Category: Old Master Drawing Copies

Works of art copied from Old Master drawings

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Graphite Drawing Copied from a Work by Taddeo Zuccaro

Nude male figure with upraised arms copied from Taddeo Zuccaro

Next up we have another male nude figure seen from the back. It is a drawing done in graphite pencils on 9″ x 12″ Strathmore paper. The original by Taddeo Zuccaro is about 17 in. x 11 in. and was done in red chalk and highlighted with white gouache (which is somewhat similar to watercolor).

Taddeo Zuccaro was born around the year 1540 in Sant’Angelo in Vado. He moved to Rome to study painting at the age of 14 and at 17 started studying under the master Correggio. He was an excellent draftsman and eventually became famous from his frescoes of historical themes.

This just isn’t your day.

The subject of the original, created in 1550, is a male nude drawn by life but is also somewhat based on the style of the ‘Horse Tamers’ which is a group of Roman sculptures on the Quirinal Hill. The original drawing is done in a naturalistic style but also distorted somewhat in the style of Michelangelo. Not only did Taddeo Zuccaro admire Michelangelo but Michelangelo in turn admired the young Taddeo Zuccaro for his skills as a draftsman. The nude figure study is similar to one he drew in which a soldier is holding the reins of a horse in the foreground of the composition. Both works were done as preparatory work for a fresco that decorated a Roman Palace. According to the description by the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the fresco is now lost. I don’t know how you lose a fresco or a palace. I should do some more research, although it might be more interesting to you and less work for me if I didn’t do anymore research on the frescoes and created some mystery. However, I did find out that the original drawing by Taddeo Zuccaro is in the collection of the Metropolitan but unfortunately is not on view. So you aren’t able to see it. And the other drawing that is similar to that one is in a private collection. So you can’t see that one either. I’m not sure what I did with the copy of it I drew so you can’t see that at the moment either. This just isn’t your day.

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Graphite Drawing After Luca Signorelli

Graphite Pencil Drawing after a work by Luca Signorelli

Next up on the old master copy marathon, we have another work after the Italian Renaissance master Luca Signorelli, who created his drawing in red chalk and colored wash. The medium colored wash is rather vague. I can’t just go to Blick Art Supply store and ask for colored wash. It could be embarrassing. Anyway I did mine in pencil. I think like a number 2 pencil and maybe a darker one. That is rather vague as well. I have talked somewhat about Signorelli in my last post so I think I’ll write about the Museé Bonnat which houses the original drawing. According to the internet the museum is temporarily closed. Is it because of the Covid pandemic? or remodeling? or perhaps something more sinister is going on? Let’s investigate.

It could be embarrassing.

The Musée Bonnat art museum was opened in 1901 in Bayonne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is named after the hometown painter, Léon Bonnat. Bonnat donated his collection of paintings as well as a large number of drawings to the City of Bayonne. This doesn’t explain why the museum is closed. So I consulted a 2019 entry from Wikipedia and DBpedia. The DBpedia might just copy information from Wikipedia or perhaps the other was around. Anywho, the Museé Bonnat closed it’s doors in April of 2011 for an extension renovation. The project will double the size of the art museum. It says the work will begin in early 2018 and then will open towards the end of 2019. So that explains why the museum is closed now. Wait, it does not explain that. It also doesn’t explain why the museum would close in 2011 if the renovation wasn’t going to even start until 2018. So I thought I would visit the actual Museé Bonnat website which is where I should have probably started by investigation. Apparently the museum will remain closed to the public until 2024. So if you are the public and would like to see the drawing by Signorelli you will have to wait a few more years but since you have already waited 10 years I guess is won’t seem like that much longer. If you want to see my copy, you can stop by anytime, I’ll put out some chips and salsa.

