Matisse: Reclining Odalisque (Harmony in Red)

In depicting this model, Henri Matisse seems to focus on her interaction with her surroundings. Instead of simply drawing the model and the details in the model, Matisse captures qualities about the surroundings of the model as well. There is not much detail overall, but the scene is still interesting because of the quantity that it contains and the relatively accurate proportion in which everything appears.

One very notable thing about this painting is Matisse's use of color. The vivid red in the background is the most obvious. However, the way in which he used subtle colors of green, blue, purple and gray to capture the woman's skin tones is impressive. Matisse used non traditional bright colors to depict a realistic scene.

Nov 4

Oct 28

Nude Models

Sketching the nude models was a very new experience for me. While I was initially very nervous, I came to realize that this was something unlike anything that I had ever done and in may ways it was significantly more interesting. Instead of drawing the same still life for hours, drawing a person doing different things was a lot more dynamic.

However, because this was something unlike anything I have ever done, it came with its challenges. Adhering to the correct proportions proved to be very difficult, especially with the hands, feet, head, and face. Also foreshortening was an extremely difficult thing to encounter. During one of the sessions, I was in such a position so that no matter what the model did, one of her features was always being foreshortened.

While these difficulties continue to appear with each session, it also seems as though each time gets a little easier. Due to practicing, it seems as though I have developed a more formulated way of approaching these problems. One of which is sketching the surrounds. Another is using the shapes of negative space to form relations between the model and the objects surrounding her.

A quote by Hoffman that could be applied to these sketches is: "Art cannot result from sophisticated, frivolous, or superficial effects." Drawing the figure requires observation and the ability to convey what is being viewed onto paper. Doing this requires nothing but natural abilities, and no extra effects.


Some of my sketches from the different sessions are shown below (and in following posts).
Oct 21:

Fruit

"Fruits ... like having their portrait painted. They seem to sit there and ask your forgiveness for fading. Their thought is given off with their perfumes. They come with all their scents, they speak of the fields they have left, the rain which has nourished them, the daybreaks they have seen." - Cezanne

Cezanne discusses the personality of a fruit in that it has more character than just a still life object. A fruit is not perfect, it can (and will) rot, it gives off odors, and it has imperfections. In order to really portray fruit, all of these qualities must be portrayed.

In my sketch of a pumpkin, I attempted to capture its personality. This particular pumpkin was very round, but not perfect. One of my favorite parts of this pumpkin, and one that clearly demonstrates the characteristics that Cezanne discussed is the dirt on the side. This pumpkin was not clean, and I sketched some of the dirt and wear of the pumpkin found toward its upper right.

Hands 3

Another hand sketch...

This time, I sketched my hand in more dramatic lighting. I found this to be significantly more interesting as there were a lot more shadows to work with.

For example, my middle finger, ring finger, and pinky were all tucked under my hand. The lighting cast an interesting shadow on my ring finger that helps to demonstrate the shape and dimension of it.

I also chose to include the shadow that my hand cast on the table. It was extremely pronounced and defined. As I learned from my sketch in Hands 2, including detail in the space around the subject also helps to give the subject itself more definition.

Shadow and Light

Cezanne said, "Shadow is a color as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones."

In this statement, Cezanne evaluates the relationship between shadow in light. With shadow and light, essentially different tones, one can create dimension. Shadow and light can create a piece on their own because they can be used like color. While some need color to develop a picture or image in their art, others can simply use light and dark.

Here, I sketched a tissue folded under a bright desk light. The bright desk light would cause for dramatic shadows and the white of the issue would force me to use the light to illustrate the subject. It was a bit of a challenge to use only shading to show an object. One problem that I ran into was that the tissue was so light in weight that the desk light easily showed through it. Because of this, I did not get as dramatic of lighting as I would have wanted.

Regardless, this sketch demonstrates the relationship between shadow and light. It also shows how only shadow and light can be used to illustrate a subject.