I am very fond of this Portrait of a Lady by David. I think he must have loved her...a sister, a beloved cousin or friend? And his backgrounds are simple, but never dull.
They vibrate with subtle color and brush marks.
When I read a movie review by Louis Menaund in the New Yorker magazine, I was so caught by this paragraph and felt that it was a perfect accompaniment to this painting.
"Some of the big Hollywood action films move so quickly that they eliminate the most rudimentary emotional attachment to the material. It would be terrible if computer editing wiped out the proper emotional resistance to making a cut–the lingering grave affection for a face, a landscape, an interior, even the resonance of empty space."
Here is the last class, the # 8 in the series.
#8 Drawing on the Right side of the Brain
1 Portraits..Size relationships.Triangle...eyes to tip of nose. Basic Unit? Give out view finders
2Value...Highlight, cast shadow, reflected light, crest or cast shadow. Give out Escher drawing. See pg. 194
SQUINT, DAMNIT! Look intently at Fuseli drawing in your book, pg 195. See shadows as Shapes of different values. Where is the cast shadow, reflected light, highlight, core or crest light. Look at Escher for the same.
Right brain does a gestalt.......pg. 198. 3 basic portrait poses...full face, profile, 3/4 ...show axis.
4. ...notice shapes of shadows on portrait on page 206.. Cross hatch onto these shapes...create a range of the 5 values with cross hatching......show my examples and pg. 208.
6 When finished, show value strip curved.
And, at the end, here is my self portrait....it's always good to do a reality check and draw yourself at least once a year. "The sorrows of her changing face...." as Yeats would say.
I look very exasperated and school-marmey. "Have you done your assignments, class?!!!!"
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