Holbein's Steed. 2010. 54" x 72".
In September, 2010, I was presented with a wonderful challenge: To draw an image of a person or a horse in a distorted manner. As I thought about how I would approach this task, I imagined I might create an expressionistic drawing of a horse which emphasized its musculature, especially its chest. Then I was shown an image of Hans Holbein's The Ambassadors, and that image really got to me. I love artists who work with optical illusions and I greatly appreciated Holbein's inclusion of a distorted skull in what was otherwise a beautifully painted realistic image. After seeing that painting, I knew that I would do something similar in order to create my drawing.
As I developed my composition for the drawing, I decided that I still wanted to emphasize the chest of the horse. I also decided that I wanted to work on a large scale as I had done with my previous drawing of a broken watch. I ended up using a 4 1/2' x 6' surface on which I would draw an image that measures about 3 1/2' x 3 1/2'. I chose to draw the image from what I would call the left side of the paper so that the chest would be larger when the image is viewed in a straight-forward manner (as artwork typically is). I also decided not to use a projector or a grid or any other technological shortcuts to produce the piece; I drew the image using only my naked eyes. In a way, I made the initial challenge even more difficult; but I believe I also made my efforts more rewarding. I spent about 40 hours on this drawing, but I believe the final image was well worth the time.
Holbein's Steed (Detail in progress). 2010.
The top image shows the angle at which I created the drawing. I simply walked back and forth between the paper and the place where I am standing when I took the photograph so that I could look at my reference photo and the drawing to see what else I needed to do to the piece.
The second image shows the horse from nearly straight on. I was standing just to the right of center when I took the photograph.
The third image is a close-up of the horse's head while I was still working on the drawing. I had not yet added values to the chest.
