Expressive Drawing: A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within (Live and Learn Series AARP)

By Steven Aimone

The many people who long to draw--but feel too intimidated to try--will rejoice at the wonderful first entry in this brand-new creative series. Written by arts educator Steven Aimone, it's packed with solid, friendly, hands-on instruction, as well as inspiring images, and backed by the trusted AARP name. Aimone teaches an accessible style called expressive drawing that emphasizes line and mark, rather than rendering a specific object, which for many people, can create barriers to self-expression. Exercises start off simple and quick, encouraging readers to work on instinct and feeling, while the later ones focus on detail and refinement. The book features hundreds of images of work by well-known artists from Debuffet to Jim Dine--and each chapter includes a profile of someone who came to drawing late in life and achieved recognition.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1600592813
• ISBN13: 9781600592812
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Union Square & Co.
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 2.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The next best thing to being there...

I'm one of the fortunate artists who has taken a workshop with Steve Aimone. Not to sound cliché, but studying with Aimone truly changed my life and altered my art career. This book is the next best thing to being in one of his workshops. A masterful teacher, an innovative thinker, a sensitive soul, a deep resource of art history and knowledge, Steve has spent his lifetime brewing up an art curriculum titled "The Spiritual Language of Art". "Expressive Drawing" is part of his lifetime of work and is a book that will help you think about your art in a different way, provide you with ways to explore and change your approach, and give you a fresh set of eyes. You'll never quite see things the same way after working through this "mini-workshop in a book". And if you really want an immersion into a valuable experience that will not only enrich your art, but enrich your life, then sign up for one of his workshops. And although this may sound something like a sales pitch, it's not. I'm a person who started creating art as a visual journaling exercise, an attempt to heal...never with any intention to show my art or make it a career. As I continued my process and found Aimone's classes, my work developed at a rapid pace and pushed my career quickly into galleries. The book is a great introduction into the curriculum that Steve has created. As a beginner or pro, this book will speak to you. [...] --Audrey Phillips

Fabulous New Book

This is a fabulous new book by Steven Aimone. The book explores expressive drawing and it is an inspirational book for artists of all levels with lots of specific examples and exercises to do. Each chapter addresses specific elements of drawing, then gives examples of well-known artists in history and artists of today with beautiful pictures of artwork. It will motivate you to draw!

Buy This Book and Cherish It

This is a fabulous book whether you're an emerging artist or an experienced artist. Read the book from cover to cover, then spend a weekend working in your studio with this book, and you won't believe how liberating your experience will be.

Excellent unique art book

I already own Design! by the same author, but this book is better. It provides wonderful and unconventional insight into successful and rewarding drawing and line/mark making. The practical advice and lessons set out in this book by Steve Aimone easily translate to other mediums, like painting or mixed media. This is not the usual 'how-to' book and I know of no other that accomplishes the same result. As the author states at the outset of the book, it is truly a mini-"workshop" in a book. Just wonderful.