Study of a Female Nude
Study of a Female Nude
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
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.
In this drawing, Casolani used black and white chalk on blue-green paper. The Strathmore toned paper or the Canson Ingres paper would be perfect for this drawing. However, if you like to keep your drawings in a notebook, no special paper is needed for Master Drawing Mondays.
The key principle here is to spend time looking closely and studying the quality of line of an old Master Drawing.
Wait… I missed what all of this is about!
The challenge of Master Drawing Mondays is to set aside time to copy a drawing. You can either choose from a book, 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!
Share your drawings on social media, or hang it on your mom’s fridge!
#MasterDrawingMondays
#MasterDrawing Mondays is free and open to anyone. All of the links on this page are to outside sources. I do not receive compensation for any sales of books or art supplies.
