Studio
A Few of My Favorite Tools
Tools are an extension of our own hands, but we always begin with what we already have. In this post I introduce you to some of my favorite tools!
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 14
This drawing, A Triton Blowing a Conch Shell, by Jean-Baptiste Nattier was presumably done as a study for a painting. Nattier used black chalk heightened with white chalk on gray-brown laid paper. It is the size of a typical sheet of paper, 11″ x 8 7/8″. The toned paper from Canson would be perfect for this. #MasterDrawingMondays
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 13
The challenge of Master Drawing Mondays is to set aside time to copy a drawing. You can either choose from one of the Dover books, or I will provide a weekly prompt from a museum collection. If you are on social media, use the hashtag #MasterDrawingMonday and tag me on Instagram @SarahHI. Let’s see how many out-of-practice artists we can encourage to take up a regular practice of copying the old masters!
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 12
Tête de satyre by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Since I have Paris on my mind, here is a fascinating portrait by Michelangelo found in the Louvre’s collection. Michelangelo used brown ink for this drawing. #masterdrawingmonday
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 11
A Kneeling Man Holding a Staff by Jacopo Tintoretto. I love the movement and freshness of Tintoretto’s drawings. I was not overly familiar with this Venetian master until 2018, when I saw a big exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. #masterdrawingMondays
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 10
This lovely study of anatomy by Domenico Beccafumi shows us so much into the mind of the Renaissance artist. By the 16th-century, artists were years away from the Medieval model of painting the spiritual. #MasterDrawingMondays
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 9
This 16th-century Italian drawing by a follower of Francesco Salviati of “Christ Falling under the Cross”
was created using pen and brown ink with gray-brown wash and black chalk, heightened with white gouache on brown laid paper. It is the perfect subject matter for Lent, a season when Christians prepare for Easter. One of the spiritual exercises that many Christians do during Lent is walk the Stations of the Cross. #MasterDrawingMondays
Master Drawing Mondays: Week 8
This Study of a Female Nude is by relatively unknown 16th-century Sienese painter by the name of Alessandro Casolani. What I love about it is that it reminds me of the figure drawings that we did in Richard Serrin’s class back in the 1990s. This tradition of drawing the figure from life connects artists through the centuries. #MasterDrawingMondays
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Grotesques
This week’s challenge is something new: find a grotesque to copy! There are many wonderful examples by Leonardo da Vinci, Francesco Melzi, and Honoré Daumier especially. If you want to take it a step further, see if you can draw your own grotesque. I’m eager to see what wonderfully horrible things you come up with! #MasterDrawingMondays
Read MoreMaster Drawing Mondays: Week 6
François Boucher’s “Danae Receiving the Golden Shower” is a gorgeous figure study to copy. It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring out the red, white, and black chalk! I will be using conté crayons. #MasterDrawingMondays
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