Drawing the Head

Drawing the Head

Four Classic Instructional Guides

by Walter T. Foster
Publisher: Dover Publications
Trade Paperback, 160 pages
Price: $12.95

An accomplished artist and teacher, Walter T. Foster began producing his classic art instruction books in the 1920s. He wrote, illustrated, printed, bound, packaged, shipped, and distributed his books from his own home for decades, before moving the business to a commercial facility to accomodate his international trade. This comprehensive volume combines four of the artist's vintage instructional manuals to form an essential guide to illustrating the head and face.

"Let your drawing be simple," Foster advises, and suggests that art students begin with the profile. Leave out unnecessary details until the basic shapes are in place. Then add the expressions that make the face the most interesting of all subjects. Instructions include step-by-step diagrams using charcoal, crayon, pencil, and brush to create finished portraits, plus tips on materials. With an array of subjects that include men, women, and children of various ages and ethnic types, this guide captures the mid-twentieth-century style of illustration to inspire today's artists.

Dover (2009) unabridged replication of How to Draw the Head, Heads from Life #18, Heads from Life #18A, and 101 Heads, all originally published by Walter Foster Publising, Inc., California, c. 1930.

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