Here is a drawing of an arm. It is an arm copied by hand that was copied from the artist Albrecht Durer. It was done in white and black gel pens on gray-toned paper. The arm is that of Eve holding an apple. I assume it is an apple. I never went to church growing up. This means that I’m at a huge disadvantage when it comes to being hypocritical and feeling superior to others of a different religion. I guess that last sentence shows, albeit sarcastically, that I feel I am superior to religious people. I think I just outed myself. Well, let us talk about the drawing I copied from Durer. The original can be found in the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was drawn on a special blue Venetian paper with black and gray washes and highlighted with white gouache. Gouache is like watercolor but more opaque.
I never went to church growing up.
This is what the museum says about the drawing: This drawing of the Arm of Eve, done in 1507 is the only surviving preparatory drawing for Dürer’s life-size panels of Adam and Eve in the Prado Museum in Madrid. This is also the only drawing by the artist made on that Venetian blue paper I mentioned before, which he used during his winter trip to Venice in 1506–7 to practice chiaroscuro. Using only black and gray ink, wash, and gouache for shading and heightening, Dürer’s composition of a disembodied arm and hand suggests the grace and balance of the complete human form. An ideal proportioned study of a hand makes a reference to Albrecht Durer’s artistic skills.
Albrecht Dürer was one of the greatest Renaissance artists. His ingenious ideas about geometry and the proportion of the human body, as well as the realistic representation of nature, earned him the reputation of being the Leonardo Da Vinci of northern Europe. Dürer believed that nature, as God’s creation, was the true source of art. His art embodied the belief that artists should draw exactly what they see in order to make their work as convincing as possible: “The more precisely the forms in your work are compatible with life, the better it will appear. That is the truth. So never imagine that you can or should attempt to make something better than God has allowed his created nature to be. For your ability is impotent compared to God’s creativity.”
If you would like to see the original drawing of Eve’s Arm holding an apple by Albrecht Durer, click here.
If you would also like to see the final painting of Eve by Albrecht Durer, click here.