Yesterday we looked at drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci, in preparation for making Renaissance-style drawings from nature. My original goal in this discussion was to highlight his hatching technique, line quality and subject matter. However, as I was preparing for this, I realized it would be a perfect opportunity to touch on a couple of the ‘big ideas’ I had been thinking about emphasizing in my teaching.
In class, we discussed the many different purposes art can have—even within the work of one artist. As we studied drawings of inventions, skeletons, plants, people and animals, we talked about the variety of reasons Da Vinci had for making his work. He drew an object as a way of studying it more carefully, or committing it to memory. He also drew to invent or design something new, or to improve his skill level of drawing a particular subject. Other times he drew in order to make a beautiful drawing as a work of art, or to prepare for the creation of a painting.
This brought us to talk about the fact that sometimes when artists draw, their purpose is not to produce a finished work of art. Instead, the process is more important to them than the finished product. Among other purposes, Da Vinci used the act of drawing to more carefully observe his subject. I am hoping that my students’ experience of drawing from nature will serve the same purpose for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment