Studio Seeing: A Practical Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Perception

A study of perception and its role in drawing and painting, featuring practical exercises.   Studio Seeing offers a close examination of perception as it is used by an artist in the studio. Michael Torlen shares here the successful process he has developed over decades of teaching and studio practice in a straightforward way that other artists can apply to their own work. Using examples from his own experience and supporting them with a rich illustration program that includes works from historical and contemporary artists, Torlen distills clear, effective principles for painting and drawing that will help artists make great strides in their understanding and ability. Each chapter is rounded out with exercises designed to help artists immediately understand and apply its concepts.  

Table of Contents:
Figures Foreword    Julian Kreimer    A Practical-Meditative Lineage XVII    Teaching XVIII    Learning to “See the Ground” Preface    Learning to See    The Brick    The Lineage Introduction 1. The Fear Factor    The Bare Canvas    Into the Void    Course of Action    Fear’s Tyranny    Mistakes and Accidents    Part-to-part    Recap 2. How We See It, How We Don’t    The 3D Cues       Perspective       Binocular Vision       Light and Shadow       Relative Motion    Recap    Exercises – Two or One Eyed 3. The Artist’s Vision    The Monocular Cues    Constancy    2D Visual Cues       Position       Shape-Size       Overlap       Value Contrast       Color Contrast    Hierarchy and Interaction    Recap    Exercises – 2D Cues 4. More About Seeing    Parts and Wholes    The Gestalt Contribution    Think Ahead    Arnheim    Where and What    Figuring the Ground    Object-Directed vs. Ground-Directed Seeing    Past Experience, Purpose, and Action    Recap    Exercises – Parts and Whole  5. Beyond Face or Vase    Head First    Figure-Ground    Not Negative and Positive    Edge-condition    Yes and No    Intentions, Meanings, and Context    Recap    Exercises – F/G 6. Forces in the Field    Inner Necessity    Closure    Coincidence of Edge and Continuity    Locales    Recap    Exercises – Three C’s 7. Line    Positioning Line    Contour    Gesture    Blind-contour    Cross-contour    Recap    Exercises – DYI 8. Value    Positioning Value    Reserving the Light    Adding and Subtracting    On Readymade    Adding Wash and Brush    Elegance or Clumsiness    Recap    Exercises – Plus and Minus 9. Brush, Paint, Process    Shape Paint, Don’t Paint Shapes    Color Studies    Bridging Triangle    DLWCDI    Recap    Exercises–DLM  10. Muscles and Marks    The Body Against Itself    Four Variables       Pressure       Tempo       Duration       Direction    Deliberate Practice    Recap    Exercises–PTDD  11. Figuring Where    Plumb, Level, and Square    The Frame    Sighting and Measuring    2D to 2D    Linear Perspective    Aerial Perspective    Sfumato    Recap    Exercises–Devices  12. Unmediated Response    Focal Point    Approximation    The Great Law    Recap    Exercises–Focal Point 13. Fixing    Jumping Parts    Add More of It    Build a Bridge    Reverse the Overlap    Adjust the Scale    Do Something Else    Recap    Exercises–Ground-Directed  14. The End is The Beginning    Limits of Language    Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes    Meaning, Metaphor, Myth    Last Words Endnotes Bibliography Acknowledgments About the Author Index

About the Author :
Michael Torlen is a visual artist, author, and Professor Emeritus of the School of Art+Design, Purchase College, State University of New York, where he taught painting and drawing, and received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He earned his BFA at Cranbrook Academy of Art and his MFA at The Ohio State University. Although known for his seascapes of Maine, he also has a body of semi-abstract work about family, cancer, love, and death. Torlen maintains a studio and lives in Westbrook, Maine, with his wife, author and educator, Eleanor Phillips Brackbill. For more information: www.michaeltorlen.com www.michaeltorlenauthor.com

Review :
“Studio Seeing is a great resource for artists and students or anyone who wants to learn about the mystery of painting and drawing—essentially the making of flat shapes to communicate multi-dimensional perceptions, concepts, and meanings. This book is a wonderful exploration of that mystery as it so deftly explicates perception, material, and methods as applied to painting and drawing. It makes for good reading whether you want to use it as a teaching/learning aid or just as a pleasure to read.” “Studio Seeing is a timely work making a case for ‘vison-based pedagogy.’ The book is filled with helpful anecdotes, clever and memorable analogies, and excellent exercises. More than just an instruction book or teacher’s manual, Torlen explains the reason and the context for the exercises included in the book, articulating many of the ideas that painters understand in making their work but are often less able to explain.” “Torlen’s experiences as a student, a teacher, and a practicing artist enhance his discussions of the psychology and physiological components in how we see. Studio Seeing is an informative examination of visual perception and the methods for advancing an individual’s skills in drawing and painting.” “In this brilliant book, Michael Torlen sets out to create what he calls an “Academy of Individuals,” inviting artists to follow their individual interests and stylistic paths. Studio Seeing covers a lot of ground, from facing a bare canvas to chapters on perception, line, and value. By way of clear, well-wrought guidance, diverse illustrations, and engaging exercises, Torlen draws on a lifetime of art-making and teaching to enrich the creative lives of artists. The book is a gift to artists and those of us who want to know how the creative process works. Read this book and you’ll see.” “Studio Seeing is a triumph. I don’t believe anyone has written about ‘seeing’ so clearly and completely. ‘Seeing’ things entails more than copying things that you see. Seeing ‘things’ is not understanding things unless you see them in relation to what is adjacent to them, in front of them, behind them or even things that are not there. It is the context of things that gives the viewer (or the artist) understanding. How you perceive things can control meaning; and meaning can vary from person to person. Therein lies the power of art. Having Michael Torlen as a teacher was a gift. It is thrilling to have a book that puts his lifetime of experience and thoughts in one place for artists, young and old, to learn from and enjoy.” “Michael Torlen’s Studio Seeing, an assemblage of pedagogical postulates honed over a career of interacting with artists, is an essential volume for those interested in art, perception, artists, or the education of people with these interests.” “A must have book for anyone who wants to learn how to ‘see.’”