Tag: figure

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo Buonarroti

Graphite drawing of a male back after Michelangelo

Graphite pencil figure drawing copied from Michelangelo Buonarroti. According to the book of drawings I’m working from the description is “Study for one of the resurrected of the last judgement”. It also says it is in ‘British Museum’. Once again I’m going to assume it is The British Museum and not one of the garden variety British museums. The British Museum labels the drawing “A FIGURE RISING FROM THE GRAVE, IN THE FOREGROUND OF THE LAST JUDGEMENT.” Yes, they wrote it out in all caps. If you’re THE BRITISH MUSEUM you can do things like that. If you are The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History, also in London, then you cannot get away with things like that. The last thing people want is Viktor Wynd appearing to yell at them. Let’s get back to the drawing. Michelangelo did his in black chalk heightened with white. I just did mine in pencil. The scratchiness of chalk bothers me somehow. Like pastels and so forth. So I try to substitute it for something non-scratchy. The term “non-scratchy” was not underlined so I guess it’s a real word. Thanks computer for taking my side for once.
On the back of the drawing is another drawing. Michelangelo was perhaps very frugal in his use of paper and/or environmentally responsible. In hindsight, I think it would have been OK if he would have used two sheets of paper. I mean I don’t think he would be ‘cancelled’ of discredited for using more than one piece of paper. I mean I’m all for getting the most out of your materials but really, I mean it’s Michelangelo.

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo Buonarroti

Standing Male Nude Seen From Behind After Michelangelo

The drawing above is a copy of a work entitled ‘Standing Male Back Nude’ by Michelangelo Buonarroti. The original is housed in the Albertina Museum in Vienna. Michelangelo’s drawing was done in brown pen over black chalk. I drew mine in graphite pencil over another layer of graphite pencil. I have copied drawings from Michelangelo before and perhaps I’ve even talked about him. But I mean it is Michelangelo, so I guess we can always talk about him some more.
The following information comes from Wikipedia. Actually, the German version of Wikipedia that was then translated into English using the built-in translator feature on my browser. I guess I could just go to the English version of Wikipedia or translate the Italian Wikipedia page but this method is more fun and exciting and if you’ve read the rest of my blogs you will see that fun and exciting and me go hand in hand. Moving on, the German wikipedia page says Michelangelo came from a middle class family in Florence, Italy and that their family was distinguished. The family was distinguished, not Florence. Although you could say the city of Florence is quite distinguished. But the article states that his family was distinguished. However, it doesn’t say what exactly makes the family distinguished. It does say his father worked for a year as a city bailiff in Caprese. So I guess that is enough to make a family distinguishing.
Michelangelo had always wanted to become an artist even though his father was against it. When he was thirteen he convinced his father to let him study art. So he became an apprentice in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio where he learned to paint on fresco. So let’s get this straight, Michelangelo knew as a child what he wanted to do the rest of his life. And not only that, he was also able at the age of 13 to convince his father to let him do it. I’m going to let that sink in and call it a day. More to come later…

Posted on by

Pen and Ink Drawing After Rembrandt van Rijn

Man Sitting on the Ground After Rembrandt

Next up we have a copy of an etching done by Rembrandt van Rijn of a man sitting on the ground. I drew my copy with a pen called “inkjoy” which is made by the really great folks at the Papermate company. Unfortunately, this particular pen is not that great for drawing. However, whenever I have a bad day at work I like to come home and grab my “inkjoy” pen and all my troubles start to melt away. In these tough times it’s nice to know that the outstanding people at papermate are fighting for our “joy”. The “inkjoy” pen is available at Walgreens or anywhere fine art supplies are sold. I basically copied that from my Instagram account because I’d like to think I’m kind of an expert when it comes to myself. And there is no Wikipedia page on me. Believe me I have searched. When you type in ‘Brad Luthin’ at Wikipedia, a prompt comes up saying did you mean ‘brand luther’. If you click on ‘brand luther’ it takes you to a page saying that the page does not exist. So I googled Brand Luther and there is a book entitled ‘Brand Luther‘ which is about Martin Luther who started the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther used the power of publishing to promote his ideas. And wouldn’t you know it I used to work in publishing. I designed newspaper advertisements. Martin Luther also gave us the Lutheran church. Growing up there was a Lutheran church in our neighborhood and it was listed in the phonebook next to our family name ‘Luthin’ and people would sometimes call and ask if we were the Lutheran church. I know that’s not much of a story but it is true and this is a Free blog with no ads (yet). At this point, you’re probably asking yourself what is the point of all this. That is a great question. My answer would be nowhere, because this post went nowhere. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Posted on by

