Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale

Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale

Author:Robert Beverly Hale [Hale, Robert Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7704-3475-5
Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale
Published: 2014-02-24T16:00:00+00:00


Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

DANCER ADJUSTING HER SLIPPER

pencil and charcoal

12⅞″ × 9⅝″ (32.7 × 24.4 cm)

H. O. Havemeyer Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

On this work sheet, Leonardo practiced throwing heads into all sorts of difficult positions. It is necessary that an artist be able to draw a head in any position, and be able to do this from his imagination. If he cannot draw a head in a peculiar position from his imagination, he will not be able to draw it at all, even with a model in front of him. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that the direction of every feature changes as the head changes position. Since every feature changes position, one must be able to draw each feature in any conceivable position. Also, as the head changes position, the relationships of all the features change.

One difficulty of studying the work of an advanced artist is that his construction lines are usually invisible. An advanced artist does not use construction lines because they mess up the looks of his drawing. But he holds these lines in his mind when he draws. Indeed, I have a struggle to get my students to use construction lines; they too feel that they will ruin their precious drawings. But you will never learn to draw unless you mess up thousands of drawings with construction lines.

The construction lines here are mostly related to the position of the head as a whole. Line A-B, for instance, indicates a level head. Line C-D indicates a down head. And line E-F shows an up head.



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