Leonardo Drawings

Rating:
Summary: Even his rough sketches have a quality few can match
Review: It is a tribute to the artistic genius of Leonardo da Vinci that even his rough sketches have a dynamic quality that few people can match. The 60 sketches in this collection are sometimes rough, and yet they exhibit a detail and a precision that make them look like finished works. The level of detail in his anatomical drawings is so exquisite, that the bulges in the muscles appear to extend out of the page. Many of his sketches also represent daily events such a storm over a village, a grove of trees, plants in the wild and sometimes just the heads of people met in public.
My favorite is the sketch of drapery laying on an upraised surface. So lifelike that it is superior to many photographs, the level of detail is amazing. Arguably the most talented person who ever lived, da Vinci is clearly one of the best at drawing the world has ever seen. After looking at these drawings, no one could ever doubt that supposition.

Rating:
Summary: Great for drawing practice
Review: This a great book if you're looking to decorate your room, but it's not much for explanations. It is very lacking in text, but then again, the prints more than speak for themselves. A great book for any art collector.

Rating:
Summary: the ultimate picture book
Review: This a great book if you're looking to decorate your room, but it's not much for explanations. It is very lacking in text, but then again, the prints more than speak for themselves. A great book for any art collector.

Rating:
Summary: Great for drawing practice
Review: This booklet is good for copying practice. All of the lines are clear, but deterioration marks transferred on some sheets. Figurative drawing is best represented, but there is also some architecture, flowers, horses, landscape, and two drapery studies. The text is minimal, but it provides the date, location and materials used for each sheet.

If you want a more beautiful book, Clayton's "LdV: A Singular Vision". It has many of the same drawings (and many more) cleaned up in full color (lines lighter, but still clear). Marani's "LdV: The Complete Paintings" also has clean reproductions of many of these drawings (usually smaller) and excellent reproductions of the paintings.

Rating:
Summary: The Master's Work Is Incomparable
Review: This is a good collection of da Vinci's drawings. It is one of the best among those in the Dover Art Library. A few of the pictures so vividly captured the instantaneous expressions of men in various emotional states that one is left breathless by da Vinci's incomparable power of observation and stunning drawing skills. Another bunch of drawings had complicated contents and they all showed amazingly accurate perspective geometry. One is left with no doubt that the great artist is no less a great scientist.

This book, being a collection of drawings, does little to teach, but it is a good reference and a standard of excellence for comparison with other drawings. I recommend it for any serious art student.

Rating:
Summary: The Master's Work Is Incomparable
Review: This is a good collection of da Vinci's drawings. It is one of the best among those in the Dover Art Library. A few of the pictures so vividly captured the instantaneous expressions of men in various emotional states that one is left breathless by da Vinci's incomparable power of observation and stunning drawing skills. Another bunch of drawings had complicated contents and they all showed amazingly accurate perspective geometry. One is left with no doubt that the great artist is no less a great scientist.

This book, being a collection of drawings, does little to teach, but it is a good reference and a standard of excellence for comparison with other drawings. I recommend it for any serious art student.

Rating:
Summary: A good reference book.
Review: This small book is great for a quick reference to a DaVinci drawing but its not good for really anything else. Its just what you should get if you need a DaVinci drawing for a quick study. There are all types of drawing examples in it. I suppose its worth the money.