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Graphite Drawing After Signorelli

Graphite Drawing after Signorelli of Hercules and Antaeus

This next post is a graphite drawing of Hercules and Antaeus copied from a work in black chalk by Luca Signorelli. Signorelli who’s full name is Luca d’Egidio di Ventura de’ Signorelli, was referred to as Luca da Cortona because he was from, you guessed it, Cortona, Italy. According to my research, Signorelli was born sometime between 1445 and 1450. So apparently the record keeping was not very good in Cortona or women spent incredibly long periods in labor. Signorelli died in Cortona on October 16, 1523, so apparently record keeping greatly improved during his lifetime or perhaps deaths were considered more important than births. I’m not trying to judge anyone’s culture. I’m just trying to keep an open mind. I mean they know the exact date of his death but… I’m going to have to move on from this.
Luca Signorelli was known for his frescoes, most notably the series based on the end of the world in the Orvieto Cathedral. These frescoes were even praised by Michelangelo, whom he greatly admired. Signorelli worked in an intense and dramatic style. Raphael admired and was influenced by his work.

I’m just trying to keep an open mind.

Now let’s talk about Hercules and Antaeus of the ever popular Greek mythology. I have said this before but it bears repeating. I often start to doze off when I read or write or even think about any type of mythology so I’ll try to keep this brief. The giant Antaeus was the son of Gaea, the goddess of earth and Poseidon, the god of the sea. Antaeus was considered invincible due to the fact that his strength was renewed when his feet touched the ground. He would often challenge strangers to fight him. Kind of like those guys that still live at home and take martial arts classes all day then go out at night and pick fights with people. You know the type. Getting back to Mythology. One day Antaeus got into a fight with Heracles, who figured out that Antaeus got his strength from touching the earth. So Hercules lifted Antaeus from the Earth then crushed him to death. Wild stuff indeed.

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Drawing in Graphite After Pierre Paul Prud’hon

Graphite drawing of a nude woman after Pierre Paul Prud'hon

Next up on our Old Master copy marathon we have a graphite drawing after the talented draughtsman Pierre Paul Prud’hon. His drawing was done in black and white chalk. I never cared for the ‘scratchiness’ of chalk so I opted for pencils of varying darkness. The original work is 22 inches x 15 inches and mine is 12 inches x 9 inches. In fact all the old master copies I did were on 12×9 inch paper. Just in case you’re taking notes. Oh course I really only take up about 8×10 inches of the paper. Speaking of measurements, when I was growing up, teachers taught us the metric system and told us we will eventually transfer to it. Of course, they never set a date when that might occur so I guess technically they were not wrong. Enough of the tech talk, let’s talk about Pierre Paul Prud’hon.
Prud’hon was born on April 4, 1758 in Cluny, France. Which is about a 4 hour drive south from Paris. If you were walking it would take about 75 hours. So if your in Paris and want to visit Cluny, I recommend taking a car. I would make a great travel writer. I’ve never even been to Cluny, but I write about like a true native. Anyway, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon was a painter and draftsman who worked between the Neoclassical style which borrowed heavily from Ancient societies, and the Romanticism which embraced a more expressive, personal style. Prud’hon trained in Dijon, France then moved to Rome and became influenced by the work of Neoclassical artists such as the sculpture Antonio Canova and Jacques-Louis David. He made a living by painting portraits and drawing for engravers. When Napoleon Bonaparte discovered his talent, he was employed received some commissions as a decorator and portrait painter for the court. However, Prud’hon gained reputation from his allegorical paintings. Today he is admired more for his exquisite drawings.

And now for the Spanish translation courtesy of Google Translate:

