Tag: graphite

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo

Copy in Pencil of Michelangelo's Study of St. Lawrence for the Last Judgement

Just above this well worded post is a copy in pencil of a sketch by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. His close personal friends just called him Michelangelo. Today he is known by the name Señor Simoni. The drawing is a preparatory study St. Laurence or St. Lawrence done in red chalk for the Sistine Chapel. I created my copy in graphite pencil because chalk is messy, tends to smear and has that scratchy feeling when you draw with it. Whereas a pencil has wood around it so my delicate hands never even have to touch the actual drawing medium. When someone tries to insult me by saying I am afraid to get my hands dirty, I really can’t argue with him or her but more likely a he. Since we have talked about drawing mediums and Señor Simoni (Michelangelo), I think we’ll talk about the subject of the drawing, St. Laurence. I have taken most of the information from the online version of the encyclopedia Britannica as oppose to the actual set of Britannica books.

Today he is known by the name Señor Simoni.

Saint Laurence or Saint Lawrence, if you’re partial to the letter ‘w’, passed away in 258 in Rome, Italy. I couldn’t find out when he was born. Only when he died. That is a sign of someone living their best life. They go totally unnoticed when they are born but when they die it is sure as hell recorded. He was a extremely celebrated martyr. I didn’t read about how he died but when he is described as a martyr you know it can’t be good. Actually, I just found out that he was probably beheaded. I am telling you this just in case your a real martyrdom buff.

Saint Lawrence is known as the patron Saint of the poor because he apparently gave away the churches riches to the sick and poor. He is also known as the patron Saint of Cooks because it is also quite possible that he was cooked to death on a gridiron. I think that’s why the date of his death was recorded. Your peers definitely wouldn’t forget something like that.

Here is the link if you would like to see a facsimile of the drawing I copied: Study of St. Lawrence for the Last Judgement in black chalk at the Teyler Museum, Haarlem by Michelangelo Buonarotti.

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Jacopo Pontormo

Graphite drawing of 3 nudes

This next drawing is of three nudes copied from a work by Jacopo Pontormo. Pontormo’s drawing is in the collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library & Museum in New York. The museum is located across the street from, and I kid you not, the Polish Embassy and Consulate. Would it be too off topic to talk and make jokes about the Polish? I will try with all my might to focus on the drawings and the Morgan Museum.

The Morgan Museum consists of the East and West Morgan Stanley Galleries, Morgan’s Study, The Morgan Dining Room and most importantly The Morgan Souvenir Shop. It is there that you can purchase coffee mugs, tote bags, an umbrella, a necktie that has a map of New York City on it, just in case your phone battery dies, and so many other great items. You can also buy a tray that is inscribed with the words “There is no friend as loyal as a book”. It is perfect for that special someone in your life that you have hurt so deeply that they no longer even try to interact with the outside world. The price of the tray is $42 plus $24 for shipping. Now let’s get back to the drawing.

Jacopo Pontormo’s drawing is described as “Standing Male Nude Seen from the Back, and Two Seated Nudes”. Apparently on the other side of the drawing is another bonus drawing entitled “Striding Nude with Arms Raised”. Since I forgot to turn the paper over I only copied the one drawing*. According to the description, the media he used is “Red chalk with smudging”. I have looked everywhere for smudging and I couldn’t find it. So I drew my version with pencil. Pontormo’s drawing on the back was done with black, red, and white chalk and since I don’t see the word “smudging” I’ll assume there was no smudging involved.
*please note that I drew my copy from a reproduction and did not actually handle the original artwork.

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo Buonarotti

Graphite drawing of a young nude man

The featured image in this post is a drawing in various graphite pencils. Actually, I think only used one pencil. I think I used the “Prismacolor® 14420 Ebony Graphite Drawing Pencil”. That’s right the old “14420”. You’re probably familiar with a number 2 pencil. Well the “14420” is not that. It is 7210 times darker than a number 2 pencil. (7210 x 2 = 14420) Please note: I not only have no vested interest in the Prismacolor® company but I also know very little about the Prismacolor® company and it’s products.

This drawing is a copy of a drawing in red chalk by Michelangelo Buonarotti entitled “Study for the Nude Youth Over the Prophet Daniel for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling”. The figure on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is located above Daniel and below “God Dividing the Water from the Earth”. According to Wikipedia: Daniel is, believe it or not, the main character in the Book of Daniel. Few people debate whether or not this is true. So the next time you are in a heated discussion over religion, you can both can agree that the main character in the Book of Daniel is in fact Daniel. As you can see this blog is not just about art but about healing the world in general.

Above the nude figure we were talking about is the scene of “God Dividing the Water from the Earth”. Apparently, according to Bible scholars, he divided the water to be either above the firmament or below. I can only assumed that he further divided the water between fresh, salt and brackish. I prefer to call brackish water either lightly salted water or even perhaps salt water with 50% less sodium. On the second day, because we can all agree that dividing water is an all day affair, he separated morning and evening. Then he added lights to the firmament of heaven. It was then that he realized that he should have put up the lights first so he could see what he was doing. Perhaps then he could have put the lights up and divide the water all in the same day.

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Annibale Carracci

Pencil drawing of a male torso after Annibale Carracci

Here we have another drawing in pencil copied from a work by the Italian painter Annibale Carracci. I really don’t know much about Mr. Carracci, so let’s find out about him together unless you are an expert on Italian art then I must warn you that you will be extremely disappointed by not only this post but by my entire website. The following has been taken mainly from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline. More specifically called the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Heilbrunn Foundation funded the art history timeline. The Heilbrunn Foundation was founded by Robert H. Heilbrunn, an investor and philanthropist. Unfortunately, Mr. Heilbrunn died in 2001. His estate still owns the entire history of art. So next time you want to go to a art museum or write a article on art history, stop and think, do I really want to be sued by the Heilbrunn Family?

