The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study
An Expert Review of Kimon Nicolaides’ Foundational Text
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
In the crowded landscape of art instruction books, few works have achieved the enduring influence and pedagogical significance of Kimon Nicolaides’ “The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study.” Originally published in 1941, this seminal text continues to serve as a cornerstone in art education, offering a systematic yet intuitive approach to drawing that has shaped generations of artists, illustrators, and art educators. As someone who has spent decades evaluating instructional materials in the visual arts, I can confidently assert that Nicolaides’ work stands as one of the most important and effective drawing manuals ever written.
Historical Context and Pedagogical Foundation
Kimon Nicolaides developed his teaching methodology during his tenure at the Art Students League of New York in the 1920s and 1930s, a period when American art education was undergoing significant transformation. Moving away from the rigid academic traditions imported from European academies, Nicolaides sought to create a more organic, experiential approach to learning drawing fundamentals. His method emerged from direct classroom experience and was refined through years of observing how students actually learned to see and translate three-dimensional reality onto two-dimensional surfaces.
What distinguishes Nicolaides’ approach from his contemporaries is his emphasis on feeling and intuition alongside technical skill. While other instructors of the era focused primarily on copying master works or mechanical exercises, Nicolaides understood that drawing is fundamentally an act of perception and interpretation. His famous directive to “draw not what you see, but what you feel” encapsulates this philosophy, though this statement requires careful unpacking to appreciate its full pedagogical implications.
The Structure: A Progressive Curriculum
“The Natural Way to Draw” is structured as a complete one-year curriculum, with lessons arranged in a logical progression from fundamental exercises to complex compositional problems. This systematic approach represents one of the book’s greatest strengths. Rather than presenting drawing as a mysterious talent requiring innate ability, Nicolaides breaks the learning process into manageable, sequential steps that build upon one another.
The curriculum begins with contour drawing exercises, which Nicolaides considers foundational to all drawing activity. These exercises, particularly the famous “blind contour” studies, serve multiple purposes: they force students to observe carefully, develop hand-eye coordination, and begin to understand the relationship between line and form. The progression through gesture drawing, weight and modeling studies, and eventually to memory and composition exercises creates a comprehensive foundation that addresses all aspects of drawing skill.
Each exercise is accompanied by specific time allocations and repetition requirements. This structured approach prevents students from dwelling too long on any single aspect while ensuring adequate practice time. The daily practice schedule Nicolaides outlines—typically requiring 2-5 hours of work—reflects his understanding that drawing skill develops through consistent, focused practice rather than sporadic intensive sessions.
The Revolutionary Concept of Gesture Drawing
Perhaps Nicolaides’ most significant contribution to drawing pedagogy is his systematic development of gesture drawing as a fundamental skill. While quick sketching had long been practiced by artists, Nicolaides was among the first to codify gesture drawing as a specific discipline with defined objectives and methods.
His approach to gesture drawing differs markedly from mere quick sketching. Nicolaides emphasizes capturing the essential action, weight, and emotional content of a pose within very short time frames—typically 30 seconds to 2 minutes. This constraint forces students to bypass details and focus on fundamental structural and expressive elements. The gesture exercises develop several crucial abilities simultaneously: rapid visual analysis, confident mark-making, and an understanding of the human figure as a dynamic, three-dimensional form rather than a collection of surface details.
The psychological benefits of gesture drawing are equally important. By requiring rapid execution, these exercises bypass the self-consciousness and perfectionism that often paralyze beginning artists. Students learn to commit to marks, accept imperfection, and focus on essential rather than superficial elements. This mental training proves invaluable throughout artistic development.
Contour Drawing: Seeing with the Hand
Nicolaides’ treatment of contour drawing represents another major pedagogical innovation. His distinction between “blind contour” and “pure contour” exercises addresses different aspects of the seeing-drawing connection. Blind contour drawing, performed without looking at the paper, develops the crucial link between eye and hand while forcing careful observation of edges and relationships.
