Raeburn’s portrait of Robert Brown hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago. I admire it at every visit. It is painterly, with quick, sure dashes of the brush: look at the hair, the edge of the collar.
Of all the student copies of this portrait (up-side-down) this drawing, by Mary, is most “painterly.”
When we see lines in a drawing or a painting, our attention traces the line and we feel assured of clarity and rationality. Lines delineate shapes, orient us and tell us what’s what.
Notice, there are no lines in Mary’s drawing. Everything is effect, shades of gray, nuance. Imagine navigating over your drawing paper without the guidance of lines. It takes intense concentration. This is quite an achievement.
When we draw portraits we are not satisfied with mere accuracy of facial features. We always read the emotion in the face. When you consider that this drawing was done up-side-down, is it not astonishing how such a process can result in such depth of emotion?
To review how this drawing exercise was set up, visit
https://artamaze.wordpress.com/2019/09/16/facing-the-portrait-with-henry-raeburn-1/
To compare other students’ work:
https://artamaze.wordpress.com/2019/09/16/facing-the-portrait-with-henry-raeburn-3/
https://artamaze.wordpress.com/2019/09/16/facing-the-portrait-with-henry-raeburn-2/
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
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artamaze by Katherine Hilden 