Assuming that you know by heart the movement of tones on a column lit by direct and reflected light, you should have no trouble analyzing the tones on the model’s legs. A is the highlight, B the dark, and C the reflected light. A theoretical line through the darkest part of the dark is the edge where the planes meet. The proper placement of this theoretical line greatly increases the illusion of form. Dürer has actually placed a small part of this slightly curving vertical line on the inner hamstring of the leg (D). Each buttock is shaded much like a sphere. In the back, E and F are conceived as columns. But E is unable to move into reflected light, because that part of the column E which would receive the reflected light is covered by F.
Cast shadows are used, but they are used by a master and sparingly. Where, for instance, is the cast shadow that should be on the calf? Where is the cast shadow that might be under the buttocks? Dürer does use a cast shadow on the arm (H), but the shadow’s course obeys the contour and improves the form.
You can use a cast shadow if it helps the form. But you have to draw for quite a while before you are a good enough critic of your own work to make such a decision.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
FEMALE NUDE
silverpoint
11⅛″ × 813⁄16″ (28.3 × 22.4 cm)
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
For purpose of tones, the head was thought of as a block, with a front plane (A) – the whole front of the face – a side plane (B), and a down plane (C). The artist has forced the tones to move as they would move on a box with a direct light from the left and a weaker reflected light from the right. As usual, when the head is conceived as a block, the nose also becomes a block. The hair was also thought of as a block, with front and side planes, D and E.
As on a block under these lighting conditions, the shade on the side plane (B) moves from dark to light, left to right; and the shade on the down plane (C) from dark to light, front to back. The hat has column and sphere qualities, and is shaded as such, with the same lights that fall upon the face.
Artists do not like to change the direction of their lights from form to form, unless there are really good reasons. Even under studio conditions, light directions frequently shift on the model; but artists refuse to accept such shifts.
The neck is thought of as a column, around which sweeps the line of the collar. The cast shadow of the head on the neck is subordinated, as is the cast shadow of the nose on the skin above the upper lip. A big black cast shadow under the nose destroys any possibility of carrying out the delicate modeling of the upper lip.
Gentile Bellini (1429-1507)
PORTRAIT OF A YOUTH
black chalk
815⁄16” × 7⅝” (22.7 × 19.5 cm)
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
Here the artist has thought of the head as a sort of a column, rounded on top. His principal light comes from one side, in this case, the right, above, and in front (most artists’ favorite light). Reflected light comes from the left. The highlight moves down the head rather widely and loosely from A to B. As the head is thought of as a column, so is the nose. The dark on the head is seen clearly at C and reflected light at D. Notice how the highlight on the head completely smothers the dark of the eyebrow at E. Remember, highlights should not be violated by darks.
The neck is a column. Its highlight runs from F to G. Notice how the lines of the collar, going around this column, follow the shade that should properly be on the column. They fade at the highlight, darken at the dark, and fade perceptibly under the influence of the reflected light.
One lesson to be learned here is that artists change their mass conceptions of a form (head, rib cage, thigh, or anything) in order to solve the problem at hand. This Dürer head and the Bellini head on the previous page are both looking in roughly the same direction. But Bellini’s principal light comes from the left, Dürer’s from the right. Bellini realized that – for his light – a block conception would solve his tone problems. Dürer knew that a block would be unsuitable for his light. So he created a kind of cylinder, rounded on top, to solve his tone problems in this particular drawing. To solve a different problem, he might have used a block.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
HEAD OF A NEGRO
charcoal
12⅝” × 89⁄16” (32 × 21.8 cm)
Albertina, Vienna
This head is thought of as a block, the front plane somewhat rounded. The light is from the left, above, and in front. The nose as usual is thought of in much the same way. (It is a very good thing to visualize heads without noses because noses disturb the front plane.)
The tones run in the usual way: (A) to highlight (B) to dark (C) to reflected light (D). As usual, the tonal scheme on the nose is the same as that on the block of the head.
The side plane of the face curves into a down plane, but this down plane is not dark because the reflected light is from below. The rule, up plane light, down plane dark, is based on the fact that the light almost always comes from above, as from the sun, skylights, and lamps. Naturally, if the artist chooses to light his model from below, the rule is reversed.
It is very good practice for students to draw the model as if the direct light were coming from below.
The cast shadow under the nose is subordinated. The cast shadow of the head on the neck (E) is drawn with nicely curving lines, which accentuate the cylindrical mass conception of the neck. The cast shadow of the head is used on the collar (F) because a patch of dark there is a nice foil to the head. Notice the movement of values on the jewel of the earring: the same movement as on the head itself.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
PORTRAIT OF ISABELLA BRANT
black, red, and white chalk
15″ × 11½″ (38.1 × 29.2 cm)
British Museum, London
This head is thought of as an egg, the direct light from the left and above, the reflected light from the right and below. There are a number of sphere symbols used here: the eyes, the cheek bone (A); the chin (B); and the breast (C). The lines moving from E to F run over the sphere symbol of the breast. Notice how they fade when they cross the highlight at C.
