Josefa Solano-Richante
Mrs. W
Drawing
11 October 2007
Mrs. W
Drawing
11 October 2007
In 1520 Michelangelo drew Ideal Head of a Woman with red chalk. It is of a beautiful woman’s head and shoulders with long wavy hair. The foreground of the drawing is the woman’s face which contains the most detail of the entire drawing. The middleground consists of her shoulders and long hair that goes over them. The background is very plain and is mostly nothing at all except for a lightly shaded surface surrounding the head.
The only section of the drawing with a good amount of realistic detail is the woman’s face in which he used criss-crossing lines to make shading in certain areas. He used great contrast to emphasize the dimensions and lighting on the face. The smooth shading of her face also gives her a youthful look From the bottom of the chin to the neck and down, there is a quick decline in detail in which the shapes of the hair and body is implied only by some thin curved lines. This is also true for the braided hair on top of her head.
I think that Michelangelo drew Ideal Head of a Woman to both create and express his own taste in women. All of her facial features from the curve of her eyebrows to the roundness of her cheeks to the decorative style of her hair give her a very elegant and aesthetic feel that most men would find to be beautiful.
I like this drawing because even though it is simple, I think Michelangelo did a good job creating the feeling on his mind through a simple facial expression. I really like the woman’s hair with her braids and feather. But even though I admire this drawing, I think that an oil painting of this woman would create room for much more emotion.
The only section of the drawing with a good amount of realistic detail is the woman’s face in which he used criss-crossing lines to make shading in certain areas. He used great contrast to emphasize the dimensions and lighting on the face. The smooth shading of her face also gives her a youthful look From the bottom of the chin to the neck and down, there is a quick decline in detail in which the shapes of the hair and body is implied only by some thin curved lines. This is also true for the braided hair on top of her head.
I think that Michelangelo drew Ideal Head of a Woman to both create and express his own taste in women. All of her facial features from the curve of her eyebrows to the roundness of her cheeks to the decorative style of her hair give her a very elegant and aesthetic feel that most men would find to be beautiful.
I like this drawing because even though it is simple, I think Michelangelo did a good job creating the feeling on his mind through a simple facial expression. I really like the woman’s hair with her braids and feather. But even though I admire this drawing, I think that an oil painting of this woman would create room for much more emotion.
Work Cited
"Ideal Head of a Woman." Lourve. The Lourve Museum. 10 Oct. 2007 .
3 comments:
Michelangelo is one of my famous artists, and I love his artworks, too!! Thank you for sharing. It is interesting that this drawing was done with red charcoal. Anyway, why did you think oil painting would be better in spite of other possible materials like pastels, water colors, etc...?
I think using other materials wouldn't add to the drawing as much as oil would. There is a definite simplicity to this drawing, oil would allow more room for emotions but also wouldn't drain out the simplicity.
Why wouldn't the other materials add as much? Be specific. How is oil used to keep simplicity?
Post a Comment