Holbein must have been charming, wise and super-diplomatic. He drew the ladies of the court of Henry VIII and had to paint the big burly beheading potentate himself. You remember six-wives Henry, the one who said, “Off with your head, Ann Boleyn!” Hans Holbein(1497-1543) was a skilled draftsman, but was his hand shaking a little, just a little, when he faced the vain, all-powerful king?
When we draw people, we’re 
often constrained by the desire to please them. Your art gets cramped when you’re focused on anything but your art. So, off with your head, I’m drawing! When we have a model, I remind the students that they’re not drawing to please the model but only to struggle with their work, the medium, the concept, the surprises that occur in the working process. When we don’t have a model, we often work from printed images. In this case, a student/artist chose a photo of the young Queen Elizabeth, when she visited Chicago in the ‘50’s. Notice that
these drawings are not flattering, but instead explore the potential of the medium to create a page of studies with mood 
and character. The markmaking is scratchy, the contours are blurred, and oh, the drips! To mood and character, let’s add a touch of irony. Once you know that The Queen was the model, the page becomes a bit comical, which makes you reflect deeper and that’s a good thing. When that happens, you’re looking at art.
Maggy Shell, worked on gloss paper with the Stabilo-All-Aquarellable pencil.———–
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 