New Semester Begins

I'll be busy this fall with teaching at two colleges: Seneca & Humber.  At both I'll be giving classes in Life Drawing as well as mentoring an illustration course on Children's Books at Seneca.  I'm excited about all of it but a bit apprehensive about how much time and effort they will take to execute to the level I wish.

One could give only one course and have your complete time absorbed since as you teach you're also learning things you weren't aware of,  discovering new things to share with your students as well as ever evolving your approach, understanding and delivery.  I've never given the same course twice as hard as I may try to nail it down.  This applies even to the same course given twice in the same day.  But it makes life interesting never the less.

I've posted a drawing of gestures since the depiction gesture is ultimately the true focus of any life drawing course as I see it. Gesture is life: it is expression, attitude, pose, thought caught in a moment, as well as any  action or inaction as it holds for a moment before moving on.

The beauty of animation, and the reason I feel it is such a priviledge to be part of an animation faculty is that animation is life.  Anything can have life in the mind and hands of an animator.  An object like a cube, or a flour sack, or anything at all, can come to life. It can move and better still make us believe that the thought behind that movement is coming from the object.  It has atitude, emotion and a story.

Ultimately that is the challenge of life drawing: to distil life into gesture.

Artists I wish I knew about when I was young.

Artists I wish I knew about when I was young.

 

 Annibale Carracci An Angel Playing Violin  British Museum

Many times in teaching I’ve mentioned artists’ names only to see blank looks on my students’ faces.   Rather than be frustrated by this lack of awareness, I remind myself that I too once was unaware of these artists who would so greatly influence my life and work.   

I still remember clearly the day a friend showed me a book of Andrew Wyeth’s work at the U of Guelph library and how deeply his drawings and paintings impressed me.  And the same went for on for many other names and styles that I came across in studies at Guelph as well as discovering since.  Each day new names and works come to my attention, of artists from long ago as well as contemporary. Such is the beauty of the ease of Internet searches, Facebook friends’ offerings, and of course books I can’t cease buying.   

Never the less, there are a few that I think most art students should be aware of for, amongst many things,  their superior drawing abilities.

So I’ve decided to put together a list of artists.  By no means is it meant to be complete and all-encompassing list nor meant to be a survey.  With today’s easy access to collection, museums, and bios as well as images on the web, it takes very little effort to find their work and explore others.   I hope this will encourage more exploration beyond the realms of Manga and comic art**.

As to this list,  they’re simply some of the ones that I’ve found interesting and influential.  I’ve put in quick links to their drawings for a quick tour, but encourage you to get to know them and their times better.

So here goes in no particular order. Once again, all are chosen for their superior drawings and graphic abilities:

Antoine Watteau    his drawings captivate and fascinate me.  ‘his line has an electric fleetness’

Jean Honore Fragonard   for his studies of heads and faces.  “singular originality, elegance, and spirit”

Annibale Carracci   for “his ability to set down a few strokes to imply an entire scene.”

Francois Boucher  expert draughtsmanship in a playful line.  Simple yet powerful  

Daumier  

Pieter Breugel  what a mind, what an imagination!

Rubens  I am simply in awe of his drawings. Truly a giant.

Rembrandt   to me, his studies of life on the streets is what café is all about.  His quick pen lines tell a thousand stories in one stroke.  

Gericault (his studies of horses) Stunning studies

Delacroix  fascinated by his anatomy studies and sketch books of his travels.  Another café great

Degas   sensuality in line, tone and colour.  

Raphael   Can’t think much to say other than devine intervention.

Gustav Klimt  Beautiful sensual studies.

Egon Schiele  Intense drawings of the figure.

Heinrich Kley   Amazing ability, simply put.  I can see how he would have influenced animation.

Vincent Van Gogh   Power of creativity and soul behind his lines.

Adolf Von Menzel  beautiful drawings unfortunately considered academic but to me full of life.

Hans Holbein the younger  for the clarity of line and power of sight (attributable to the lens according to David Hockney in his book Secret Knowledge) 

Kathe Kollwitz for the intense humanity and powerful force of her work.

 

 

John Singer Sargent for the beauty of all of his paintings and the strength of his drawings.

Bernini for the power of gesture and expressive force of his sculptures.

Of course Michelangelo and Leonardo   No need to say much about them.

This is the list that comes to mind. I am sure I have missed many names that will come to me later. But these are the giants I look to in awe and try to learn from.

Enjoy.

**in no way is this meant to disparage comic or manga artists; rather it is meant as an encouragement to  young artists to explore beyond those styles and look into the artists and works that preceded them.  They may be surprised to see the similarities in expression and storytelling.