The Figure in Composition || Paul G Braun

There’s a charm and lightness to the illustrations in this book that makes it immediately attractive. The slightly retro look to the costumes also, perversely, gives it a sense of modernity. Finally, the looseness of the line gives the figures a sinuousness and a sense of movement, or the potential for it. The man relaxing with a cigarette in one hand and the other in a trouser pocket might push himself away from the wall and walk off at any moment.

So it comes as a surprise, a shock even, to discover that this is a reprint of something that first appeared in 1930. There’s really very little to give it away and the reproduction from what may very well have been a printed original (surely the printing plates can’t have survived?) has been sensitively handled.

The words are descriptive rather than tied to the illustrations – “you will see how the folds give the form and pose of the figure” – but, as in this example, you really do see, and the lack of detailed instructions doesn’t matter at all.

Honestly, this is one of the best books on figure drawing I’ve seen. It’s over eighty years old and fresh as a daisy. Have we really progressed so little? £8.99 is maybe a tad expensive for a 64-page octavo paperback, but it doesn’t need any further padding.

An Edmund Dulac Treasury || ed Jeff A Menges

Edmund Dulac was a book illustrator whose work immediately sums up the era of Art Nouveau. Sumptuous, dramatic and often amusing, his work graced the pages of classics like the Arabian Nights and the tales of Hans Christian Andersen in the early years of the twentieth century.

This selection of 116 colour plates has a short introduction and no other commentary, but is a joy to look at. The reproduction is maybe a little dark in places but, frankly, for the price, it would be unfair to complain.

N.C. Wyeth great illustrations || ed Jeff A Menges

The sense of drama in the work of Newall Convers Wyeth is best summed up by the caption, “Nearest to the rough pine box stood the widow, with lowered eyes” because, the thing is, you don’t need the caption if you have the picture in front of you. The scene, in fact much of the plot of the story, is all there in what is, in its own small way, a little masterpiece. This one is a western, but Wyeth was also capable of turning his hand to The Boy’s King Arthur, Robinson Crusoe or Kidnapped and of combining romance and heroism in a single picture.

As examples of simple, narrative painting, this collection can actually teach more than an instruction manual. As it is, we get a good representative selection of the artist’s work, a biographical introduction and an article Wyeth wrote about the work of the illustrator for Scribner’s Magazine in 1919.

The style is very much of its time, but the craft remains timeless and the book is a delight.



The Drawing Handbook || Frank J Lohan

This is a reprint of a book that first appeared in 1993, but the nature of what the author does means that it’s actually timeless.

There are two halves to it. The first is a nicely-done introduction to shapes and techniques, the sort of thing that every book of this kind includes. What sets it apart, other than the quality of the drawing, is that it’s all practical rather than abstract. You won’t search in vain for the traditional cones, cylinders and blocks, but you’ll find them alongside examples of how and when they’re used – the chapter title “The Geometry of Flowers” should give you an idea of what I mean. The section on composition goes into a lot more detail than most and, if you’ve ever struggled to get to grips with this really rather import aspect of art, then the book might be worth it for this alone.

The second half is a series of exercises, in pen & ink for the most part. Frank illustrates a scene (they’re divided pretty well equally between the US and the UK), then shows it overlaid with a grid and finally explains how the various elements were done. It’s a simple and very much no-frills approach that works surprisingly well. You’re spoilt for choice with books on drawing, but I’m glad they’ve brought this one back.