DaVinci’s Draped Fabric

 

11/23/24 Hi-Uni H and Tombow Mono 6B graphite in
Field Notes Streetscapes sketchbook

Although I’ve certainly known of DaVinci’s remarkable artistic abilities (perhaps one could call them “discoveries” in terms of how viewers perceive art), his scientific explorations tend to get more attention. That’s why it was especially delightful and rewarding to view the new Ken Burns’ documentary, Leonardo DaVinci. The Renaissance genius’s contributions to art received an appropriately significant portion of coverage in the two-part series.

A small mention in Part 1 captivated me immediately: Shown was a study DaVinci had made of draped fabric which demonstrated his keen knowledge of and interest in how light and shadow are used to describe a three-dimensional form. We all take this concept for granted now in terms of understanding a two-dimensional depiction of a three-dimensional form, but back then, it was innovative thinking. The study not only showed his complete understanding of this concept; it was also indescribably beautiful. I wanted to learn to appreciate the motion of light and shadow as he so obviously did.

The next morning after seeing Part 1, I grabbed a large scarf and hung it messily from a door knob. Rendering a couple of small folds, I realized this is what I should have been doing all month for Pencilvember. It’s not too late, though; I’m going to finish off the month with more like this. Although DaVinci probably used charcoal for his studies, graphite is a natural for any study requiring subtle modulations of tone.

Bonus: While any still life is useful for studying light and form, I often feel too lazy to set up an elaborate or even a simple still life, carefully light it from one direction, block out other distracting light sources, blah-blah-blah. (Can you tell I’ve read a few drawing books?) This still life, however, took no setup at all! Hanging from my studio’s door knob, the scarf was lighted on one side by a window – good enough for me.