Sunday, January 23, 2011

Faces I remember 2011


this drawing is constructed with kodak laminate, aluminum leaf, silver leaf, packing tape. the face came through the media, which i defined with charcoal. i have seen this face in european drawings and paintings. i think of hans holbein the younger, da messina, ghirlandiao, titian. i tried to find 'the' drawing that this face came from, but discover it is a composite face drawn from many sources.
i searched 'master drawings' on google this morning. ugh. what a laborious trudge. yes, there were true master drawings and a lot of unmastered drawings. particularly amongst figure/portrait drawings. there is a lot of surface and technique, but no understanding. no bones, no muscles, tendons, ligaments. limp carrots.
my two bits: understand the underlying structure and the surface/technique/style will take care of itself. if you are copying someone's work, study from a master and study the works of the masters that artist studied.
best,
deb.

4 comments:

DaveL said...

Is the charcoal under the laminate or on top? either way, it's awesome!! thanks for sharing with us, your faithful fans...
DaveL

Debbie Clarke said...

that's the complicated part DaveL. it's sort of on, but more 'of' it.

carol l mckenna said...

Deb ~ verrrrrrrrrrry creative ~ glad I stopped by ~ am here to invite you to stopped by my blog to see the redesign and added features ~ hope you will come by at http://artmusedog.blogspot.com ~ Also shall I continue to keep your blog as one of 'Blogs of interest?" ~ hugs and namaste, ~ think we have enough snow? Carol McKenna

Debbie Clarke said...

hello carol! thank you for stopping by. i have stopped by your blog; there is a lot going on! i love your blogs of interest. if you would like to keep my nest on there, terrific! looks like i am in good company. but, please, only do so if you are interested in keeping me there.

just got dedicated internet!

best,
deb.