Publisher Louis Prang developed an art education book series including three categories of drawing. Constructive, representational, and decorative were also call con, rep, and dec. Constructive drawing mirrored Smith’s style of teaching industrial drawing. Students drew diagrams, plans, and machine parts. Con drawing supported manual training for engineering and industry. Although con drawing was still considered most important, representational drawing was the most popular among teachers. This was probably true because most art teachers were women who had not been taught industrial drawing. Rep drawing involved training students in how to see by copying objects, nature, lettering, and simple perspective. To promote the careful observation of rep drawing, nature drawing became popular in the 1890’s. Nature drawing also educated city students in plant life and growth. Still life arrangements were set up in groups and became a strategy for teaching Science and language.
The 1870 Massachusetts Drawing Act required schools to include art as a required subject. It is believed that this law helped aid the economy because of the production of engineers. If teachers attended professional development classes where they learned to draw, schools saved money on hiring an art specialist. The best technologies of the day were slate blackboards mounted to the wall. Students copied the teacher’s drawing lessons on smaller slates. Although advocates of industrial drawing asserted that all children could learn to draw, not all teachers were eager to master the skills themselves (Stankiewicz, 2001, p. 14). This lack of confidence by teachers, along with a broader drawing curriculum, contributed to haphazard teaching in art. Almost ten years after the Massachusetts Drawing Act became law, gray dots and guidelines were placed on the pages in drawing books. Around 1882, drawing books were revised from Smith’s strict South Kensington method of drawing to a broadened art education.
Publisher Louis Prang developed an art education book series including three categories of drawing. Constructive, representational, and decorative were also call con, rep, and dec. Constructive drawing mirrored Smith’s style of teaching industrial drawing. Students drew diagrams, plans, and machine parts. Con drawing supported manual training for engineering and industry. Although con drawing was still considered most important, representational drawing was the most popular among teachers. This was probably true because most art teachers were women who had not been taught industrial drawing. Rep drawing involved training students in how to see by copying objects, nature, lettering, and simple perspective. To promote the careful observation of rep drawing, nature drawing became popular in the 1890’s. Nature drawing also educated city students in plant life and growth. Still life arrangements were set up in groups and became a strategy for teaching Science and language.
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Walter Smith was born in England in 1836 and started studying art at a young age. He was recognized for his work and commitment to the British method of art instruction. Accepting drawing administrative positions in Boston in 1871, Smith soon after established the Massachusetts Normal Art School which prepared art teachers. Smith also made great strides in the history of teaching drawing by organizing student exhibitions and lecturing throughout the northeastern states and Canada. His approach was comparable to American drawing instruction of lines, geometric shapes, and line drawings of copied objects. However, vocabulary and verbal description was equally important in Smith’s teaching. Under Smith’s drawing instruction, students had to learn more than just copying images. Unlike genteel art instruction, scientific principles and rules of drawing became more important than just appealing drawings. Smith’s drawing instruction was dry and rigid but contained common sense and amusing inspiration. His teaching style encouraged students and developed their self-confidence. Dictation drawing was an oral method he used in order to gain student interest and excitement. Eventually Smith developed his own series of drawing books to replace his tattered collection of drawing examples. Through these lithographic drawing books, he could effectively teach his passion--industrial drawing. Teacher's Manual for Freehand Drawing Artist John Gadsby Chapman lived during the 1800’s. He acquired his artistic skills by copying old master paintings in Rome and Florence as well as attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Chapman’s American Drawing-Book instructed through methods of copying. Republished numerous times, his book listed motives for learning to draw: to make recognizable forms and understand visual images; for pleasure, but also as a practical endeavor; to improve American goods and compete with European manufacturers; to avoid error; to provide a means of support for dependent females and educating children; to support national good taste and art; and to assist schoolgirls in selecting needlework subjects. In contrast to Chapman and others who taught drawing through copying, Mary Ann Dwight joined those who opposed it. Dwight believed copying resulted in superficial skills and a lack of necessary understanding of artistic principles. She emphasized the importance of thoroughly teaching the basics of drawing. Scientific principles discovered in nature, according to Dwight, would expand, ennoble, and elevate mental capacity. The possibility for economic advancement and mental refinement through drawing motivated Dwight as she recommended all teachers know how to teach drawing. What do you think? To copy or not to copy? Since the beginning of history, people have created drawings. How did they learn? More than likely they were taught to “copy” by a grandparent, parent, older sibling, or a teacher. Copying was crucial to scribes during Ancient Egyptian times. Young Egyptian boys learned to draw by incessantly copying hieroglyphics. They were cruelly disciplined or dismissed if their drawings were not produced perfectly. Since before the Renaissance, young artists worked as apprentices under the instruction of accomplished artists. Fast forward to the beginning of the nineteenth century and apprenticeship was basically lost to drawing being taught in school. However, the techniques of copying continued. Art students had to learn how earlier artists mastered the human figure by copying their work. Once specific features and combinations of these body parts were clearly understood, student artists were then allowed to draw from life. Can anyone learn to draw? Click HERE for one educator's opinion!
During most of the nineteenth century, drawing was considered a skill to be learned and practiced. Drawing was an important ability not only in the world of art, but in the world of genteel society. Being able to draw allowed people to complete their everyday responsibilities, as well as establish a higher social status. Accomplishments in the arts and literature helped distinguish people from lower classes. Boys with good drawing skills were considered gentlemen and had a future profession in engineering or architecture. Technology was another context in which being able to draw had advantages. Because it was expensive for manufacturers to hire trained draftsmen and designers, legislation allowed the teaching of drawing in local schools in 1860. Shortly after this legislation, Massachusetts merchants and manufacturers petitioned the government for free evening drawing classes in order to benefit society as a whole. U.S. Commissioner of Education Henry Barnard stressed drawing was the key to industrial advancement. If you can write, then you can draw! The history of teaching drawing has changed over the course of art education. As early as the first half of the nineteenth century when writing was taught in school, many educators and artists alike have believed everyone can draw. Artist John Gadsby Chapman published drawing books based on the fact that if a person could write, then they could draw. Even if an individual was not an artistic genius, Chapman believed ordinary abilities and hard work would be sufficient (Stankiewicz, 2001).
I have selected to blog my research of methods of teaching drawing throughout history. Follow me as I research the history of drawing. Join me in comparing methods of teaching drawing throughout the course of history. Comments, suggestions, advice, and additional discoveries pertaining to teaching drawing are welcome and encouraged!
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Laurie Myers
I believe everyone can learn to draw! Through this blog, I will be presenting my research of comparing methods for teaching drawing throughout history. ArchivesCategories
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