It's not as if the wall space in my apartment is getting any
bigger, but still, I'm always looking at works of art and murmuring, "I know
just the place for you..." And for the past several years I've been particularly
drawn to works on paper. The mark-making and drawing techniques used can be so
unique from artist to artist. And when I look at drawings, I feel like I can
relate to the artist and really understand how he or she works more than I
sometimes can when looking at a finished painting. Here are a few of those drawings that
inspire me and hold a place in my heart.
He was my first...
MC Escher was the first draftsman I remember being aware of
as an artist. Obviously, I had seen other drawings before, but learning his
name, and looking at a catalog of an artist's work—I'm pretty sure he was my
first. And to a certain extent that is telling about what I hold dear in a
drawing. As in Still Life with Street, I want to see something surprising and unusual in the drawings that I see, and Escher's work is definitely
that. There is also his incredible command of the medium. I mean, in each of
his drawings, every line looks so right. The drawing techniques he employs are incredibly well executed. He's moved beyond reality to draw things that are out of this world and can trick the eye. And his precision with his mark-making is extraordinary. The fact that this drawing is a woodcut—incredible!
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Still Life with Street by MC Escher, 1937, woodcut drawing.
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Just haunting...
The sensitivity and beauty of Female Nude with Green Shawl Seen from Behind takes my breath
away. It is so quiet and introspective from a narrative standpoint, but I also
just love the way the Käthe Kollwitz drew it. The deep luscious green of the
wrap at the figure's hips, the warm shadows around her, the smudges of her
vertebrae and shoulder blades, and the white highlight along her collarbone—it is mesmerizing how
she created something so lovely using so few marks. And I'm especially haunted by the way Kollwitz shows light on the form. Haunted because the delicacy of the glints on the figure's shoulders and the sensitive line of light that brushes her right arm--I don't think I'll ever get there. But I'm grateful to have seen it!
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Female Nude with Green Shawl Seen from Behind
by Käthe Kollwitz, lithograph drawing, 1903.
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Black and white, meet kaleidoscope...
Charlotte Schulz is one of my favorite artists. The way she
can use charcoal is so incredible. It is like she just breathes it on—the
gradations from light to dark are that subtle. I also love the way she uses and even constructs the
paper she draws on. The fact that she doesn't always create works that parallel, or are in any way
hemmed in by the conventional four corners of a piece of paper is really powerful to me
because it means that she is completely immersed in what she is drawing and doesn't
let surface restrictions limit her work. If she wants something to jut off or fold away, she does it, even if it means altering her surface. And the way she merges different spaces together is mesmerizing and kaleidoscopic as they evolve into one another.
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| The uneven intensities of duration...by Charlotte Schulz, charcoal on paper, 2008-2010. |
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I love looking closely at drawings like these because it seems like the artists
usually reveal something of themselves in them. Drawing magazine does the same thing—deep, thoughtful analysis of
drawings and showcasing artists that I always seem to be surprised and intrigued by.
Whether you want classical practice and drawing techniques or inspiration from the
contemporary draftsmen and -women who are working today, Drawing brings them all to you (and you can get it all sent right to your computer via digital subscription, too). So
you can start your drawing fantasy list, just like I have. Now if I can only
get my hands on another few walls...
What did you think of my drawing choices? What drawings would you give pride of place on your walls?
Leave a comment and let me know.