Rule 2 | Work with line bundles
Lesson 7 | Garland, Lions and other stuff
45 min.
Start to understand forms and develop them further on. It is important, that you start to ideate, to develop your own forms.
Step 1 | Let yourself inspire from the artists and have a closer look
Learning from the professionals is always best – even if you never intend to become an artist – you can learn from them.
In the baroque era, people liked to represent themselves on this world stage, and all means were right for that. It was the era of the great ideas and ideasketches for garden planning, architecture and most importantly, for the stage.
Go to the Morgan Library online catalogue and browse this stuff there. Giovanni Battista Piranesi is an Italian Artist and Draftsman. Even when he drafted with a fast line, his drafts have been built later on. See the collection at the themorgan.org online collection here. Or if you want some real lions, int Rijksmuseum collection, there are some niche drawings waiting for you.
Script
When we approach the creation of such a complex object, we have to keep it relaxed. Because if we are rigid, then we are lost.
So that means leaning back, maybe even slackening the shoulders and arm, stretching, and certainly, a good breath is part of it. Just chill out a little until you realize – aha, now I’m ready.
With symmetrical objects, I always start on the axis of symmetry. And with faces I always start at the same level as the eyes, that is, at the root of the nose. From there I spread the line in all directions, first carefully with ticks, tick, tick …. and then, when the general form is found, the flowing line of the sketch comes by itself.
It’s not a matter of having shown every little detail in a sketch correctly. It is about the overall impression. Let your phantasy fly!
By the way, symmetrical drawings happen very often. Faces, persons, or even flowers. Don’t get stuck in symmetry, a touch of wildness is always good.
Girandole with three figures and a hippocampus, William Austin, after Thomas Johnson, 1755
etching, h 190mm × w 97mm (Rijksmuseum)
ASSIGNMENT | Let you line bundles flutter and ideate great gondolas, coaches, torso or even horses
Play around with baroque elements. Do it like Piranesi did.
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