A while ago, a friend of mine asked me "how far you can go" with pencil drawing. I am still more or less afraid of paint, and I've almost always preferred the pencil drawings of the contemporary realist artists I like. Drawing is indeed an art form all by itself, and is not limited to producing preliminary drawings for paintings.
Of course, sticking with drawing because of giving in to my fear of paint is no good, but it's also OK to like drawing for its own sake.
And as for "how far you can go"...
One of the prize winners from
Artists' Daily "Shades of Gray" drawing contest.
~
Holy Christmas! This is done with a pencil or two? I am properly gobsmacked.
ReplyDeleteI think if I were an artist this is the sort of thing that would divide me in two, the way a really fine musical performance does. Half of me wants to practice twice as much and the other half -- probably the more practical half -- wants to put the instrument back in the case and put it up for sale.
(So far nothing's for sale. Anything worth doing, I guess, is worth doing badly, as GKC put it.)
Cheers,
-John-
That's marvellous. Indeed, drawing is nothing to diminish. I saw an exhibition of Albrect Dürer etchings at the Courtauld Gallery in London last year and was enraptured. And I must admit that perhaps Leonardo was a better drawer than a painter. I could look at his scribbles all day.
ReplyDeleteAn amazing drawing, stunning! It also reminds me of the famous M.R.James short ghost story, O Whistle and I'll come to you my lad: http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/owhistle.htm
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