Memory Drawing: Perceptual Training and Recall Paperback – March 9, 2013

What a loss to both to art & society that we are not all taught this in school as children. Finally a modern well written guide to visual memory & visualization training that is not based upon intangible methods like meditation but practical art instruction.

A great practice for artists and those wanting to develop their visual memory

It is always amazing to look at the grand art of the past - landscapes, cityscapes, figures in motion, genre scenes - and realize that artists of the past had no cameras to capture what lay before them. Rather they remembered. Yes, they often made quick on the scenes sketches, but then returned to their studios and used their recall of what they observed to flesh out their work. Today the skill of drawing from memory isn't given the emphasis it once was, in many ways handicapping artists who wish to better paint what they see or have seen. While today's emphasis on self expression seems to negate the need to remember what one sees and instead focus on what one feels, inspiration often comes from without....the way light and shadow play upon a group of trees, the texture of an abandoned object, the reflections on a window of a house by the sea.This book attempts to help artists to remember what they see, and then use that memory to make art that captures the reality of what was seen or the artist's particular view of what was before him or her. To do so a review of memory training is offered, along with excersizes. While the rapid presentation of images around us these days on TV or through films and videos teaches us all to be passive receivers of sensory information, artists can benefit from learning better to recall stimuli that attract them. This book can help do that.

helpfull

Very sensible and helpful advice

It was a good book,but maybe not exactly what my daughter wanted.

There is no question that artists of the past used memory training as a means of study. The author clearly shows the historical and contemporary value of training one's visual memory and clearly explains the benefit to the serious student. Misunderstanding the purpose for memory training leads to a poorly reasoned attitude toward the practice. From the writings of Degas to Boisbaudran, training the visual memory is extolled and in Rousar's book both the importance of the practice historically and its practical use today are well defined.

If you are interested in improving your art, either drawing or painting, this is not the book that will do it. The author's premise is that memories of what you have seen are more important than actually, for instance, drawing from a model. If you are interested in making figures that are lifelike and compelling, then I doubt you will learn anything from this book. All the proof you need of how not to make great art is to go to the author's website and see his work. It does indeed look like someone who is drawing from memory. The figures look like mannequins, completely lifeless. They look like symbols for people rather than individuals. It's also not exactly a demanding read - I read it in one afternoon. It was given to me by a friend who said she no longer wanted it. She was right.