Unique & Obscure
A COMPARATIVE LOOK
Let's take a look at an example of French academic figure drawing.
In this drawing by an anonymous artist, and its detail below, we can find the many shared traits with Prud'hon's drawings. (Ignore the fact that the chalk is red -- we can still find the common traits of academies)
The shared traits are:
- careful analysis of forms within the body
- variety in outline
- diagonal hatching in background and other non-figure subject matter
- stumped tone beneath the hatching
- hatches equidistant, not crossed, generally straight, applied in rows
- hatches shift direction very slightly over deeper form changes
The difference is:
- while traditional hatching runs on an oblique path over form,
- Prud'hon's hatching runs parallel to form's length, on the whole.
If it was only hatching that was employed in his drawing, analysis would not be so difficult. However, due to the extensive stumping in his drawings, we are left with questions about early application prior to the final hatching.Next Page: Observations: Prud'hon's Materials
The pattern of hatch direction that Prud'hon used is quite sophisticated. Managing the colliding groups that invariably result is very tricky. There is no written record of the thinking process that Prud'hon used in making his application decisions. Through close observation, certain "rules" have begun to surface, but there is no assurance that Prud'hon would agree with them.