Burst Books

Bernard Romain Julien Burst Books

Bernard Romain Julien - Head Drawing Course

Originally titled "Julien's studies of heads: selected from paintings of eminent artists, or drawn from nature". First published in 1840 this beautiful book is a must for artists learning portraiture & figure drawing.


Bernard Romain Julien worked with the engraver & lithographer Thomas Fairland to produce several books around the time this was published.

A great advancement for study after the Bargue Drawing Course. The Julien drawings have much more complex hatching details and are more expressive to the eye.

Take your drawing skill to another level by copying these fine art plates.


I totally support the point of view of French art teachers of the 19th century that fine art students need to study the rich traditions of the classical art.

French schools at that time advocated the following sequence of art education:

Drawing copies of classical art platesCopying drawings by the Old MastersDrawing classical casts - busts and figuresDrawing live models

The 20th century brought various "isms" into art, and many art students become disillusioned with art education as it is practiced today.

Copying the Old Masters and studying their art is an important part of traditional art education. Copying classical masterpieces will develop a proper artistic taste and style. I believe that thousands of fine art students will improve greatly from such exercises.

These plates were created as a part of an intensive drawing course system designed by the late great draftsman, artist Bernard Romain Julien.


Benefits are perpetual in the entire scope of the artist's development.
To have the ability to accurately record what the eye sees removing deviation or mental hindrance, I'd say is the basic principle behind this drawing system.

Once this is gained the artist is in a better position to integrate their imagination in a precision controlled manner.

Should you buy a copy of this book?
If you're really serious about improving drawing skills, and you're willing to put in some hard hours of practice, then yes, you should definitely buy it.

If you just love drawing and have cash to burn, you should buy it.

If you're in the habit of buying art instruction books but you cant really draw that much, this book isn't going to magically help you draw better.

But neither is any art book.

This book contains 24 plates and 3 drawing pages per plate. All plates have been digitally restored to a condition close to the originals. The back cover has the emblem from the original 1840 book.