Drawing Between the Lines: Achieving Dimensionality.

Michael Whynot. Leg study in red chalk, 2013.

I began this post by preparing to upload a recent leg study without much in the way of commentary, but then I took a moment to consider the process of what I had drawn. Achieving a sense of dimensionality in the figure doesn't just happen; and it certainly won't happen by slavishly copying the external contours of the figure.

The eye of the viewer must be coaxed inside the form and away from the external contour. The way to do this is by not placing a hard outline around your forms, which is exactly what most beginning draftsmen struggle obsessively to copy from the model. Line quality and line weight are tied intrinsically to this aspect of good drawing.

Where to emphasize or not emphasize an external contour is an aesthetic decision that really defies rules, so study Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci and Pontormo to understand how it should look when done well.

To persuade the viewer's eye to dwell within the contours, you must give it something to look at. The nearer forms must be modelled upon those forms which are farther away; in this way, depth is achieved.

Creating the appearance of dimensionality of a three dimensional form in space upon a two dimensional surface is not easy, but the sense of wonder it elicits is magical and well-worth our time and study.

 

Raphael Drawings: A Review

Cover: Raphael. Study of a Horseman c. 1511/1512. Silverpoint and white heightening.

Raphael. Study of a man hanging by his arms c. 1505/1506. Pen and brown ink.

Raphael. The Virgin and Child with Saint Elizabeth? and Two Other Saints c. 1511/1513.
Silverpoint heightened with lead white.

Raphael (and workshop), Madonna dell'impannata, c. 1515.

Raphael. The Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1510. Red chalk.

Raphael. Study of a soldier rushing towards the right, behind him two horsemen,
c. 1515/1516. Red chalk over stylus.

Raphael. Three Nude Men in Attitudes of Terror, c. 1510-1514. Black chalk (charcoal?).

Raphael: Drawings is a new book published by Hirmer Publishers focusing on the collection of the Stadel Museum in Frankfurt, and edited by Joachim Jacoby and Martin Sonnabend. The book looks at Raphael's preparatory drawings which he used to compose many of his large-scale works. Some forty-eight drawings are contained in the book with several of Raphael's most familiar works being represented.

I find these preparatory drawings infinitely more instructive than studying finished paintings or murals. The creative process is more easily visible, the thought processes almost tangible. Raphael's line was sensitive and beautiful and the fact that Raphael, Michelangelo and Da Vinci all lived during the same lifetime and in the some region is remarkable. So remarkable, in fact, that being coincidental seems out of the question. The focus placed on the process of drawing that was employed during the renaissance must have played a key role. The creative process itself sprang from their drawings. And their process of apprenticeship and the workshop system perpetuated this knowledge.

If we, as draftsmen, ever hope to attain their level of proficiency again, then the study of their preparatory drawings is the place to embark upon that journey. We are experiencing something of a second renaissance in representational, figurative art in this century, after the dead end of modern art during the twentieth century.

Raphael may have been a genius, as were Michelangelo and Da Vinci, but their processes are contained within their drawings, waiting for us to study them. Who's to say that we can't equal them. I, for one, at least have to try.

Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael.

                        Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
                        Studies for the Libyan Sibyl
                        red chalk
                        Metropolitan Museum of Art

                     Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
                     Cartoon For The Virgin With Saint Anne And Saint John
                     charcoal heightened with white
                     National Gallery, London
  

                      Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)
                      A Combat Of Nude Men
                      red chalk over stylus
                      Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Welcome to my blog. I thought in this first post I would look at three of the greatest draftsmen who ever lived: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael Sanzio.

Throughout this blog I will be exploring drawing, painting and artistic anatomy. I will be posting some of my own drawings from time to time, done both from life and the imagination (a topic I will discuss in a future post). Look for ongoing posts on the basics of drawing and posts devoted to the basics of human anatomy. I will review any art books that I find interesting and we will look at the great artists of the past and the present.

I selected the three drawings above because they are three of my favorites. Although each of the drawings are different, stylistically, all three show a wonderful sense of volume. Each of the artists had an uncanny ability to draw around the form. Michelangelo used very fine hatching which merged into almost solid tone over the right scapula and on the shadow side of the 7th cervical vertebrae.

Leonardo da Vinci used mostly tone to achieve his effects in this drawing through a technique he called sfumato (a blending of tones to achieve a very smooth transition from light to shadow), although he was able employ a lovely, fine line when he chose to. His choice of this technique in this particular drawing may have had something to do with its being a full-size cartoon (54 3/4"x39 3/4").

Raphael Sanzio used a coarser hatching than Michelangelo which flowed around the contours of his forms in certain places, almost like a computer wireframe model.

Achieving a sense of volume in a drawing is critical to its success(as are gesture, proportion, modeling, perspective...). In a truly fine drawing I like to get the feeling that if I were to lean to one side, I could peer around behind the figure occupying the space in front of me.

Remember, even though you are drawing on a two dimensional surface, life is lived in three dimensions. Learn to measure not simply the height and width of your figures, but their depth as well. Draw as the sculptor sculpts; feel the volumes swell and contract beneath your pencil as it caresses the living, breathing form.