago; all is experience. 
—ROBERT HENRI, *THE ART SPIRIT 

• The history of art in the Western world is inseparable from its principal subject: the human figure. Over the centuries, women and men have modeled in an endless parade of mythological, historical, religious, and portrait paintings. Supporting this stream of production were the studios, guilds, and academies that trained artists to master the human form. Much has changed in the world, yet the figure remains central to artistic expression—probably because, as artist Gary Faigin observed, a face is the most important thing in the world to a human being. Our shared identity as human beings forms the most basic link between artist and viewer. 
  When we pursue skills in figure drawing, we don’t journey alone; we join the ranks of past artists and are aided by a storehouse of knowledge many simply call “the tradition.” This body of information accumulated slowly through the combined efforts of centuries of practitioners. The tradition gives us a common language with which to understand art of the past and, as we add our voices, create new art for our own times. 
  In this book, you will study the same proven methods that helped train artists of the past. Most artists began their studies by copying the work of master draftsmen to learn the secrets of their success. The most important part of your art education is the basic skills learned in the beginning. During my student years, I took the same foundation drawing classes multiple times to gain the strongest possible understanding. 

When learning to draw the nude, many people are unsure how to start. In real life, naked people are usually nothing like what we see in films, fashion advertisements, or art. The real body is lumpy, spotty, hairy, blotchy, uneven, and rounded, and can be seen in almost every color, height, width, and age. It can be hard to look at a real person posing in an art studio and know where to begin. Artists use techniques for drawing the nude model (called “life drawing”) that allow you to see the structure of the body, no matter how hidden. Once you have eyes to see it, you will find that every person’s body is beautiful. Beauty is not a subject matter; it resides in the eyes and mind of the artist. 

The Greek philosopher Epictetus advised, “One of the best ways to elevate your character immediately is to find worthy role models to emulate... Ther…