Drawing to Painting
Drawing to Painting
ART/230
November 10, 2014
Berta Stead
Drawing to Painting
Just as writing needs a rough draft, painting needs a drawing before expressing his or her ideas through the final product. Brainstorming is imagination, and drawing is putting it all down on something a little more concrete. Through drawing, an artist can see what roams around in his or her mind. It is a way for a painter to understand his or her inspiration as well as a painter’s first connection with the subject. By analyzing the sketching Raphael completed before the final oil painting of the Alba Madonna, the viewer can depict the theory of why he began this piece with a drawing. Our book does explain the step by step process of how the elements of Raphael’s drawings were used to form the final composition of the Alba Madonna.
Raphael utilized drawing before committing to any canvas because it helped him brainstorm or allow him to make his first draft of the piece. The materials Raphael needed for his drawings most likely consisted of black chalk, red chalk, metal point or charcoal. For Raphael’s paintings, the materials he needed mostly consisted of oil with pigments on wood, panel, or canvas for fresco paintings as well as Tempera on wood. For the Alba Madonna in particular, Raphael used oil paint on panel, which was then transferred to canvas. Raphael’s paintings were considered unique due to the large amount of paint he used. There are many difficulties when painting with oil in that era sheds some light on Raphael’s talent, and his amazing ability to create such detailed masterpieces with the unforgiving and ill-tempered form of medium (“Raphael Biography,” 2013).
When considering the differences between the first couple of drawings and the final composition while tracking how the first drawing eventually became Raphael’s Alba Madonna. (Sayre 2010) These drawings define the beginnings of the Alba Madonna. Through them, the viewer can determine Raphael’s thought process. In
ART/230
November 10, 2014
Berta Stead
Drawing to Painting
Just as writing needs a rough draft, painting needs a drawing before expressing his or her ideas through the final product. Brainstorming is imagination, and drawing is putting it all down on something a little more concrete. Through drawing, an artist can see what roams around in his or her mind. It is a way for a painter to understand his or her inspiration as well as a painter’s first connection with the subject. By analyzing the sketching Raphael completed before the final oil painting of the Alba Madonna, the viewer can depict the theory of why he began this piece with a drawing. Our book does explain the step by step process of how the elements of Raphael’s drawings were used to form the final composition of the Alba Madonna.
Raphael utilized drawing before committing to any canvas because it helped him brainstorm or allow him to make his first draft of the piece. The materials Raphael needed for his drawings most likely consisted of black chalk, red chalk, metal point or charcoal. For Raphael’s paintings, the materials he needed mostly consisted of oil with pigments on wood, panel, or canvas for fresco paintings as well as Tempera on wood. For the Alba Madonna in particular, Raphael used oil paint on panel, which was then transferred to canvas. Raphael’s paintings were considered unique due to the large amount of paint he used. There are many difficulties when painting with oil in that era sheds some light on Raphael’s talent, and his amazing ability to create such detailed masterpieces with the unforgiving and ill-tempered form of medium (“Raphael Biography,” 2013).
When considering the differences between the first couple of drawings and the final composition while tracking how the first drawing eventually became Raphael’s Alba Madonna. (Sayre 2010) These drawings define the beginnings of the Alba Madonna. Through them, the viewer can determine Raphael’s thought process. In
References: Sayre, H.M. (2010). A world of art (6th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection Raphael Biography. (2013). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael. South, H. (2013). Why painters should learn to draw. Retrieved from http://drawsketch.about.com/od/learntodraw/a/drawing-for-painting.htm National Gallery of Art. (2013) The Alba Madonna. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg20/gg20-26.html The National Gallery of Art, Studying Raphael: pigments and mediums. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/pigments-and-medium Khan Academy, Raphael 's Alba Madonna, Retrieved from Smart history website: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/raphael.html