Portrait Artist Forum - Leonardo da Vinci Study

Hello all,

Here is a drawing based on the "Man in Fanciful Armor" by Leonardo da Vinci. Like the Albrect Durer study, this was also done on the train. The drawings that I copy from the masters are more of studies rather than "exact" copies. I know that if I sat there long enough, I could make an exact duplicate of what I'm seeing. However, this is not my goal with these.

I know from the beginning that I'm not going to get an exact duplicate. Just the differences in media alone justify this. The original da Vinci drawing was done in silverpoint, a delicate media that can produce a fine line. It was done on paper that is hundreds of years old, stained, marred, etc. And I'm working in a felt pen from a poor photocopy. So I know exactness is out of the question.

What I want to achieve from these drawings is a framework to build my style upon. Once I get to a certain point in the drawing, I let go of the original and go in a direction that is more my own to reflect my own style. I strongly feel that there are many drawings by the masters that have flaws in them. Sometimes values or forms are not rendered to their fullest or how I would see them and this is where I take off from the master drawing. Once this departure takes place, my drawing has a life of its own and I no longer need the original. However, I must say, this is no excuse for the poor proportions in my drawing, which Steven pointed out in his Durer critique.

Just to note - this drawing was done prior to Steven Sweeney's excellent critique of my Albrect Durer study. The next drawing that I complete, I will keep his and Linda's comments in mind. Thank you for the comments! Keep em' coming!