The exercise initially frustrates many students because the resulting drawings often appear distorted or disconnected from recognizable reality. However, Nicolaides understood that this apparent “failure” serves important functions. Students learn to trust their perceptual abilities, develop sensitivity to subtle changes in direction and quality of edges, and begin to understand drawing as a process of exploration rather than predetermined outcome.
Pure contour drawing, which allows occasional glances at the paper, builds upon blind contour skills while introducing concerns of proportion and accuracy. This progression demonstrates Nicolaides’ sophisticated understanding of skill development—each exercise targets specific abilities while building toward more complex integration of multiple skills.
The Integration of Technical and Expressive Elements
One of the most sophisticated aspects of Nicolaides’ methodology is his integration of technical skill development with expressive goals. Unlike approaches that treat technique and expression as separate concerns to be addressed sequentially, Nicolaides’ exercises consistently address both simultaneously.
The modeling exercises, for example, develop technical understanding of light, shadow, and form while encouraging students to feel the weight and volume of their subjects. The crosshatch studies teach systematic approaches to value gradation while maintaining focus on structural understanding. This integration prevents the artificial separation between “skill building” and “artistic expression” that plagues many instructional approaches.
Nicolaides’ treatment of the figure as both a technical challenge and an expressive vehicle reflects his broader understanding of drawing as communication rather than mere documentation. Students learn to see their subjects not as objects to be copied, but as experiences to be interpreted and shared. This perspective transforms drawing from mechanical reproduction into genuine artistic activity.
Strengths and Enduring Relevance
Several factors account for the book’s enduring influence and effectiveness. First, Nicolaides’ exercises are based on sound principles of perceptual psychology and motor learning, though he predates formal research in these areas. His understanding that drawing skill develops through specific types of practice, repeated consistently over time, aligns with contemporary research on expertise development.
Second, the progressive structure of the curriculum ensures that students develop foundational skills before attempting more complex problems. This prevents the frustration and discouragement that often result from premature exposure to advanced concepts. The careful pacing allows time for skills to consolidate while maintaining forward momentum.
Third, Nicolaides’ emphasis on feeling and intuition alongside technical development addresses the whole artist rather than merely the craftsperson. Students learn to trust their perceptions and responses, developing personal vision alongside technical competence. This balance between objective skill and subjective interpretation creates more complete artistic development.
Fourth, the book’s focus on drawing from life rather than copying photographs or other artwork develops crucial observational skills that transfer to all artistic media. In an era increasingly dominated by digital imagery, Nicolaides’ emphasis on direct observation remains particularly relevant.
Limitations and Contemporary Considerations
Despite its many strengths, “The Natural Way to Draw” reflects certain limitations of its era and approach. The curriculum focuses almost exclusively on figure drawing, with minimal attention to other subjects such as landscape, still life, or architectural subjects. While the principles translate to other subjects, contemporary students might benefit from more diverse applications.
The book’s language and cultural assumptions occasionally feel dated, reflecting the social context of 1940s America. Some examples and metaphors may not resonate with contemporary diverse student populations. However, these surface elements don’t significantly impact the core pedagogical content.
More significantly, Nicolaides’ approach requires substantial time commitment—his recommended daily practice schedule challenges contemporary students juggling multiple commitments. The intensive nature of the program, while potentially very effective, may be impractical for many current educational contexts.
The book also provides limited guidance for students working independently without instructor feedback. While the exercises are clearly described, beginning students may struggle to evaluate their own progress or identify specific problems without expert guidance.
Influence on Contemporary Art Education
Nicolaides’ influence on contemporary art education cannot be overstated. His exercises, particularly gesture and contour drawing, have become standard elements in foundation programs worldwide. Many instructors who have never read the complete text still employ methods directly traceable to Nicolaides’ innovations.
