Laura Sketchbook Post #3
Hey kids. So here's my portrait that we didn't get to really talk about on Thursday. First off, Stradivari being an amazingly accomplished lutier, I wanted to show him with one of his violins. I drew the violin true to the times he made it in: no chin rest, and inlay around the edge. Stradivari is depicted in his old age, the time when he created his best violins (they say because the best wood was available.) He has tired eyes, as if he's been working long hours by lantern light. The background is a collage of blueprints for the violins. The violin is based off the circle shape so it may just look like a bunch of circles not anything in particular if you just glance. The words written on the paper are the contemporary names given to the surviving instruments (I only included a few names but there are over 650 in all.) I like how this emphasizes his legacy. The music around the edge shows that Stradivari played violin too. The piece is a Paganini caprice. Paganini played a Strad too. Neat connection. Whew. I think that's it.
Comments
This is done very well. I could tell right away what your person was known for and what his inspiration was. I believe he could have been a composer possibly, just a guess. Or he was just a writer. The violin looks great and the detail at each angle is good. The detail on the man's face is well done too. The pattern that the music notes/blueprints create, help keep my eyes moving across the whole design. They make me want to come in closer to see what exactly is going on with them. Not sure what paper you used for this but I think it works well with what you have created. I don't have any problems or concerns with your design. At least nothing I can think of at the moment. great job!
Posted by: Micki Benson | February 10, 2008 05:44 AM
I think this is a very good portrait for many reasons. For one, I honestly don't think I needed your explanation to understand what was going on in the drawing. You really did a great job emphasizing the violin and his face which definetely become the main focus in your drawing. I really enjoy the fact that he is an older man whereas a lot of us did younger versions of our historical figures. The only suggestion I have is possibly work up some of the background in some areas. You could possibly make a few portions of the background darker to draw some attention to the other parts of your drawing. Overall, I love your use of materials (paper for the boarder, charcoal, etc.) Looks great!
Posted by: Natalie Olbrantz | February 10, 2008 09:56 PM
I agree with Natalie. Perhaps you could use the names as a value transition from the really dark figures to the background.
Posted by: Heba | February 11, 2008 09:50 PM
nice use of the blueprints, i really like the texture that comes through with combining all of those. The one thing i would suggest though, is to try to figure out a way to connect the violin and Stradivari together so that they have more of a unity together. That's just a suggestion though, i mean, i understand that he is probably a violinist, but just in case you want to use it, that's all.
Posted by: Matt Wenger | February 13, 2008 01:54 AM