There are many ways to practice drawing. A very convenient source of things to draw is sculptures. For example, sculptures in a park. If that’s inconvenient, try photos of sculptures. Specifically, Michelangelo’s sculptures. All forms are dramatically worked out by him, as if for a drawing lesson.
For my drawing class I brought in photos of Michelangelo’s Bruges Madonna and his figures for the Medici tomb. Photos of these works are readily available in books and online.
The Bruges Madonna (above) offered abundant challenges in rendering curved shapes convincingly. The Medici head (left), seen from below, presents a frustrating foreshortened view of the face. Both challenges were admirably met in these two student drawings.
(Click images to enlarge.)
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Katherine, the Michaelangelo drawing exercise is a great idea! The students’ drawings seem quite successful. Do you think it is easier for students to draw from the two-dimensional images than from three-dimensional sculptures?
Thanks for sharing this.
In my drawing class we spend a third of the classes working from photos. It’s less intimidating than working from a model. I can sit next to the student and draw along with him/her, referring to some feature and being sure that we’re looking at exactly the same thing. You can’t do that with a model. Referring to photos, I can guide the student in how to look at this thing. Sometimes I put acetate of the photo and draw bright lines guiding the seeing process. And yes, the students’ make rapid progress, astonishing themselves. It’s pretty rewarding, I must say.