The Craft of Old Master Drawings

by Watrous, James

• ISBN13: 9780299014254
• ISBN10: 0299014258
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1970-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Pr

Summary

A comprehensive study of the techniques of drawing, this is both a historical work, covering the period from the late Middle Ages to the present, and a useful manual for contemporary artists. It presents the old masters' techniques by means of a thorough study of the historical and written evidence of the tools and materials used. The author also includes a series of workshop procedures he has developed with which the contemporary artist may produce the equivalents of the techniques of earlier draughtsmen. This book comprises a body of knowledge that is essential to students of art history, curators, collectors and artists, and is a significant addition to the literature on drawing. In addition to his scholarly investigation of earlier practices, the author identifies materials and processes used by such important artists as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Romney, Picasso, Michelangelo, Watteau, Holbein, Tiepolo, and Delacroix. For the artist interested in reproducing the effects achieved by these and many other acknowledged masters, there are full discussions and specific directions concerning the making of inks, styluses, reed and quill pens, fabricated chalks, and instructions for preparing grounds for metalpoint drawings. At every step, the discussion is supplemented with illustrations from laboratory experiments and from drawings by both old and contemporary artists. Of the more than sixty illustrations included, thirty-six are reproductions of master works, and among the others there are microphotographic enlargements of detail showing the differences in density and texture produced by various tools on different papers or grounds. Thus, as a collection of master drawings, the book is worthy of the art lover's library; as a technical study, it is an indispensable aid to the art student and practicing artist.

Author Biography

James Watrous (1908-1999) was the Oskar Hagen Professor of Art History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Table of Contents

The fine drawing media
Metalpoint drawing	p. 3
Technical Requisites	p. 10
Physical Properties of Styluses and Grounds	p. 16
Characteristics of Metalpoint Drawing	p. 22
Workshop Procedures	p. 24
Chiaroscuro drawings	p. 34
Tools and Materials	p. 34
Workshop Procedures	p. 40
Pen drawing	p. 44
Quill Pens	p. 44
Reed Pens	p. 52
Metal Pens	p. 59
Workshop Procedures	p. 62
Inks for drawing	p. 66
Black Carbon Inks	p. 67
Iron-Gall Inks	p. 69
Bistre Ink	p. 74
Sepia Ink	p. 78
Colored Inks and Washes	p. 83
Workshop Procedures	p. 86
The broad drawing media
Chalks, pastels, and crayons	p. 91
Natural Chalks	p. 91
Fabricated Chalks and Pastels	p. 112
Crayons	p. 118
Workshop Procedures	p. 122
Charcoal and graphite	p. 130
Charcoal: Sources and Characteristics	p. 130
Graphite	p. 138
Workshop Procedures	p. 145
Appendix	p. 149
Commercial and noncommercial sources of materials	p. 149
List of masterworks cited	p. 150
References and Notes	p. 154
Index	p. 164
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.