A continuación, en nuestro maratón de copias de Old Master, tenemos un dibujo en grafito del talentoso dibujante Pierre Paul Prud’hon. Su dibujo fue realizado con tiza en blanco y negro. Nunca me preocupé por el “raspado” de la tiza, así que opté por lápices de diferente oscuridad. El trabajo original es de 22 pulgadas x 15 pulgadas y el mío es de 12 pulgadas x 9 pulgadas. De hecho, todas las copias maestras antiguas que hice fueron en papel de 12×9 pulgadas. Por si acaso estás tomando notas. Oh, por supuesto que en realidad solo ocupo unas 8 x 10 pulgadas del papel. Hablando de medidas, cuando yo era pequeño, los profesores nos enseñaron el sistema métrico y nos dijeron que eventualmente nos transferiremos a él. Por supuesto, nunca fijaron una fecha en la que eso podría ocurrir, así que supongo que técnicamente no se equivocaron. Basta de charlas sobre tecnología, hablemos de Pierre Paul Prud’hon. Prud’hon nació el 4 de abril de 1758 en Cluny, Francia. Que está a unas 4 horas en coche al sur de París. Si estuvieras caminando, tardarías unas 75 horas. Así que si estás en París y quieres visitar Cluny, te recomiendo que cojas un coche. Sería un gran escritor de viajes. Ni siquiera he estado en Cluny, pero escribo como un verdadero nativo. De todos modos, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon fue un pintor y dibujante que trabajó entre el estilo neoclásico, que tomó prestado en gran medida de las sociedades antiguas, y el romanticismo, que adoptó un estilo más expresivo y personal. Prud’hon se formó en Dijon, Francia, luego se mudó a Roma y recibió la influencia del trabajo de artistas neoclásicos como la escultura Antonio Canova y Jacques-Louis David. Se ganaba la vida pintando retratos y dibujando para grabadores. Cuando Napoleón Bonaparte descubrió su talento, lo contrataron recibió algunos encargos como decorador y retratista de la corte. Sin embargo, Prud’hon ganó reputación por sus pinturas alegóricas. Hoy es más admirado por sus exquisitos dibujos.

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Ink Drawing after a Rembrandt Etching

Ink pen drawing of Adam and Eve after Rembrandt

The next offering in my old master copies is a, that’s right a copy of an etching by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Who goes simply by Rembrandt. Perhaps he could go by the name of Harmenszoon. But let’s be serious. Would he really go by the name of Harmenszoon? My copy of his etching was done with gel ink pens. Which sounds fancy, but really isn’t. I think I got the pen at Walgreens Pharmacy. Are they good for drawing you ask? No not really. Perhaps they are better than a lot pens.
As you can tell this post is going nowhere. This is probably due to the fact that it is Monday morning and I am at work. It’s a graphic design job I just started a couple of weeks ago. I know I shouldn’t be blogging while I’m at work but there is nothing to do at the moment. Well nothing I can think of. I lose track of what I’m suppose to do when I get to work. I will look in my notebook at my earliest convenience. I’m also blogging now because I work full time and don’t have a lot of time to make art. I don’t get home till about 6pm and my wife wants be to listen to her more. Although, she has a tendency to talk for hours. She talks in a monologue / stream of consciousness style that is exhausting to listen to. I only have so much energy. But she says if I want “you know what” I need to deal with it. I don’t think I have the patience anymore to deal with her. In fact we haven’t “you know what” in years. It is not easy. I should move out but I like seeing my son everyday and having space to create stuff. I also hate the idea of moving and living in a little apartment. Perhaps I’m also afraid I’ll become more depressed. Anyway, did I mention it’s Monday morning.

And now for the Google translation in Spanish:

