Since the "sculptural" aspect of our 2-dimensional representations has just been mentioned, I wanted to share a neat quote from a book I just received yesterday and stayed up with way too late. Anthony Ryder writes in his beautiful
"The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing" (Watson-Guptill 2000):
"The patient elaboration of value with a very sharp pencil induces a mental state in which you feel as if you are actually sculpting the surface of the body within the virtual reality of the drawing. With practice, you can develop an acute sensitivity to subtle variations in the surface of the form, as if there were nerve endings at the point of your pencil."
Isn't that great? I could never have articulated it that well, but when I read Ryder's description, I was very pleasantly taken back to the experience of precisely that feeling, and I remembered again why all those sometimes tedious hours in the life room were worthwhile.
Steven
Threaded Mode
