sandr037

Serpentine means “serpent-like”; a winding, writhing snake shape. The map above was made during the Great Depression, and shows the various riverbeds of the Mississippi over the last several centuries. This shape suggests a freeform, organic object like a river, rolling hills, or the human body. William Hogarth (1697 to 1764) called it the “line of beauty”, and thought that any object had to embody the serpentine shape to capture true beauty. In his self-portrait he prominently displays a serpentine curve on his palette in the foreground.   Dolorida by Antonio Parreiras is a composition swarming with serpentine lines overt and hidden, contrasted by the horizontal lines formed by the arms and orange stripe. Georges Clairin’s portrait of Sarah Burnhardt is also dramatically serpentine from top to bottom. My own figure sketch in charcoal is naturally full of serpentine lines. In drawing the female figure it is hard to avoid the serpentine theme. Tossot’s Emigrants depicts a s...

Not long ago I was on a bench in Washington Square Park people watching. It is one of the better places in New York City to see the entire spectrum of humanity mingling on the urban stage. The sun was low in the west, and streamed into the square between the buildings on the west side of the park. This created a tight “spotlight”, making the area beneath the Garibaldi monument something of a stage. The effect of “spotlights” is dramatic. It takes the scruffy street musician, and makes him into an event. While an urban “spotlight” such as that shown above is created when buildings block the sun, the same effect can be created by clouds on a grander scale. The photo above of Providence Town shows a sunset spotlight highlighting the beach front. It is subtle, but charming. The unlit buildings to the left and right frame the view. Note that the edges of this “spotlight” are soft, whereas the spotlights at Washington Square were relatively sharp. This computer tablet sketch uses the same e...