How Harry Cook Learned to Draw

In 1897 a young student at Dartmouth College studied free-hand drawing and made this journal. His drawings are supplemented by lessons from the time that he used as examples to copy. A interesting window into how drawing was taught 100 years ago and the high value placed on it as a way of thinking visually in preparation for other careers, such as science or engineering. This book consists of a student journal drawn by Harry Irving Cook and examples of lessons and engravings published in a book called Chapman's American Drawing Book. The illustrations in this book could easily provide the basis for a modern course in drawing. You could use them as examples of forms to draw or even as a pattern book to copy. Each drawing is done in pen and ink with no mistakes or erasures so a good deal of practice preceded the making of this journal. Each exercise builds on the other and demonstrates a growing mastery of the art of drawing.