The Fine Art of Drawing, and Wine for After Dinner, Marsala.

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Britist art historian, Andrew Graham Dixon, in his BBC documentary series, The Secret of Drawing (youtube.com), points out that almost everything begins with a sketch, the most rudimentary form of drawing. Whether a building, the layout of our city streets, the cars we drive, the design of our cell phones, or the design of our clothes, they all come to life with a few expressive lines. Architect Robert Venturi first jotted down his ideas for Seattle’s downtown museum in black pen on a napkin as he talked about the project. Those “sketches” are proudly displayed on a freize around the upper walls in the First Street entrance to SAM, as the museum is known, with the building as the living testament to what those spots, dots, and lines would become.

Graham Dixon in his first episode of The Secret of Drawing, shows the sketches of a heart surgeon who studied the anatomical drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci. Dr. Francis Wells makes drawings of what he will do in upcoming surgeries. Dr. Wells is known to have developed from those drawings a life-saving surgical procedure known as “The Leonardo Cut.” Another example of an unusual use of the drawing is that of Fineman Diagrams, devised by the late physicist, Dr. Richard Fineman, who led the team that hand calculated the math that created the atomic bomb. He studied art with an artist neighbor, teaching the artist physics while the artist taught him how to draw. He scientifically drew diagrams to visually show the interaction of particles. They are supposedly also “easy and fun” to use. The Fineman Diagrams helped him win the Nobel Prize in Science, 1965.

Humans have always liked images. We have only to look about us to see them everywhere or think back to prehistoric cave drawings and paintings. Our ancient ancestors sketched out their thoughts and experiences in the caves of Lascaux and Alta Mira in what some social scientists feel was a precursor to the development of human language. However, normally when we think of drawing, we automatically skip right to the Renaissance of Leonardo and Botticelli.

It does not take a long look to recognize the figures and the layout of the above drawing to be one of the ones done by Da Vinci for The Last Supper (1498). The final painting is well known for the way the artist grouped the Disciples into small clusters of three as they reacted to Jesus’ startling statement that one among them would betray him. In this sketch, one sees the different characters interacting with one another. The details of some of the features and the way their clothing drapes appear in this sketch as Da Vinci drew in some of the more important items that concerned him. It is far from a finished piece, but one can see a sketch moving toward being a drawing that ultimately became a painting.

From those days in Renaissance Florence, we have learned to revere what those artists worked on in terms of capturing a visual reality. In fact, one of the things that upset the Florentines, with their strict adherence to drawing, was how the Venetians threw around the use of beautiful color. Titian in particular horrified them because he drew very little, and when he did, the final product seemed to have nothing to do with any of his meager preliminary sketches. Titian worked directly in paint and to wonderous effect. Tintoretto on the other hand held an idea that was more inclusive. A sign in his studio presented this saying as a constant reminder, “The drawing of Michelangelo and the color of Venice.” It seems that drawing had at least some impact even in that most fluid of places, Venice.

However, the move away from classical drawing continued. Before the arrival of the camera and photographic images, Turner moved from sketching in pencil to sketching (drawing?) in watercolor. Below, one sees the barest of indications of people and boats. The emphasis is on the subtlety of the color of the sky, and the way the color white indicates distant buildings, clouds, and the action of the waves.

Turner, however, could be ever more brief in his color sketches, all meant to capture just what he saw. Below is A Rainbow Over A Landscape (1824) which gives only the essentials of the scene – truly a sketch in watercolor.

One of the most influential proponents of drawing in the 20th century was Pablo Picasso. Picasso who had highly skilled abilities to render what he saw from the young age of nine sought to upend the training of the academicians and learn to draw like a five-year-old child. The drawn line is a key element in his work, including his most famous piece, Guernica (1937), done in protest against war in the aftermath of the bombing of the town during the Spansh Civil War.

In 1949 Picasso got involved with technology that allowed him to draw with light, in works sometimes called Light Drawings or Light Graffiti. The article from Life Magazine in the link below shows the artist in action in a fascinating series of photos that demonstrate the power of the line drawn with the action of his whole body.

These days we have in some ways moved beyond drawing or at least we think we have. Of course our computers and cameras allow us to create all kinds of images that have nothing to do with drawing. Yet, as Andrew Graham Dixon points out in the introduction to his series on drawing, almost every creation starts with the sketching of lines that get further developed into drawn images.

