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We finish up our Renaissance Series with Michaelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni 1475-1564. Michaeloangelo wanted to be known as a sculptor. He studied Da Vinci’s David and created a larger one. At this time in history these artists pushed each other to achieve excellence but with that came animosity. Michaelangelo’s best customer was the Catholic Church. He was commissioned for statue’s, tomb carvings, and church designs by Bishops, Cardinals and Popes. Even though he worked for these people he remained true to his art and created beauty as he saw fit. He was just 33 years old when he started working on the Sistine Chapel. The Creation of Adam is his most reproduced work of art. In this video we will concentrate on just a small portion of that beautiful painting.
Supplies
- Strathmore Sketchbook
- Derwent Lead Pencils
- General Pencil Kneaded Eraser
- Pentel Mechanical Pencil
Instructions:
- Look at the art in the first part of the video. I talk a little bit about Michaelangelo, his art, and his life. Thanks to Wikipedia and Ducksters.com I am able to share these photos with you.
- Even though we are only drawing the arms we need to understand how they relate to the body. Please refer to Stickman: A Basic Foundation and Beyond Basic Stickman .
- We use sticks (lines) to put the beginning of arms on the paper.
- After we have the lines placed where they need to be we give them “mass” (shapes) of arms and hands.
- Placement of the hands and fingers are explained. Use your own arms and hands to understand how they work together.
- We then add shadows to complete the arms. Shadows are made by placing small triangles of dark in a corner and then shaded away from the triangle. Finish this picture and at this point I think you should put the picture away or on a shelf to look at. Do not make any corrections.
- Included with this video is a section about critiquing your own work and correcting those errors. Mistakes are a part of the learning process. This section of the video starts at a time of 33:40.
Too many times young artists rush to complete a project and never go back and look at it with “fresh eyes”. We will ask others what they think or we will put it aside and forget about it. An artist needs to learn to look at their work and understand how to improve it. This video instructs you to make 1 correction at a time. Stop. Look again with fresh eyes and make another correction. If you try to fix everything at once you will most likely overwork the piece. This self control allows you to enjoy your piece of art.