La siguiente oferta en mis antiguas copias maestras es una, eso es, una copia de un grabado de Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Quien pasa simplemente por Rembrandt. Quizás podría llamarse Harmenszoon. Pero seamos serios. ¿Realmente se llamaría Harmenszoon? Mi copia de su grabado se hizo con bolígrafos de tinta de gel. Lo que suena elegante, pero en realidad no lo es. Creo que conseguí el bolígrafo en la farmacia Walgreens. ¿Son buenos para dibujar, preguntas? No en realidad no. Quizás sean mejores que muchos bolígrafos. Como puede ver, esta publicación no va a ninguna parte. Probablemente esto se deba al hecho de que es lunes por la mañana y estoy en el trabajo. Es un trabajo de diseño gráfico que comencé hace un par de semanas. Sé que no debería escribir en un blog mientras estoy en el trabajo, pero no hay nada que hacer en este momento. Bueno, no se me ocurre nada. Pierdo la noción de lo que se supone que debo hacer cuando llego al trabajo. Buscaré en mi cuaderno lo antes posible. También estoy blogueando ahora porque trabajo a tiempo completo y no tengo mucho tiempo para hacer arte. No llego a casa hasta las 6 de la tarde y mi esposa quiere escucharla más. Aunque tiene tendencia a hablar durante horas. Habla en un estilo de monólogo / flujo de conciencia que es agotador de escuchar. Solo tengo tanta energía. Pero ella dice que si quiero “ya sabes qué” tengo que lidiar con eso. Creo que ya no tengo la paciencia para lidiar con ella. De hecho, no hemos “sabes qué” en años. No es facil. Debería mudarme, pero me gusta ver a mi hijo todos los días y tener espacio para crear cosas. También detesto la idea de mudarme y vivir en un pequeño apartamento. Quizás también tengo miedo de estar más deprimido. De todos modos, ¿mencioné que es lunes por la mañana?

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Graphite Drawing After Leonardo da Vinci

Drawing of Male Nude After Leonardo da Vinci

So here we have a drawing done in ‘you guessed it’ graphite pencil. I’m not sure why I have to say ‘graphite’ before pencil. Pretty much all pencils are now made of graphite. There was once a time when pencils were made of lead. There was lead in paint, water pipes and gas. But since lead is toxic it was replaced. I feel sorry for the people that worked in the lead business. They were living the capitalist dream until they found out they not only were constantly exposed to a toxic substance, but they were also out of a job. I wonder if they found them both out on the same day. That would have been very unfortunate.

“I feel sorry for the people that worked in the lead business.”

Let’s get back to the above drawing. It is a copy of a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. The original is described as ‘nude man standing back to spectator.’ As you can see that pretty much sums up what it is. As I have stated earlier, it was copied from a book on old master drawings. During the pandemic, which is still going on, I set out to copy every drawing in that book. There are 100 figure drawings. I must admit whenever I post one of these pictures I feel a bit strange. When I post a drawing of a nude women I wonder if people will think I’m some kind of pervert and if I post a drawing of a nude man then they might think I’m a gay pervert. I have also been posting these drawings on my Instagram account and I’ve been attracting some men that are, how do I put it, “light in the loafer”. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It’s a strange feeling to receive unwanted attention. This must be how a lot of women feel.

Anyway, let’s get back to the drawing. The original was done in red chalk. It is in the Royal Library located in the Windsor Castle just outside of London.

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India Ink Drawing After Pietro Faccini

Ink drawing after Pietro Faccini

So here we have a drawing done in India ink on watercolor paper. Or if in you’re in Indian, then just ink. I believe India ink was invented in China. So many things were invented in China that we have to pretend like some of them were invented elsewhere. Like gun powder in Germany or Chinese food in America.

Moving forward, the above drawing is copy from one done by Pietro Faccini. He drew his with black chalk on gray paper. The work is in the Teyler Museum located in Haarlem, Netherlands. The Teylers museum includes not just art but it is also a museum of natural history and science. So you might have to wade through a lot of smarty pants stuff to get to the Faccini drawings. I’m sure there is another person writing about the fact that you have to walk by some artsy fartsy nonsense to get to the cool scientific stuff. The Teylers Museum was founded as a contemporary science and art center. There is a oval room in the neoclassical style behind the home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst that is the historic center of the museum. Pieter Teyler made his money in the cloth business and was a banker as well. His ancestors were from Scotland and he was a follower of the Scottish Enlightenment. Yes, apparently there was a ‘Scottish Enlightenment’. He was also a Mennonite. I didn’t know what a Mennonite is so I had to research it. After my rather short time researching Mennonites, I still have very little idea what a Mennonite is. Apparently they are similar to the Amish but with better fashion sense.

“[Mennonite’s] are similar to the Amish but with better fashion sense.”