Carracci and company also were influenced by the bright colors of Titian.

Let’s get back to Annibale Carracci. I’ve decided to get my information from Wikipedia just to play it safe. Carracci was born in 1560 and died in 1609. He was an art teacher and painter who lived in Bologna and Rome. Annibale along with his brother and cousin, who were also artists, created a style of Baroque art that was both dynamic and monumental in a classical sort of way. Their draftsmanship was greatly influenced by Andrea del Sarto and Raphael. Carracci and company also were influenced by the bright colors of Titian. They took effects of natural light created by Northern Italian artists and the composition of artists like Raphael. Annibale Carracci was instrumental in creating a classical style of art that also borrowed heavily on ancient Roman and Green artists. He along with Caravaggio were two of the most influential painters in the 1600s. As a teacher, the artists he taught went on to become the most influential in Roman painting.

If you would like to see the original drawing of a male torso by Annibale Carracci then by all means click here.

Posted on by

Graphite Drawing After Anthony Van Dyke

Graphite Drawing of Woman Sleeping

Up next on our master copying adventure, we have a graphite drawing of a woman sleeping copied from a work by Anthony Van Dyke or if you want to be more formal, Sir Anthony Van Dyke. Of course, if people have a choice they usually like to be less formal. That is why sweatpants are so popular. Let’s get back to Anthony Van Dyke. If you would like to see the original drawing of a woman sleeping by Sir Anthony Van Dyke, click here. Now let’s talk about Van Dyke. According to the Britannica website, which was the encyclopedia Britannica, which was a set of large books that occupied a lot of shelf space and included lots of information on a wide variety of topics. Yet somehow never included enough information on one topic to write an entire school report. Now let’s talk about Sir Anthony Van Dyke. He was born in 1599 in Antwerp which is now Belgium. He is second only to Peter Paul Rubens, as the most important Flemish painter of the 1600s. Van Dyke is best known for his portrait paintings of the aristocracy but he also created mythological and religious work. He was the 7th of 12 children and displayed all the common characteristics of a 7th child. His father was a successful silk salesman. He started a painting apprenticeship at the age of ten. His approach to applying paint was relatively simple for the time. He applied thin coats of blue, gray, pink, ochre and sienna. This gave his work a soft and harmonious look. There are 500 portraits created by Van Dyke still in existence, which is an incredible output considering he only lived to the age of 42. He greatly influence younger Flemish artists, perhaps even more than Peter Paul Rubens. English portrait painters such as Thomas Gainsborough in the 18th century also borrowed heavily from his work. Scholars not only continue to study his portrait paintings but also his drawings, watercolors and etchings of landscapes and other various subjects.

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

Graphite Drawing After Rembrandt

Nude Woman on a Stool After Rembrandt

This next blog post is a drawing of a female nude sitting on a stool copied from a work by Rembrandt. Also known as Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rhijn Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rhijn, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Rembrandt van Rijn. Thank you to the Art Institute of Chicago for not only housing the drawing we are referring to but for also providing us the variations of his name just in case we didn’t recognize the name Rembrandt. I was totally confused when I saw the drawing was done by someone named Rembrandt. I always called him Haremszoon or simply Harmensz. I think most people make that simple mistake.

I always called him Haremszoon or simply Harmensz.

As I mentioned before, the original drawing is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. Which if I remember correctly is some kind of art institute that is located in or around the Chicago metropolitan area. Sometimes instead of just regurgitating some information I haphazardly found on the web, I like to express my own knowledge about art and the world around myself and the world around art which would be I would guess the same world. If you have ever been to the Art Institute in Chicago and had the time or inclination to visit the drawing department you might have seen it. At the time of this post however it is not on view so you will have to wait. Sometimes it is out on loan to a major museum in a major city. If you live in a small town like Margate, Florida then it is highly unlikely that you will see this drawing. If fact it is highly unlikely that you will see any major work of art. If you want to see lots of bad copies of old master drawings then just stop by my place.

Posted on by

Graphite Pencil Drawing After Peter Paul Rubens

Graphite Drawing after Peter Paul Rubens

My next offering is a copy of drawing done by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens sometime between 1617-18. The Victoria and Albert Museum where the drawing is displayed describes his work as a study of a nude man that is in a recumbent position and then trying to raise himself up and that seems to confirm what we see. But wait there’s more. There are also two studies of legs, that are in a kneeling position. The original drawing was done in black chalk with touches of white. I drew my copy with various graphite pencils. Actually just two different pencils, I just don’t remember which ones they were. One was light and the other dark. There are drawing pencil sets with several different types of pencils but I personally find it difficult to keep track of when to use each one so I usually only use two. I hope you had as much fun reading about pencils as I have writing about them. Just in case you can have too much of a good thing, let’s move on.

The original drawing was a study for the painting “Miracles of St. Francis Xavier”, which is a large altarpiece that is on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The subject in the drawing is not St. Francis but some ‘regular joe’ that is raising from his grave or perhaps he is being healed from the bubonic plague. Maybe he died of the plague and then St. Francis Xavier brought him back from the dead or he was still alive and want to sit up to see what all the commotion was about. Different websites have different ideas about what is actually going on with that pale fellow. But one thing we do now it that he is a man who is in the presence of St. Francis Xavier and that is something in and of itself.