Drawing from the Masters #4

This is another Norman Rockwell copy. This time of a Boy Scout print called A Guiding Hand. I'm just doing the heads for now. I still would really like to take a Rockwell image and change the lighting to more Parrish-like dramatic lighting. (Do people apply the term tenebrist to Parrish? Perhaps not, but the drama of tenebrism is there.) This isn't the image for that, but I am still learning about Rockwell while doing it though. I sincerely doubt that I am going to be able to pull off the tongue pressed against the upper lip in concentration, but it is fun to try.

Now for a little wisdom from Hale. He is discussing a drawing from Durer, the one on the cover of Hale's book. He mentions that Durer shaded both the side plane of the nose and the side plane of the head. He says that most beginners will shade the side plane of the nose but forget the head. Hale stresses the importance of putting "first things first." That is, "Heads are more important than noses. Hands are more important than fingers." That is good advice - it is very easy to get caught in the details and miss the forest for the trees. On many occasions I have found myself doing just that and ending up with a few good branches lost in a tangle.

Finally, one of the major points that I learned last time I read this book: "The ear is well drawn. Get a medical anatomy book; study the helix and the antihelix, the tragus and the antitragus; and you will be able to draw ears for the rest of your life."

That being able to draw ears for the rest of my life bit really appealed to me. So, in January, I studied how Sargent did ears. Granted, it wasn't an anatomy book that I studied. But, just taking the time to really study how Sargent portrayed ears on a number of faces, gave me a great deal of confidence. I no longer have the fear that I used to have about them.