Drawing

This summer, enjoy some time in nature. Don't forget your sketchbook! Master Drawing Mondays will be on summer break, but please keep drawing. #MasterDrawingMondays

Study for "Apollo and Daphne", by John Singer Sargent. Sargent is one of America's best portrait painters and figurative artists. I love the freshness of this drawing. It could have been a pose we recreated when I was learning to draw back in the 1990s. #MasterDrawingMondays

While at Chateau Orquevaux, I was plucked not only from my everyday life, but my well-equipped sculpture studio. The clay I purchased in Paris was extremely difficult to work with, so I turned to other materials, including aluminum foil and plaster.  I let myself play, try new things, and respond to this place in unexpected ways. These sculptures are a response to my environment, the materials available to me, and my own imagination.

In honor of Mothers Day, here is a beautiful depiction of the Virgin Mary with the Infant Christ. I love that this is a Master Drawing of a Master Drawing. Thomas Vivares drew this "Madonna and Child" after a drawing attributed to Ludovico Carracci in 1823. It's part of the collection of the Royal Academy in London.

My last day in France I spent in Paris. First, I went to the Petit Palais to see the collection of plaster casts for many of the works of public art around the city. This week's Master Drawing Monday comes from Aimé-Jules Dalou's study for his monumental worked for "The Republic." #masterdrawingMondays

In honor of my time at Château d'Orquevaux, I present a portrait of Denis Diderot by Louis-Michel Van Loo. Denis Diderot's daughter, Marie-Angelique married Abel Nicolas Francois Caroillon du Vandeul and they lived in the Château here in Orquevaux, which is now an international artist and writer's residency. #MasterDrawingMondays

This line drawing of Pre-Raphaelite muse, Fanny Cornforth, by Dante Gabriel Rosetti is a splendid example of Rosetti's style, plus good practice for precision cross-hatching. #Masterdrawingmondays

This lovely study of St. Andrew was made in 1609 by an Italian artist named Guido Reni. It was made as a predatory study for Saint Andrew brought to the temple and Saints Peter and Paul in the chapel of St. Andrew in San Gregorio al Celio in Rome. #MasterDrawingMondays

This drawing, A Triton Blowing a Conch Shell, by Jean-Baptiste Nattier was presumably done as a study for a painting. Nattier used black chalk heightened with white chalk on gray-brown laid paper. It is the size of a typical sheet of paper, 11" x 8 7/8". The toned paper from Canson would be perfect for this. #MasterDrawingMondays

The challenge of Master Drawing Mondays is to set aside time to copy a drawing. You can either choose from one of the Dover books, or I will provide a weekly prompt from a museum collection. If you are on social media, use the hashtag #MasterDrawingMonday and tag me on Instagram @SarahHI. Let's see how many out-of-practice artists we can encourage to take up a regular practice of copying the old masters!

Tête de satyre by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Since I have Paris on my mind, here is a fascinating portrait by Michelangelo found in the Louvre's collection. Michelangelo used brown ink for this drawing. #masterdrawingmonday

A Kneeling Man Holding a Staff by Jacopo Tintoretto. I love the movement and freshness of Tintoretto's drawings. I was not overly familiar with this Venetian master until 2018, when I saw a big exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. #masterdrawingMondays

This lovely study of anatomy by Domenico Beccafumi shows us so much into the mind of the Renaissance artist. By the 16th-century, artists were years away from the Medieval model of painting the spiritual. #MasterDrawingMondays

This 16th-century Italian drawing by a follower of Francesco Salviati of "Christ Falling under the Cross" was created using pen and brown ink with gray-brown wash and black chalk, heightened with white gouache on brown laid paper. It is the perfect subject matter for Lent, a season when Christians prepare for Easter. One of the spiritual exercises that many Christians do during Lent is walk the Stations of the Cross. #MasterDrawingMondays

This Study of a Female Nude is by relatively unknown 16th-century Sienese painter by the name of Alessandro Casolani. What I love about it is that it reminds me of the figure drawings that we did in Richard Serrin's class back in the 1990s. This tradition of drawing the figure from life connects artists through the centuries. #MasterDrawingMondays

This week's challenge is something new: find a grotesque to copy! There are many wonderful examples by Leonardo da Vinci, Francesco Melzi, and Honoré Daumier especially. If you want to take it a step further, see if you can draw your own grotesque. I'm eager to see what wonderfully horrible things you come up with! #MasterDrawingMondays

François Boucher's "Danae Receiving the Golden Shower" is a gorgeous figure study to copy. It's a wonderful opportunity to bring out the red, white, and black chalk! I will be using conté crayons. #MasterDrawingMondays

This is a tender portrait by Leonardo da Vinci is one of my favorites. Supposedly this study was done in preparation for the 'Madone Litta,' now hanging at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. #MasterDrawingMondays

This was one of the first Master Drawings I ever copied. It's a beautiful study of a man in a seated position. I love how you can see where Pontormo moved his lines to another spot. It really gives the drawing movement and kinetic energy. #MasterDrawingMondays

The challenge of Master Drawing Mondays is to set aside time to copy a drawing. You can either choose from one of the Dover books, or I will provide a weekly prompt from a museum collection. If you are on social media, use the hashtag #MasterDrawingMonday and tag me on Instagram @SarahHI. Let's see how many out-of-practice artists we can encourage to take up a regular practice of copying the old masters!