The Fine Art of Drawing Lives On

Sometimes drawn images come to us in forms that relate to the classical drawing skills, yet carry messages to us that come from times closer to us than the Renaissance. Mark Dixon is an artist who always strives to increase his already considerable skills. When asked what makes something a piece of art, Dixon says, “The art should move the viewer. The subject, if not a completely abstract work, is something that one can relate to on a positive and emotional level.” Dixon cut his teeth in the art world first as a designer/illustrator for Hallmark Cards and later on for Current Inc., another producer of cards. Not unlike Wayne Thiebaud, who praised the commercial artists with whom he first worked, Dixon credits his interaction with other fine artists in those companies for many of the things he has learned about composition, colors, shapes and values.

The drawing above shows Dixon’s well-developed skill in handling the gray-scale values in the drawing, while capturing the essence of this pioneer woman. She looks straight at the viewer with a calm gaze, her head held high, and her strong hands folded neatly before her. Her quiet beauty is as striking as her clothes are plain. The handling of the dark pencil lines simultaneously form a contrasting background, as well as enveloping her as they also across the figure itself. The effect of this is like that of a cloud from which the young woman emerges as though stepping into our time from the past.

Dixon says of working with the human figure, “When you look at a person, something catches your eye…it could be the character or the pose…” Certainly what caught his eye here comes across to us as beauty, strength, and quiet determination. Dixon’s skill at working simply with pencil provides a great example of the fine art of drawing. For more of Dixon’s work see the article, “Mark Dixon: When Design Turns to Art” at vernellestudio.com.

Note: Paintings used for this article are either in public domain, live-linked to specific articles, or used with permission of the artist.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.comor her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

What to drink after dinner while looking at a book of sketches? Marsala, of course.

Yes, this engraving is the only portrait of Caravaggio (1571-1610) done by another artist, painter and printmaker, Ottavio Leoni. It is a fine example of the printmaker’s skill in drawing, as it captures the sense of instability and potential violence in the eyes of the artist, who not unlike the 19th century’s Lord Byron, was “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.” One of Caravaggio’s misadventures seems to have been an affair with a married woman, whose husband challenged the artist to a duel. Caravaggio killed the man and had to flee Rome. The man’s wife soon married another man shortly after her husband’s death (see Andrew Graham Dixon’s video “Who Killed Caravaggio?” youtube.com). Caravaggio ran off to Sicily to avoid the death pentaly, leaving his mark there as well and certainly drinking plenty of the region’s wonderful wines, which must have included Marsala.

You will notice the small glass that looks like a wine glass without a stem. The narrow opening at the top lets the aroma gather so that the full power of it will strike the nose. Strike is the correct term, as Marsala is a fortified wine, 20% alcohol as opposed to most wine with just 13%. The most common phrase that comes with Marsala is don’t buy it in the supermarket. That might appear to you as strange at first, but then you must remember one of Sicily’s most famous dishes, Chicken Marsala. Yes, it is a favorite chicken and mushroom dish that requires this local Sicilian specialty touch, and being a necessary ingredient put Marsala among the cooking wines, rather than the drinkable ones. This gave the notion that Marsala was not of good enough quality to be enjoyed except as an enhancement to the making of a main course. This is not true at all.

Marsala is a wine local to the town of Marsala in Sicily and comes in both dry and sweet versions. The wine is fortified by the addition of distilled alcohol similar to what happens in the creation of Port or Sherry, hence making it a perfect drink for after dinner. However, you can use it as part of a cocktail to tune your tastebuds up for the coming treat of that chicken and mushroom dish. One infusion mentioned by Allison Russo in The Back Label article above involves vanilla-infused bourbon and passion fruit, so you can do mixology experiments with Marsala, but be careful with the alcohol content. I’d say to enjoy it after dinner and a bite of tiramiso (Marsala adds a nice touch of toasted hazelnut to that sweet treat). Marsala makes for a nip of warmth for the tummy as you digest and while you look at some of Botticelli’s sketches.

Now, if you want to experiment with tasting wines like this, Cellars Wine Club has a club dedicated to sweet wines, just click here cellarswineclub.com Remember that Cellars has free delivery and a “no bad bottle” return policy.

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Coming Soon: The Lost Blue of the Ancient Egyptians and the Wines of the Pharaohs.

This blue has a history of being lost and found. Like the secret of how the pyramids were build, there are multiple theories of how it was made. As well, its rediscovery has been credited to both scientists like George Washington Carver and artists like Raphael. Come along for this adventure and also get a look at the role of wine in those ancient times. Pharaoh will be delighted.