The line has in itself neither matter nor substance and may rather be called an imaginary idea than a real object. Leonardo da Vinci wrote this brief statement in one of his notebooks. It provided the impetus for writing this book, along with another observation from the artist Rico LeBrun:

True lines do not exist in nature; we invent them. They are poetic fiction.

Of all the tools in an artist’s toolbox, the line is the most elementary. It is also the most contrived because lines, as LeBrun noted, do not exist in nature. We use lines in drawing to define shapes, but in fact there are no outlines at the edges of objects. I began to notice how often we use lines to represent an idea. I had a growing feeling there was something profound about a line as an imaginary idea. This, I felt, had a much broader significance far beyond its use in art.

“You’ve got a continuity of three million years of very little change. And then, from forty thousand years ago to now—change, change, change—that’s the nature of the game.” That’s anthropologist Harold Dibble from a conversation captured in the book Café Neandertal. Author Beebe Bahrami summarizes the conversation: “Everyone agrees on the rate of change but not on why…. But the fact holds that 40,000 years ago we began doing things differently from all our ancestors of the past three million years, and that only accelerated into a mind-boggling alteration of the world as never seen before.”

Mark of Distinction presents a plausible theory for what catalyst launched our human ancestors onto the path that brought us to the world we live in now. It brings together ideas from paleoanthropologists, neuroscientists, linguists, historians, and artists to consider the possible spark that ignited the human imagination—how a simple prehistoric invention could lead to what has been called the Big Bang of Human Consciousness or the Dawn of Human Culture—and propelled us into the modern world.

Artist to Artist brings together more than one thousand quotations from artists on 57 subjects ranging from creativity to solitude, technique to talent. Clint Brown drew these quotations from years of reading about art and artists, most especially works in the artist’s own words. The result is a wealth of witty, wise, thought provoking, and inspiring words from Old Masters such as Leonardo daVinci, Michelangelo, and Titian; Impressionists such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, Matisse, and van Gogh; and modern masters from Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore to Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. Arranged alphabetically by subject, with an index to help readers find quotes by individual artists, the book creates a sort of ongoing dialogue among the 207 artists represented. Available in paperback or hard cover.

This is primarily a picture book, with images of work created over a lifetime. There is still work to be created, but this represents a large part of work done up to this point. These are both three-dimensional and two-dimensional works of art as well as some that blend 3D and 2D elements.

The images are presented more or less chronologically, following the sequence in which they were created. The choice of media, the occasional switch back and forth between two and three dimensions, or a shift in emphasis sometimes came about in response to other artists’ works or current events.

This book complements the artist’s previous collection, Clint Brown: Drawings (Jackson Creek Press, 2015).

This collection represents five decades of exploring the human figure through drawings. Clint Brown uses the nude as both a formal compositional device and as an expressive ­metaphor to reveal aspects of the human condition.

From the introduction: “Drawing is something I’ve done for as long as I can remember. My report cards from kindergarten and first grade begin mentioning my enthusiasm for art, which the teachers wanted to encourage. However, soon the tune changed, and the teachers were suggesting that I needed to spend more time on my reading and arithmetic and less time drawing—which was true.”

The leading textbook for figure-drawing classes, Drawing From Life provides a clear, comprehensive, and thought-provoking guide to drawing the human form for anyone interested in exploring this time-honored artistic tradition. For centuries, drawing the human figure has given artists the tools and vocabulary for creating paintings, sculpture, drawings, or prints from Renaissance classical to contemporary expression. Drawing from Life takes a natural, progressive approach to drawing the figure beginning with quick gesture sketches to attune the artist’s eye, providing techniques for mastering the difficult elements of proportion and perspective, exploring the expressive use of line and value, examining the anatomy of the human form and its influence on structure and gesture, and ending with an invigorating discussion of the predominant approaches to using the figure in art today. The wealth of exquisite drawings from master artists through the ages supports the concepts presented in the text.

Among the Third Edition’s highlights:
•   Clearly explained techniques for mastering the art of figure drawing.
•   Studio exercises that provide direction for developing your expertise and
•   Guidance and encouragement for becoming your own best critic.

Look for used copies of all three editions at Thriftbooks.com.