Tag: male

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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.

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Prismacolor® Pencil Drawing After Arnout Vinckenborch

Copy of a Vinckenborch Sketch

The drawing above was done in black and white prismacolor pencils on textured gray paper. The original work was done in white and black chalk on buff paper. According my large book of old master drawings that I’m working from, the work is by Rubens. However, it turns out to be by another artist by the name of Arnout Vinckenborch. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, which houses the drawing, has re-attributed the work to be by Vinckenborch. Interestingly, the word draftsman is in parenthesis next to his name instead of referring him as an artist. The value and significance of an artwork is diminished when it is attributed to a lesser known artist. This begs the question of what is more important, the work itself or the person who created it. Websites that sell reproductions of the drawing are still attributing the original work to Peter Paul Rubens. Most likely they don’t know that the attribution has changed or perhaps there is something more sinister going on.

“Let’s learn a little about Arnout Vinckenborch.”

Let’s learn a little about Arnout Vinckenborch. It will have to be a little because there is not much information about him. He was born in Alkmaar, around 1590. Alkmaar is small town in Northern Holland known for it’s cheese market. I only mention this because I like cheese. Don’t forget, this is my blog so I can make it about myself at anytime I choose to do so. Getting back to Vinckenborch, he grew up in Amsterdam before moving to Antwerp. Vinckenborch worked in the studio of Rubens. His development as an artist and painting technique was of course greatly influenced by the great master. So a lot of his output is mixed in with Rubens and other fellow artists in work that came out of the studio. He did however produce some works of his own before his untimely death at the age of 30.

Click this link to see and/or buy a copy of the drawing of a man’s back by Vinckenborch.

Click here if you would like to purchase the book: Anatomy Lessons of The Great Masters by Robert Hale.

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Graphite Drawing of Risen Christ After Michelangelo

Copy of Michelangelo Drawing

Here is a graphite pencil drawing after Michelangelo titled “The Risen Christ”. The original was drawn in black chalk around 1532. It is part of the Royal Collection Trust in the United Kingdom. There are over one million articles in the collection which includes 150,000 works on paper. Apparently, it is all owned by Queen Elizabeth II. Most of the old master drawings where acquired by King George III. The original drawing might have been done as a finished work of art rather than a preparatory sketch. I would assume it is not to hard to find this drawing by Michelangelo in the Royal Collection. Because of it’s importance it must be on display in a conspicuous place. I would hate to think that is hidden in a large pile of 150,000 pieces of paper. But then again if the Queen owns so many items then she just might be a hoarder. In that case there might be several large cardboard boxes of drawings jammed into the Royal garage or perhaps stored up in the Buckingham Palace attic.

“I would hate to think that is hidden in a large pile of 150,000 pieces of paper.”

Moving on, I came across an interesting quote by Michelangelo regarding drawing. “The science of design, or of line-drawing, is the source and very essence of painting, sculpture, architecture. Sometimes it seems that all the works of the human brain and hand are either design itself or a branch of that art.” He also said “Draw, Antonio; draw, Antonio; draw and don’t waste time.” So as you can see, drawing is very important. I would assume that it is important for many people and not just Antonio. But the fact that he singled out Antonio means that drawing is even more important for Antonio. Unfortunately Michelangelo destroyed a lot of his drawings so others wouldn’t see how he developed his work. Here are a couple of more quotes to ponder “If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn’t call it genius.” And “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”

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Graphite Drawing After Benvenuto Cellini

Benvenuto Cellini Copy

Here we go again with another copy of another Italian Renaissance master. This time it is Benvenuto Cellini. The drawing I copied is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. The good news is that it free to visit. The bad news is that this particular drawing is not on view. It was made black chalk with brown ink and wash on laid paper. I drew mine with graphite pencils on Strathmore paper. It is titled “A Satyr”. In the book I’m copying it from, it is titled “Drawing of a Satyr for the Portal of Fontainebleau.” I searched for the “Portal of Fontainebleau” and I got very lost. I was hoping to find something I could write about.

