Today I was browsing eBay Italy when I stumbled across a 19th century academic drawing of a standing male nude which caught my immediate attention. The phrase that I had heard repeated over and over again in my drawing and painting classes “general to specific” echoed in my memory. The drawing itself turned out to be a drawing posted for sale by that dealer in Toulouse, France who expects top Euro for his offerings and which would stretch any budget. If I haven’t just spent my entire fun money for the month on a nice example of a 1972 Hasselblad Super Wide camera for my Hasselblad SWC camera collection I would have been tempted to buy the darn drawing at the outrageous asking price. Every so often when you are chasing 19th century academic drawings you find one which exemplifies that oft repeated phrase: “general to specific!” wherein you get a perfect snapshot of a 19th century Academy trained artist’s drawing technique. You can clearly see how the student has laid in the initial drawing and is in the process of going from laying in his general flat planes of light and dark within the line drawing and then going back in from the top down laying in refined specific lights and darks within the figure. The artist must have run out of time during what must have been a timed drawing session and fortunately for us he has given us a prime example of “general to specific” in his Academic training and drawing technique. Enjoy!
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