Sargent’s Male Figure
In this lesson we will study a drawing by a well-known American painter, John Singer Sargent. This charcoal drawing is a study for a figure that appears in Sargent’s murals at the Museum of Fine Art Boston. This is not his final version, but one where he is working out the gesture he will use that feels most expressive. The final version of the study will depict him as a Greek hero.
Assignment:
In this assignment you will create a copy of this drawing as exact as you can. This includes an accurate outline with a form shadow pattern and the values 4&5 for the shadow area; value 3,2,1,0 in the lights.
Scale:
I have already placed a grid on this drawing. It is a scale of 1″=1″. Which means that you are doing a direct copy. You will create the same grid of 1″ squares on your 11×14 pad. You will then label these squares A,B,C… and 1,2,3… You will label the Sargent drawing exactly the same way. Both grids are the same size and labeled the same way. Then you are to proceed to copy this figure.
- Look at each square such as A1 and draw the lines of the figure that appear in this square. Do the same for every square.
- After you have an accurate line drawing, go back and look again at each square and draw the shadow pattern for the entire figure.
- Then, look again at each square and determine the values Sargent used.
- Next, add the values and use the pencil technique that Sargent uses: Parallel diagonal line; cross contour; unified tone. Do not smudge to get your values or transition areas
Materials:
- 11×14 pad
- Pencils
- 2H for grid
- 2B for shadow pattern
- 4B lay-in shadow value
- 6B Shadow edge
- HB, 2B, B for middle values
- Gum Eraser
- Ruler
Upload your Photo to the Assignment section.
T/TH, Due: M/W, Due: I am giving you 2 weeks to work on this as we still proceed with our class projects. Do not be late!
Drawing Class 