I shall write about Benvenuto Cellini. Mr. Cellini was born on November 3, 1500 and died on February 13, 1571. Besides writing his famous autobiography, he was also a goldsmith, draftsman, sculptor and painter. Cellini was an important artist in the style of Mannerism. This style of art separated itself from the calm and orderly art of the High Renaissance by distorting its subjects to add tension and drama. He also wrote poetry, as well as treatises on goldsmithing and casting in bronze. It would be great if he wrote about drawing then I could just copy and paste it into this blog.

“I was hoping to find something I could write about.”

Anyway, reading Cellini’s autobiography is a good way to learn about him. I listened to it on audiobook a long time ago so I don’t really remember it, which is unfortunate because then I could write about that. I think I’ll write about some of the reviews for his autobiography I found on Amazon. “An intriguing look into an artist’s life in Renaissance Italy” said Jack. David says he read this book over 50 years ago in college. I like that review because it makes me feel young. Reviewer MickJazz says the book was recommended to him by a designer from Ohio. I listened to it on audiobook. I can’t remember if someone recommended it or not.

Here is a garden variety link to see Benvenuto Cellini’s Drawing of a Satyr for the Portal of Fontainebleau.

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Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo

Michelangelo Copy

The original is titled “A male nude with proportions indicated” I however, left off the proportions, so now it is just a male nude. The drawing by Michelangelo is in the Royal Collection in merry ole’ England. The original was done in two shades of red chalk. I did mine in two shades of pencil. I guess I could use chalk but it has that ‘scratchy’ feel to it that I do not care for. Of course graphite pencil is not incredibly smooth. If you find that interesting, then I am speechless. But I need to finish this blog post so I will continue.

“What are those writing issues?”

I am writing this post in the ‘word counter.net’ online application. It gives me important information about my writing. For instance, up to this point, it should have taken you about 32 seconds to read this. If you were speaking it out loud for some strange reason, then it would have taken you about 50 seconds. Fascinating stuff indeed. It also shows that I am writing at the 7 to 8th grade level. And believe it or not it is doing this all for FREE! It keeps reminding me that I should upgrade to the application ‘Grammerly’ which checks for grammar, spelling issues and plagiarism. I can even do a brief check for free. Let’s do that now, shall we. It says I have, 2 issues of grammar, 4 spelling mistakes, 12 punctuation “errors” (which in my writing style is actually pretty darn good) and 8 additional writing issues. What are those writing issues? I would have to pay to find out. But since I’ve been humiliated already I think I will leave it there. On the plus side, they did not find any problems of plagiarism and I consider that to be a big win!

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Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo

Copy of a Michelangelo Drawing

Graphite pencil figure drawing after Michelangelo Buonaratti. The original drawing is described as “A nude young man, to front, looking to right, beckoning”. The sketch by Michelangelo can be found at The British Museum. Once again I must emphasize that it is from THE British Museum and not just any run of the mill British Museum. For example the Dog Collar Museum in North Yorkshire. You know the one in Leeds Castle. Moving on, although I drew my copy in pencil, the original was done in pen and not one but two shades of brown ink. Both shades of brown ink are known as iron gall ink. When I say ‘known’. I mean ‘known’ by people other than me. So I had to research it.

“Iron salt is salt with iron in it.”

Are you ready for some fancy book learning? Iron gall ink is made from iron salts and tannic acids. Iron salt is salt with iron in it. That should help clear things up. The tannic acid came from vegetables. Iron Gall ink was used in Europe from the 400s and is still being used today. It can be found on Amazon as well as various pen supply stores. It cannot be found at Michaels Craft Stores or Hobby Lobby “home of oily paint and signs with religious expressions”. If your the handy type, there is a recipe to make your own at instructables.com

So now I should write something about Michelangelo. From what I understand he would often destroy his drawings so people wouldn’t know how he developed his figures. According to artist and biographer, Giorgio Vasari said that Michelangelo burned his drawings “so that no one should see the labors he endured and the ways he tested his genius, and lest he should appear less than perfect.” Out of the thousands he made there are only a few hundred still with us today.

