Art makes
stories come alive. To me, it is as simple as that. And sometimes without art,
there is no story-—or, at least, it's not quite as good. This was the case for
the great American novel Moby-Dick.
It is hard to imagine that Melville's opus was once relatively
unknown, but it wasn't until 70 years after it was published—and artist
Rockwell Kent got his hands on it—that the book was rediscovered by the
literary world.
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Illustration from Moby Dick by Rockwell Kent,
pen and ink drawing. |
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Kent
contributed to the rise in popularity of the book because of his illustrations
of the story, which, when they were published in the 1930, proved to be
incredibly popular and are acknowledged as part of the reason why
Moby-Dick is now recognized as a
classic.
And when you
look at Kent's pen-and-ink line drawings for the book, they embody the story
just as much as Melville's words. The dark zeal and sinister character of
Captain Ahab is mirrored by Kent's linework—immersed in shadow made with dozens
of thin parallel lines that come so close together they obliterate all but a
few highlights. The massive white whale looms as large in Kent's drawings as he
does in Ahab's deranged mind, but Kent captures the whale's beauty and and a bit of the wonder that underlies his existence.
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Illustration from Moby Dick by Rockwell Kent,
pen and ink drawing. |
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Rockwell
Kent's relatively simple drawings tell the tale of
Moby-Dick in a way that is just as powerful as the story itself.
The same feelings I have reading the text are there when I look at Kent's
drawing art for the book. That is wondrous—and a reminder to me to never
forget the power of art as a storyteller.
My dearest
wish is that your art comes alive for you and tells the stories you want to
tell as well. If there's one resource that I think can help along the way, it
would be Drawing: The Complete Course.
It is an entire art class in one that emphasizes drawing art foundational
skills and techniques that you can apply in every area of your art making, with
step-by-step drawing instruction that will steer you toward drawings that are
more realistic and skillfully rendered. And remember, now is the time to buy if
you want to be part of a great cause as the Artist Daily Store is giving 30% of
all sales made from October 1-5 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Thank you!
