But in the very best way! When I was trolling for artists
who draw like they paint and vice versa, Giovanni Boldini immediately came to
mind. His mark making is a tour de force, no matter if he is working in oils,
pastels, or when charcoal painting.
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Spanish Dancer at the Moulin Rouge by Giovanni Boldini,
oil on canvas, 49 x 40, 1905. All works by Giovanni Boldini. |
Boldini has an undeniable aptitude for charcoal drawing
because of the variety of his strokes and the physicality of his gesture. He
really acts on the surface of his drawings and pencil sketches. Even a simple charcoal portrait or chalk drawing,
when looked at through an abstract lens, becomes a maze of lines and movement.
These same characteristics in Boldini's approach to charcoal
really stand out in his painting methods as well. His stroke is always in
keeping with the direction or motion he is trying to convey, and usually that
turns out to be a lot of motion indeed! In fact, Boldini was known as the
"master of swish" because of the extensive amount of visual movement he worked
into his paintings and drawings.
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| Girl in a Black Hat, pastel, 1890. |
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La Lettura, chalk on paper, 1931. |
Most of all, I am intrigued by how "full" Boldini makes his
paintings and drawings feel with lines, curves, and hatch marks alone. He can take
the simplest building block of art and evolves it into something with so much
force and depth, even when his compositions are fairly sparse. In fact, when I
look at his work it is usually the strokes all around the figures that I tend
to give my attention. They are just so free but give a sense of atmosphere and
spatiality to the works.
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| Portrait of the Marquise, oil on canvas, 1914. |
Even a single charcoal drawing lesson could be your much
needed outlet to explore expressiveness and gesture—aspects of art that we all
try to incorporate in our artistic repertoires. If you want to see what
charcoal painting can offer you, Dynamic
Charcoal Drawing Lessons could be just the guide you are looking for. And
right now the Artist Daily Store is having their April
Sale, which means you can get all the resources you want at a great deal.
Enjoy!
P.S. Are you a fan of Boldini? Are there other artists you can name who draw and paint with the same style and power? Leave a comment and let me know.