Challenge no. 13? People, pen and ink, 8 minutes. This is a quick sketch of a marble head in the Higgins museum. It suffers my usual affliction of too small a cranium and too elongated a face. But at least the quick-sketch method helps me see that. Using line alone throws up the dilemma of how to hatch areas of shadow. Which direction to take the pen to describe outline - or shape? How to signal different tones? What does a line mean? There's an odd power in the right eye, whereas the left looks as blank and glazed as the marble. I liked the reflected light on the underside of the nose, lips and chin. It's curious how we conceive of a face - or a gaze - how it appears to think and breathe although it's static in this one expression. Half shut your eyes and the darks intensify and seem to mould the features. Tomorrow I'll post another sketch of the same head. |