Helping You Make the Most
of Every Glance

Memory Drawing hand-right
book

STEP 1: LEARN ABOUT MEMORY DRAWING PRACTICE

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STEP 2: REGULARLY PRACTICE DRAWING FROM MEMORY

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STEP 3: DRAW BETTER USING YOUR TRAINED VISUAL MEMORY

Every time you look at your drawing
you must remember your subject.

Memory drawing - Looking at your subject

You look at your subject.
And then . . .

Memory Drawing - Looking at your artwork

You must remember it when
looking at your artwork.

That's just one reason why you need a
highly developed visual memory.

But that's not all.

Imagine working from a live model, or a landscape on location. And then, the model moves or the sun begins to set.

  • So you chase the shapes.

  • So you lose the likeness.

  • So you chase the light.

  • So you fake the color notes.

Both situations occur all the time.

Therefore, it only makes sense
to train your visual memory.

After you make memory drawing
practice a habit:

  • You'll be better able to keep the model in pose.

  • You'll capture and keep a more accurate likeness.

  • You'll maintain the light patterns nature presents you with.

  • You'll seize the color notes that drew you to the scene.

What is Memory Drawing? Memory drawing is the regular practice of training your visual memory to retain what you see.

That training involves doing numerous drawing exercises during short but consistent periods of time. The practice will help you make the most of every glance you take at your subject.

Memory drawing practice is a supplement to drawing directly from life.
It is not a replacement.

Below is a simple game to check your visual memory.
  1. Select the 'Start' button and a red line will appear
  2. Try to memorize the length and angle of the line. You have 5 seconds.
  3. After the timer runs down the line will disappear and a green line will appear.
  4. Drag the circular handle on the right end of the green line to reproduce the length and angle of the red line.
  5. Select the 'Check' button to see how you did.
  6. The 'Reset' button lets you play again.

Below is a simple game to check your visual memory.

Can't see it?
Try switching to a tablet, laptop, or desktop device instead.

5
How did you do?
Now imagine that instead of a straight line angle the line to remember was a compound curve, like the profile of your model. As you can guess, that's a far more complex shape that would put an even greater demand on your visual memory.

How do you train your visual memory? Formal instruction in memory drawing began in Paris during the 1850s. It eventually fell out of fashion due to the advent of modern art and the prevalence of the camera.

The result was that until recently, you were on your own.

But you now have three options:

Making the Most of Every Glance - An Introduction to Memory Drawing - Cover
option 1

Read the FREE GUIDE Making the Most of Every Glance

Want to learn the very basics of memory drawing? Developing a trained visual memory is easy, but it does require consistent practice with progressively more complex exercises. Learn the basics with the free guide: Making the Most of Every Glance.

In this free guide, Darren R. Rousar will teach you the basics of memory drawing practice. It also presents a short series of exercises which will give you a sense of what memory drawing is all about. It will help you form a 15-20 minutes per day memory drawing practice habit.

Perfect for: Anyone who is new to the concept of memory drawing practice and wants to begin their journey with limited expense.

option 1
Making the Most of Every Glance - An Introduction to Memory Drawing - Cover

Read the FREE GUIDE Making the Most of Every Glance

Want to learn the very basics of memory drawing? Developing a trained visual memory is easy, but it does require consistent practice with progressively more complex exercises. Learn the basics with the free guide: Making the Most of Every Glance.

In this free guide, Darren R. Rousar will teach you the basics of memory drawing practice. It also presents a short series of exercises which will give you a sense of what memory drawing is all about. It will help you form a 15-20 minutes per day memory drawing practice habit.

Perfect for: Anyone who is new to the concept of memory drawing practice and wants to begin their journey with limited expense.

option2

Read the Memory Drawing Book

Want to learn everything about developing your visual memory? Learn the complete approach to memory drawing practice with the only book of its kind, Memory Drawing: Perceptual Training and Recall.

Effective memory drawing practice involves an understanding of how we see, how we remember, and how to best form a habit. In the book Memory Drawing, Darren will teach you all that's needed to succeed with your own memory drawing practice.

Perfect for: Anyone who wants to learn all there is to know about the practice of memory drawing.

Also available as a hardcover and paperback from all online booksellers.

Memory Drawing Book-open
option2
Memory Drawing Book-open

Read the Memory Drawing Book

Want to learn everything about developing your visual memory? Learn the complete approach to memory drawing practice with the only book of its kind, Memory Drawing: Perceptual Training and Recall.

Effective memory drawing practice requires an understanding of how we see, how we remember, and how to best form a habit. In the book, Memory Drawing, Darren will teach you all that's needed to succeed with your own memory drawing practice.

Perfect for: Anyone who wants to learn all there is to know about the practice of memory drawing.

Also available as a hardcover and paperback from all online booksellers.

Memory Drawing Course Book-Stacked Cover
option3

Develop your memory drawing habit using The Memory Drawing Course Book

Memory drawing practice is simple, especially when all your sources are created for you.

Do you want to make the most of every glance with the least amount of work? The Memory Drawing Course Book contains 6 months worth of progressive memory drawing exercises, including easy to follow directions.

Perfect for: Anyone who wants to develop their own memory drawing practice habit without creating their own exercise sources.

Also available as a paperback from Amazon.

option3
Memory Drawing Course Book-Stacked Cover

Develop your memory drawing habit using The Memory Drawing Course Book

Want to learn how to make the most of every glance without having to create all of your own exercise sources? Get dozens of carefully selected progressive exercises in The Memory Drawing Course Book.

In this free PDF eBook, Darren R. Rousar will teach you how to see using the basics of the Sight-Size approach to seeing. The eBook also includes numerous exercises which help you practice the approach and ultimately draw with confidence. All you need is a pencil, an eraser, and some paper!

Perfect for: Anyone who wants to develop their own memory drawing practice habit without creating their own exercise sources.

Also available as a paperback from Amazon.

Making the Most of Every Glance - An Introduction to Memory Drawing - Cover

Making the Most of Every Glance

A FREE Introduction to Memory Drawing!

You can begin making the most of every glance today!

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book

STEP 1:
LEARN MEMORY DRAWING

Read the free guide to memory drawing: 'Making the Most of Every Glance'.

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STEP 2:
PRACTICE MEMORY DRAWING

Following the principles learned in Step 1, consistently practice memory drawing.

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STEP 3:
DRAW BETTER

After you've developed your visual memory you will make the most of every glance!

guide

Meet Your Guide

Few artists fully understand how important a trained visual memory is to their success. I am here to help you with that. My name is Darren R. Rousar and I am an atelier-trained artist and teacher who is mostly known for promoting the use of Sight-Size in arts instruction.

In an effort to bring back yet another nearly lost subject, I published Memory Drawing: Perceptual Training and Recall in the spring of 2013. The first book of its kind in almost a century, it revived the practice of memory drawing instruction in ateliers and art schools throughout the world. Ten years later I published The Memory Drawing Course Book to help you make the most of every glance without having to create your own exercise sources.

You start your own memory drawing habit for free, with the free guide to making the most of every glance.

You Can Make the Most of Every Glance!