The book’s impact extends beyond specific techniques to broader pedagogical principles. The emphasis on process over product, the integration of technical and expressive concerns, and the systematic progression from simple to complex problems have become fundamental principles in contemporary art education.
Recent developments in drawing instruction—including approaches emphasizing right-brain drawing, observational drawing, and experimental mark-making—can be traced to concepts Nicolaides introduced or developed. His understanding of drawing as a way of seeing rather than merely a recording technique anticipates much contemporary thinking about artistic perception and creativity.
Practical Application and Student Outcomes
Having observed students work through Nicolaides’ exercises over many years, I can attest to their effectiveness when properly implemented. Students who complete substantial portions of the curriculum typically demonstrate significant improvement in observational accuracy, drawing confidence, and expressive capability. The exercises develop not only technical skills but also crucial artistic attitudes: patience, persistence, willingness to experiment, and trust in perceptual abilities.
The gesture drawing exercises, in particular, produce remarkable results even with beginning students. The combination of time pressure and clear objectives typically generates more expressive and structurally sound drawings than students thought themselves capable of producing. This success builds confidence while demonstrating the relationship between focused practice and skill development.
The contour exercises develop observational precision while teaching students to slow down and really see their subjects. Students often report that these exercises change how they perceive the visual world even outside of drawing contexts. This transfer of perceptual skills represents one of the most valuable outcomes of Nicolaides’ approach.
Comparison with Contemporary Approaches
Contemporary drawing instruction has diversified considerably since Nicolaides’ era, with approaches ranging from highly analytical methods based on measurement and proportion to expressionistic techniques emphasizing emotional response and mark-making. Nicolaides’ approach occupies a middle ground, incorporating elements of both analytical and intuitive methods.
Compared to purely analytical approaches like those popularized by some contemporary instructors, Nicolaides’ method is more holistic and less mechanical. Rather than breaking drawing into discrete, measurable skills, his exercises address multiple abilities simultaneously while maintaining focus on overall artistic development.
Conversely, compared to purely intuitive or expressionistic approaches, Nicolaides provides more structure and specific guidance. Students don’t simply “express themselves” but work through carefully designed exercises that develop specific capabilities while encouraging personal response.
This balanced approach may explain the method’s enduring appeal and effectiveness. Students develop both technical competence and personal vision without the limitations of overly restrictive or overly permissive approaches.
Final Assessment
“The Natural Way to Draw” remains an essential text for serious students of drawing and art educators. While some aspects may feel dated, the core pedagogical insights remain remarkably sound and relevant. Nicolaides’ understanding of drawing as a learnable skill developed through specific, progressive practice has been validated by decades of successful application.
The book’s greatest strength lies in its comprehensive, systematic approach to drawing education. Rather than offering quick fixes or shortcuts, Nicolaides provides a thorough foundation that supports lifelong artistic development. Students who work seriously through his curriculum emerge with not only improved technical skills but also enhanced visual sensitivity and artistic confidence.
For contemporary readers, the book offers valuable perspective on drawing as a fundamental artistic skill worthy of dedicated study. In an era of digital imaging and instant results, Nicolaides’ emphasis on patience, careful observation, and consistent practice provides a necessary counterbalance to contemporary culture’s demand for immediate gratification.
Art educators will find the book particularly valuable for its systematic progression and clear exercise descriptions. While the complete one-year curriculum may not fit all educational contexts, individual exercises can be adapted to various timeframes and skill levels. The underlying principles—careful observation, integration of feeling and technique, progressive skill development—remain applicable across diverse teaching situations.
“The Natural Way to Draw” stands as a testament to the power of dedicated teaching and systematic thinking about artistic education. Nicolaides’ insights, born from direct classroom experience and refined through years of observation, offer timeless wisdom about the process of learning to see and draw. Nearly eight decades after its publication, the book continues to provide a solid foundation for artistic development, making it an indispensable resource for anyone serious about understanding drawing as both a technical skill and a means of artistic expression.