Drawing Lessons with Da Vinci: An Artist’s Guide to Geometry, Anatomy, and Proportion - Softcover

Roig, Gabriel Martín

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1446316793 ISBN 13: 9781446316795

Publisher: David & Charles, 2026

Synopsis

A comprehensive art course that reveals Leonardo da Vinci’s incredible life, work, and legacy.

Explore the techniques, principles, and practice of Da Vinci’s work: from the Vitruvian Man and the Mona Lisa to the La Scapigliata

• With reproductions from his original sketchbooks that show the beauty, detail and incredible accuracy of his work
• Combined with practical exercises, you will gain a greater insight to the Golden Ratio, the human form, sfumato, perspective and proportion
• Step-by-step exercises demonstrate Da Vinci’s original thought process for capturing hands, faces, still life, and the natural world
• In-depth studies of his work on portraits, movement, and methods of composition will provide you with a greater level of understanding and appreciation for his skill and thought process
• Packed with nearly 600 artworks, sketches, and step-by-step photos

Join acclaimed artist Garbriel Martín Roig as he explains the Basic Concepts, Techniques, Exercises, and Studies that make Da Vinci’s work so influential in the history of art.

A fascinating, practical insight to the art, engineering, and philosophical life of Leonardo da Vinci for artists of all levels and ability.

About this title

About the Author

Gabriel Martín Roig studied specialty painting at the University of Barcelona with a Masters in Museology and Management of Artistic and Ethnological Culture.

He has written and coordinated more than 150 books mainly related to fine arts, ancient and modern history, the history of art and fashion design for several publishing houses

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

There is currently a trend in the Western world to re-evaluate the role of the ancient art academies and schools, as well as a great interest in eye-catching and neorealist painting. It is to meet this need and revival of interest that this book has emerged, seeking to reclaim the artistic teaching of centuries gone by and put it at the service of today’s public.

This book is dedicated to the famous codices of Leonardo da Vinci, a collection of notebooks packed with drawings that bear testament to the technique and creative process used by this Renaissance genius. Its pages demonstrate, analyse and summarise some of these historic treatises, aimed at teaching drawing and painting, which constituted a basic and indispensable tool for many artists from the 16th to the 19th centuries. These specialised, richly illustrated documents provided students of fine arts with a wide range of subjects, exercises and sample images that would help them understand mechanisms, structure and visual thinking. This would allow them to achieve an advanced level of drawing, composition and shading skills, unlocking ways to emulate the techniques of the great masters.

Many reproductions of these ancient treatises have been published as they first appeared: as simple relics of the past, facsimile reproductions without text or advice to aid understanding. This book attempts to make up for these shortcomings. It provides a learning programme based on brief, introductory texts, followed by step-by-step exercises, which take Leonardo’s teachings and adapt them to the requirements of the contemporary artist. This is an essential handbook, which seeks to share the experience and technical knowledge of a peerless master who was ahead of his time, allowing amateurs and advanced artists alike to incorporate them into their drawings and/or paintings.

Edition details

• Publisher: David & Charles
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1446316793
• ISBN 13: 9781446316795
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128