Prismacolor® Pencil Drawing After Charles Le Brun

Drawing of Prometheus Bound After Charles Le Brun

Right above this text you should see a copy of a drawing by Charles Le Brun. The original was done in Sanguine with some white added. Sanguine is a chalk with a reddish-brown color that resembles dried blood. If you want to buy some for drawing you can find it at better art supplies stores everywhere. Just ask for Sanguine chalk for drawing. I have found that this is more effective than asking for something that looks like dried blood. Sanguine or Sanguigna in Italian or Sanguis in Latin has been around for centuries. There was also some white added to Le Brun’s drawing. It didn’t say what kind of white so you are on your own. I drew my copy using Black and white Prismacolor pencils on gray toned paper. The subject of the drawing is Prometheus Bound. Which is a Greek play written by Aeschylus sometime between 479 bc and 424 bc. This tragedy is about the Titan Prometheus who disobeys Zeus by giving fire to mankind. Apparently, Zeus did not believe man deserved fire but Prometheus thought man would need fire to stay warm, cook food and ultimately over cook that same food. Zeus punished Prometheus by tying him up with chains and then let an eagle eat his liver. The liver would grow back every night and then the eagle would then eat the liver again. So there are two things we can learn from this story. First of all, only eagles are willing to eat liver and secondly you should never do anything that benefits mankind.
Let’s talk about Charles Le Brun. According to Wikipedia, he was baptized in Paris, France on February 24, 1619 and died on February 12, 1690. He was a painter, an art theorist, an art school director and a physiognomist. You probably are unsure what a painter does. He paints. You are probably even more confused about what a physiognomist is. Apparently, and this is according to Wikipedia, it is someone who judges a persons character by their appearance. I’m going to leave it there.

Posted on by

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.

Posted on by

Prismacolor® Pencil Drawing After Tiepolo

Copy of a Tiepolo Drawing

My next offering is a drawing done with black and white Prismacolor brand pencils and sticks on gray toned paper. It is a copy of a drawing done in chalk on blue tinted paper by the Venice master, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. That drawing, completed in 1751, is in the Staatsgallerie in Stuttgart, Germany. Tiepolo’s drawing is titled “Nude Study: The Back of a Seated Man with a Crown of Reed”. I originally thought the reed crown was his hair. I was planning to make several jokes about the model having a bad hair day or maybe make a dig at Supercuts. So without that material to work from, I’ll have to get somewhat serious, as serious as I can be, about the great Tiepolo. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, or Giambattista as he was often called was born on March 5, 1696, in Venice, Italy. Not Venice, California.

“I originally thought the reed crown was his hair.”

Speaking of Venice, California, when I was going to college at San Diego State University, I took a road trip to Venice Beach. I wanted to check out a art gallery that was showing the work of perhaps the greatest living British artist, David Hockney. When I entered the gallery Mr. Hockney was standing there looking sophisticated and worldly wearing a tweed jacket. He looked at me and asked me if I had any questions about his work. It was an incredible opportunity. I could have asked him anything. Unfortunately, I froze and said that I just got there and was going to look around. He turned to a gallery employee and sarcastically joked that he was hoping I would buy his work. He was indeed being sarcastic. I was in my early 20s and was dressed like someone in their early 20s. I had on cut off jeans, and a t-shirt. I didn’t exactly look like someone that could afford to buy his work or proper leisure attire. I know I should have dressed nicer. However, in my defense, it was during the day and I didn’t think he would be there.

Now lets get back to Tiepolo, who is considered the greatest Italian Rococo painter. Unfortunately he passed away on March 27, 1770. So I was never able to meet him. If I was alive back then, I would have asked him… well I can’t think of a good question. I’ll have to get back to you.

Posted on by

Copy of Titian’s “Study for St. Sebastian”

"Study for St. Sebastian" after Titian

Above is a copy of a drawing by Titian titled “Study for St. Sebastian in the high altar of SS. Nazarro e Celso, Brescia”, created around 1519 to 1520, and drawn with brown ink, brown washes, heightened with white on grey-blue laid paper. Titian’s work was done with thick ink lines so I substituted my usual pencils with a gel ink pen along with an of assortment black and gray markers.

Tiziano Vecellio, simply known as Titian, was considered by many to be the greatest painter in Venice, Italy during the 1500s. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, a small town near the Alps, and then moved to Venice at the age of 10. He started his artistic training at the Sebastiano Zuccato workshop. Then went to work with Giovanni Bellini, who at the time was already a well known artist. Titian also worked alongside with Giorgione, who would greatly influence his style. Around 1511, Titian began an independent career in Venice. He went on to create the frescoes in the Scuola del Santo in Padua in what is known as his mature style. He became famous for his religious works as well as his portrait paintings. Titian continued to paint and his work was in high demand all across Europe. Around 1545, Titian traveled to Rome and met Michelangelo who greatly influenced his work. Throughout the rest of Titian’s life, his brushwork became looser and more expressive. Artists ranging from Sir Joshua Reynolds to Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres as well as the French Impressionists were all influenced by the work of Titian.

My former painting instructor, Bob Gross, also an excellent artist, was a big fan of Titian. Bob taught the painting techniques used by Titian and the other old masters. He would often talk about the glazes or thin layers of color that Titian layered on top of each other to create unique color combinations. Bob was an amazing teacher. Unfortunately he passed away earlier this year. Myself along with his other students will always remember his teachings and of course his fondness for Titian.