Notice the form (G) above the eye. It is what the artists call the sausage and is egg-like. It is often strongly lighted as it is on this page.
Note very carefully the little white up plane of the lower lid of the eye on the right. Notice how strongly it is contrasted with its down plane at H. Then look at the upper lid and note the violent contrast of the front and side planes. Pontormo wanted his eye to dominate the picture and he knew that strong contrasts of light and dark would be sure to attract the observer’s attention.
Jacopo da Pontormo (1494-1557)
HEAD OF A WOMAN
sanguine
9″ × 6¾″ (22.8 × 17.2 cm)
Uffizi, Florence
There are hardly any concave planes in the human body. In this drawing by Boucher, I really do not think there are any concavities at all. Nor are there any concave lines. Beginners are forever taking great bites out of the body with concave lines. But a study of the masters will show that they do not use concave lines to outline their forms, except under the rarest circumstances.
On close examination, what appears to be a concave line will often turn out to be a convex line, or a series of convex lines, like the curve of the ankle (A). The front of the ankle (B) is interesting because there are two concave lines there. Whenever you draw a concave line, be on the alert. After Boucher drew two concave lines at B, he evidently remembered the rule and put a faint convex line to the left of the upper concave line and two convexes to the right of the lower concave line.
Remember, Boucher did not copy the actual tones he saw running across the back of this model. He created a mass form in his mind, something like a column with convex fluting. He then invented a direct and reflected light, observed the resulting imaginary tones on his imaginary column, then transferred these tones to the drawing he was making of his model.
François Boucher (1703-1770)
STUDY FOR THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS
charcoal
13¾″ × 7½″ (34.9 × 19 cm)
Collis P. Huntington Memorial Collection
California Palace of the
Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Speaking of concave lines, how many can you find in this drawing by Raphael? The trapezius line (A), apparently concave, is actually three convex lines. The apparently concave line B-C is actually three convexes.
Beginners invariably make these two lines – the trapezius line (A) and the rib cage-external oblique line (B-C) – concave. In fact, beginners adore putting concave lines all over and all around the body. But the body is something like an inflated balloon: no matter where you poke it with a stick, the surfaces are always convex.
This is an imaginary drawing, unlike the preceding drawing by Boucher. Now, I am not telling you to avoid drawing from models; you must, and frequently. I am trying to impress upon you the fact that you can never draw the model with real skill – with anything approaching the skill of the artists in this book – unless you can create figure drawings out of your imagination.
Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)
COMBAT OF NAKED MEN
pen and brown ink
10⅞″ × 16½″ (27.5 × 42 cm)
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
In this drawing, lines have been used to indicate the shade; but the same basic tone systems are still in operation. Students must understand that every drawing principle is related to every other principle. You cannot make a good line drawing unless you understand light and shade as well as all the other elements.
Here, A is the light front plane, B is the dark, and C is the reflected light. On the kneeling figure, E is the light front plane, F is the dark, and G is the reflected light. The hand (H) is thought of as a block.
Notice the simple blocking of the head (I) and the external oblique mass (J).
The external oblique is another example of how mass conceptions change. On front views, it is usually thought of as a teardrop. As the front view approaches the three-quarter, it is often thought of as a combination of teardrop and wedge. The deltoids (K and L) are close to sphere symbols.
Cast shadows on the figure are used very sparingly. Cast shadows are liberally employed on the ground at the feet to give the model a firm stance on the ground plane.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
FIVE NUDES, STUDY FOR A RESURRECTION
pen
7⅜″ × 8⅛″ (18.8 × 20.6 cm)
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
Here we can see the value of studying the inside and outside of cubical boxes. The inside of the room is the inside of a box; so are the recessed windows. The bench is a box; so are the table and the bed.
Please get some white block-like boxes and study the shade movements on them. Study tones on white things first. Tones on colored things confuse a beginner.
Notice that the shade movement from A to B is dark to light, as are C to D, E to F. Notice how the egg-like massing predominates in the figures: in the upper legs, the lower legs, and particularly the lower arm. Get a white egg out of the refrigerator and shine a light on it as in H.
This picture is a very nice exercise in perspective. All the artists in this book knew their perspective well. Get a book on perspective and study it. Do you know any young architects well? I am sure they would be delighted to give you the rudiments.
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) (1512-1594)
DESIGN FOR VENUS AND VULCAN
pen and wash
8″ × 10¾″ (20.4 × 27.3 cm)
Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