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Graphite Drawing After Peter Paul Rubens

Jesus Christ drawing after Rubens

The next offering is a copy of a drawing by the Flemish master, Peter Paul Rubens. The original is in The British Museum. Not just any British Museum but THE British Museum. You know the one at the corner of Great Russell Street and Montague Place. It’s right next to the Arby’s. Rubens drew with black chalk added brown wash, and some white. It didn’t say what kind of brown wash or what kind of white. For my copy, I just used a pencil. A 6B I think. The ‘B’ means soft and the 6 is for the darkness. I’m almost positive I also used a 2H or I think 2B or may be not 2B that is the question. Moving on, the original drawing was or I should say still is, because I don’t think paper shrinks when it gets older is 527 millimeters tall and 370 millimeters wide. I drew mine on 9 inch by 12 inch paper. It would be very helpful to you the reader to stick with one unit of measurement. But then I would have to convert some of the measurements and even then you might not care anyway. So I’ll just leave it to you. I figure if you have enough free time and are so starved for entertainment that you are reading this blog then you probably might even stop and convert millimeters to inches and / or inches to millimeters. That was what would be considered a ‘run on’ sentence. It was also insulting to you the reader. I know you are an important person and your time is very valuable. You are also reading this post because you believe that I will discuss the great Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. Here we go.

“That was an exhausting sentence.”

Rubens was born on June 28, 1577 in Siegen, Westphalia. Where is Siegen? According to Wikipedia, Siegen is a city in Germany, in the southern part of Westphalian of the North Rhine -​ Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen – Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region. That was an exhausting sentence. I think I’m going to call it a day.

Click here to see the drawing of Jesus by Peter Paul Rubens.

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Graphite Drawing After Jacopo da Pontormo

Jacopo da Pontormo copy

At the start of the pandemic, I was bored I mean like really bored. I had a book of 100 old master drawings. So I thought I might try to copy all of the drawings in the book. I have been posting them on my instagram and twitter accounts with brief and often inaccurate descriptions. I am now going to post them on my blog with longer, much longer and perhaps more inaccurate descriptions. Enjoy!
Please note that a few of the drawings were so bad that I couldn’t bring myself to posting them.
Our first offering is a copy of a drawing by Jacopo da Pontormo. His name originally was Jacopo Carrucci, (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557, Florence). I can only assume he changed it so he wouldn’t be associated with his dimwitted family members. We can all relate.

“…inaccurate information is preferable…”

He worked under Leonardo da Vinci and then joined Andrea del Sarto’s group of merry men. This is according to the writings of Giorgio Vasari. Most of what we know about Italian Renaissance artists, we learned from Giorgio Vasari. If Vasari was a pathological liar then the most of what we know about artists of the Italian Renaissance is totally wrong. But since inaccurate information is preferable to no information I will continue to paraphrase Vasari.
Da Pontormo painted mainly religious scenes because that were the money was. He also created work for the famous Medici family. He stole, I mean borrowed ideas from Albrecht Durer and Michelangelo. I stole, I mean copied some of Durer and Michelangelo’s work in posts to come later. Right now we are talking about Jacopo. Try to stay on topic.
The artist formerly known as Jacopo Carrucci, now Jacopo da Pontormo was extremely innovative. Art before him during the High Renaissance was balanced, tranquil and fairly mellow. Da Pontormo created a more expressive and emotional style often referred to as mannerism. More to come…

A reproduction of the original drawing by Jacopo da Pontormo can be found here.

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Graphite Drawing After Michelangelo

Pencil drawing after Michelangelo. I have this book of a old master drawings and I was going to try to copy all of them. This is from the chapter on torsos. As you can see, I haven’t gotten to the chapter on faces.

If you would like to purchase the book I’m talking about: Anatomy Lessons of The Great Masters by Robert Hale click here.