John Sloan on Drawing and Painting: The Gist of Art

Rating:
Summary: Interesting read but long-winded
Review: Overall the book is interesting but it does get boring at times. Sloan is a big advocate of drawing. What a big difference from other teachers like Hawthorne who says not to worry about drawing and just concentrate on color. It's good to hear both sides. This is one of those books you read for theory, it's not a step by step or how-to book. Overall it's a good read but not one of my favorite books. I prefer Henri's Art Spirit better. Henri was a teacher of Sloan.

Rating:
Summary: It's rare to find a good art book, by a great artist
Review: This book, transcribed by Sloan's wife (who was a former student of his), reads something like a working notebook at times, but, if you are a serious student of art (as every working artist should be), there are sentences in this book worth digesting over and over again. You might not agree with everything Sloan says, but there is an obvious strength here, built during a lifetime of study and teaching. Sloan was yet another great teacher from the Art Student's League (other teachers included Bridgeman, Hale, and Nicolaides who published significant books of their own), and one of the major painters of the Ashcan school of painting. I'm grateful for this book and wish that there were dozens more written by other significant painters.