I really should mention something about Pietro Faccini. Faccini was influenced by Barocci, Corregio and Carracci. He worked in a very expressive style that bridged the gap between Mannerism and Baroque. He studied art at the Carracci Academy in Bologna, Italy for four years before opening up his own studio. Unfortunately, his career in painting only lasted 10 years before he died in the year of 1602.

Here is a link to the Teyler Museum, Haarlem which houses the original drawing by Pietro Faccini. I couldn’t find the actual drawing on the website but maybe you can.

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Studies of Human and Dog Legs After Leonardo da Vinci

human and dog legs after da vinci

Here we have a drawing copied from a drawing by the man who needs no introduction, Leonardo da Vinci. There has been quite a lot written about da Vinci. So much so that I don’t really need to write more. So I guess I’ll write about myself. It is not easy for me to write about myself. This I believe is due to the fact that during my childhood and adulthood I have been surrounded by people that are always talking. And most of the time they are usually talking about themselves. I know how boring it can be to hear someone talk about themselves. However, this is a blog and since it is my blog I should write something about myself.

“So I guess I’ll write about myself.”

Let’s start as far back as possible. My sister did a DNA ancestry test and she showed it to me. Basically, I am white, I mean really white. I am 99% European and 1% Euro-Asian. I had to look up what Euro-Asian meant. And it means pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a mix of European and Asian. My grandparents on by father’s side were from Holland. My grandparents on my mother’s side were from maybe Germany or some other part of Europe. They all settled in various parts of California. My parents met when my father was studying accounting at San Diego State University. After graduating, he got a job at Disneyland in Anaheim. My brother and sister were born around there. When Disney World was about to open they all moved to Orlando. I was born in 1970. My father was with Disney for about 20 years and worked his way up to Vice President of Finance. At the time I didn’t realize he was such a big wig. Anyway we did get to visit the Magic Kingdom a lot growing up. I always found it interesting the way people look at Disney. Whenever we went, we entered from the back of the park and since my father worked in finance he always talked about the business side of Disney. It really gave me an interesting perspective on Disney. More to follow…

If you would like to see the studies for the Human Legs and the Bones of the Leg in Man and Dog by Leonardo da Vinci at the Royal Library, Windsor Click this link.

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Study for the “Raft of the Medusa” After Théodore Géricault

Graphite Pencil Drawing After Gericault

The drawing above is a copy. Are you starting to catch on that there are a lot of posts of old master copies? That’s because during the covid pandemic, I started to copy all the drawings out of a book of old master drawings in hopes of improving my drawing skills as well as kill a lot of time.

Let’s get back to the drawing at hand. It is a graphite sketch after the great French Romantic painter Théodore Géricault. The original is a study for one of the figures of Géricault’s masterpiece “Raft of the Medusa” which hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The drawing itself is in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Besançon, France.

Let’s talk about the painting “Raft of the Medusa.” It was not a commissioned piece which was unusual for a 19 century work this large (16′ 1″ x 23′ 6″). The painting can be categorized as a history painting but instead of honoring a triumph it captures a tragedy. The subjects of his work are not heroic solders or mythological gods but the victims and survivors of a shipwreck. After their ship ran aground. The survivors cobbled together a raft and in their 2 weeks at sea, eventually had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive. Out of the 147 passengers only 15 survived. The captain was blamed for the shipwreck since he had not even sailed for 20 years prior and was apparently only given the position based on his connection to those in power. Anyone who has worked for a family run company understands the situation. Not of the shipwreck but of nepotism.

“Anyone who has worked for a family run company understands the situation.”

Géricault did a lot of research and made many sketches in order to create his monumental painting. He even consulted with 2 of the survivors, made a scale model of the raft and in order to better capture the look of the dead and dying, he would visit morgues and hospitals.

After a year and a half of work, the painting was shown at the 1819 Paris Salon. It received both praise and criticism. It is now considered a masterpiece of French Romantic art and has influenced many great artists.