Product Description

DRAWING: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH takes you beyond conventional approaches, emphasizing the emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social significance of art. The authors trace the evolution of today's art from that of the past, showing drawing's meaning and continuity. DRAWING: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH offers a combination of effective pedagogy, good exercises, and high-quality, contemporary drawings as models, focusing on contemporary artists who draw in a multicultural world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23291 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
"The authors combine descriptive and evocative language to direct the student artist toward the development of his or her own work. The authors are able to demystify the drawing process without sacrificing an understanding of its expressive power or of the complexity of artistic ideas it embodies. The inclusion of a diverse range of artists and artworks illustrates an equally diverse range of ideas that are made relevant to the act of drawing."

"The authors write beautifully on the philosophy of drawing and art and seem committed to educating readers on the changes that drawing has undergone in the last hundred years. They show us with a number of vivid illustrations and examples that drawing is a unique art form capable of bringing out the most creative impulses that an artist might be searching for…"

"[They] have written a comprehensive exploration of the complexities of drawing today. They show us, through historical references with descriptive and inspirational illustrations, how drawing has progressed from its status as a preliminary layout tool to an art form in its own right…."

"DRAWING: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH is an important text for anyone interested in drawing as it is currently being practiced. It allows us to see the possibilities within what the authors reveal as an exciting and dynamic medium."

"I found myself really inspired by the smart and fresh approaches to student projects. As a whole, I thought they functioned well as an intersection of new and old approaches to drawing, touching on obvious, time-tested approaches such as continuous contour of plants, but also opening up the idea of drawing to new techniques such as copy machine transfer…"

"It is rare that a book can communicate effectively across the landscape of art, addressing the multivalent range of students’ experience levels and interests. I believe this book does an exemplary job of addressing students’ needs as both thinkers and makers, and I would gladly use this text in my classroom."

About the Author
Teel Sale is an artist, writer, and teacher, and has had a career of national and international shows (drawing, painting, printmaking, and performance art). She has served as art editor of Trilobite Press, book designer for university presses, book reviewer for Texas Books in Review, and visiting artist/lecturer at colleges and universities nationwide. Recipient of a Pouch Cove Foundation Grant (June, 2001) for drawing, Sale was a faculty member (drawing, painting, and honors) at the University of North Texas from 1975 through 1989.

Customer Reviews

One of the Best
There are many great books about drawing in print. This book has some of the greatest elements of them all. It includes no-nonsense instruction for drawing exercises that really help people learn to draw well. It includes a lot of examples of student work and work by masters. It has a special focus on the work of contemporary artists, and I think this is one of the things I find most compelling about the book. The appendices are very helpful, especially the one about keeping a sketchbook. A wide range of approaches and media are discussed.

I used this lovely book as a text for a college-level beginning drawing course when it first came out about 20 years ago. I used it through the second edition of the text, and then switched to another book. After using two different texts and then no text for a while, I am returning to the Betti/Sale text. ...

Looking at Betti's "Drawing---"
Well written and containing up to date developments in this field. Illustrations are of a good quality. Altogether a valuable text for the teacher as well as the practitioner.

misleading title, uninspired take on contemporary drawing
This book is wholly overrated here. I own this book and have been forced to use it at a large higher education institution. I have taught at the college level for 12 years teaching drawing at all levels at several different schools. This book is a mediocre example of a drawing text book. The focus in this book is on rote exercise and traditional technical drawing knowledge. There are only a couple chapters where the authors make any attempt at understanding drawing's broader explorations and contemporary manifestations. There is nothing new or insightful here, the assignments are old stand-bys and traditional or beginner in nature. It is a decent book for a beginner but surely nothing extraordinary. If you want a book that gives practical, innovative, inspired and multifaceted (both creative and technical)lessons and projects in contemporary drawing you should look to book like "100 Creative Drawing Ideas" by Audette. This sort book offers really interesting takes on some extraordinary drawing projects from professors around the country. This books is practical in that the whole book is organized in theme; both contemporary, creative and at times more technical in nature. But all the projects shown in Audette's book have real depth and multi-layered lessons in drawing. The "Drawing: A Contemporary Approach" by Sale, Betti, has not a single project to compare. The title is completely misleading, this a traditional drawing "textbook" not by any measure a great book on contemporary approaches to drawing, not at all.