Sunday, March 22, 2015

Study of 'Nature Revealed'

(I intend to add more studies to this thread... )
-----------------------------------------------------------

Study of 'Nature Revealed', a 19th C sculpture by the French master L. E. Barrias.
30" x 22", pastels and conte on paper.






Study of 'The First Funeral'

30" x 22", pastel on paper. This is a study sketch of L. E. Barrias' 'The First Funeral' (1878). I was in total admiration of the complexity of different forces - gravitational and muscular, which are interacting with each other to make this beautiful composition possible. I'm sincerely thankful to the unknown ref sources which helped make this study.

Notice how the central male figure is tilting back (please click to access the full size), while supporting himself from falling forwards (due to the drag of the deceased's weight) with his left leg. His abdominal muscles are taut, to counteract the action of his back muscles (responsible for the backwards tilt). The deceased is completely under the influence of gravity, as is evident from the curvature of his spine, the slight inward bend of the left foot, the position of the wrist/fingers on his lap, and the posture of his head/neck. The female figure is slightly bent forwards, kissing the deceased on the side of his head. Therefore, her weight is mainly on the right leg, which is straight and taut, while the left leg is comparatively relaxed. Also, the male figure's head is erect, the neck muscles stiff - showing the strain of the weight he's carrying. He has a melancholy look on his face, as he glances down at the departed person.












Friday, March 13, 2015

Nymph and Satyr - conte study

One large (30" x 22"), in-camera conte drawing of an Old Master sculpture. This is Claude Miguel's (18th Century, French) sculpture 'The Nymph and Satyr'. I was trying to record my process, and had that irritating video cam peering over my shoulder most of the time.



Including one grayscale image for value comparisons: