Undressed Art: Why We Draw

Art is more than pretty pictures, it is a language that uses different parts of the brain. You need to warm up to it. Do it for a while and the mundane concerns of your day to day life start to fall away. When you are really into it, your chatter is like " you need to go here, you go there, up here, now down there. Yes yes yes. Oops, gotcha." Then someone will ask how you did that and you have no idea. You surprise yourself.Most art writing is pompous drivel. It may impress customers but most artists would rather use it for paint rags. This is not. Good pix, too.

An enjoyable and insightful exploration of the author and others' motivations to draw and particularly, to drawing live figure models. Steinhart makes distinctions between the many people he knows with who do art or model for the experience itself, and of those few artists who make a living in the art world. He also provides insight into the reasons why some artists still choose to start and finish their art with a pencil and brush, while a majority of art schools increasingly focus on digital media and galleries seek astracts. With his access to a large number of local drawing groups, the author's community differs from my own, but the motivations and aspirations of the artists and models he introduces ring true. Like Steinhart I make my living as a natural scientist and I generally gravitate towards realism in my art, so I found it easy to identify with his thinking. I've also shared comparable experiences to some of the artists who he profiled, such as having enrolled and then dropped out of my only academic art class when the instructor told us that assumed everyone everyone already knew how to draw and that he was there only to help us to see. I was also fortunate to find a scientific illustrator in the biology department, who assumed (correctly) just the reverse.

A wonderful insight into the realm of figure drawing; the whys and wherefores of what it's about and why we pursue it, written by a man with extensive exposure to the genre.I came upon the book as a result of having asked a well-regarded portrait artist why, at this point in her career, she had decided to pursue life drawing sessions again. Her response was to refer me to this book. Upon reading the work, I have a better appreciation of the place life studies hold in the continued development of the dedicated artist. An added benefit was the overview of the place the model holds in the whole process.A great read!

I'm glad to finally own this book, as I've read it multiple times from the library. Every time I hire a model for my class at Maine College of Art, I want to share a quote or two from this book. The author covers all aspects of life drawing and the benefits of observation, the rituals of drawing groups, and all that happens in our brains when we do this act of making marks on paper. It's fascinating, informative, and a thoroughly brilliant read.

An illuminating book covering myriad aspects about the motivation and practice of drawing. This is not a 'how to' draw book. Rather, as the title suggests, it explores 'Why People' draw.

I am not a professional artist, but I draw in life drawing studios whenever I can find time. The focus on form is a meditation. This is the first book I have ever seen about the history of life drawing and I found it very interesting and thorough.

I'm only a few chapters in and it's an assigned reading for my Figure Drawing course, but honestly, I don't mind. In fact, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys figure drawing and has ever wondered why. It is both a psychological and emotional explanation backed with personal stories and statistical information (so far).

excellent description of the joys of drawing, whether solo or in a class; touches on the wonders of drawing that goes beyond what is put down on paper, how it feeds the soul as well as the eyes and the mind. A must read for anyone who likes to draw or anyone who enjoys looking at drawings. As Van Gogh said, "drawing is everything"

As a budding life model I find this book fantastic!

I loved every page of this book! I found myself reading from it to my students and sharing excerpts with fellow artists. I bought a copy for a good friend who also practices the art of drawing.