Monday, January 15, 2018

Sketching with Patches of Tone

In this graphite pencil sketch, Charles Bargue (1825–83) uses well placed patches of tone rather than using only outlines to describe the form.

Charles Bargue, graphite, 8 x 5 3/16 inches, Metropolitan Museum
The patches are made out of short, parallel strokes, which create an impressionistic, painterly effect, even though he's working only in unblended pencil.

Charles Bargue helped create the Drawing Course used in many ateliers.
The method of sketching with patches of tonal values is also described in Sketching - from Square One to Trafalgar Square and Ernest Watson's The Art of Pencil Drawing.

Previous post: The El Dorado Page (Ernest Watson)

1 comment:

Jared Cullum said...

The wobbly texture in the smaller patchy bits reminds me a lot of Maurice Prendergrast watercolors. :)