Molly got her BFA at the San Francisco Art institute.
Me—I got my art education with Jon Gnagy.
Learn to Draw with Jon Gnagy was a televised art instruction course that ran in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.
You could tell Gnagy was a real artist because he had a goatee.
You could order the entire Jon Gnagy Learn to Draw kit—drawing board, art materials and instruction book—from Gnagy and then follow along from week to week as Gnagy walked you through each lesson.
My aunt got the course for me and I faithfully followed Mr. Gnagy’s weekly tutorials.
What Gnagy did was a sort of extension of the early 20th century correspondence course.
I think there’s a lot to be said for the old tradition of the Landon Correspondence Course, Art Instruction, Inc. (“Draw Me!”), Famous Artists School (“We’re Looking for People Who Like to Draw”), Walter T. Foster art education books and other forms of simple, affordable art instruction for kids and adults who don’t have access to art academies.
The Foster books on Perspective Drawing by Ernest Norling, Cartooning Jobs for Beginning Cartoonists by Howard Boughner, How To Do Linoleum Block Printing by Mary Hicks and Animation by Preston Blair were excellent.
The deal is you could actually learn perspective or animation by committing yourself to a serious study the book (for a price of a buck ninety-nine!).
The same held true with Gnagy’s courses.
Here’s a typical Gnagy lesson.
And some handy hints
