About mid-October I started my first drawing for a carboncino (charcoal) drawing on paper. Here in Florence, Italy, the favored papers are Umbria brand and Roma. Rigacci’s Art Store did not have the Umbria when I arrived to purchase my paper, so I am using the Roma. The Roma brand has a very obvious line-patterned tooth (a rough surface for holding the carboncino) that I will carefully need to work with to create a smooth tone where desired.
In this image, taken over the Halloween weekend, I am in the process of transferring my original drawing onto a piece of the fine Roma paper. I do the original cartoon drawing on regular drawing paper. I work out my proportions of the figure and create my disegni. (Those who have visited the newsletter section of my Web site may already know that in Italian, the word disegno means ‘drawing’ AND ‘design.’ They are one and the same.
I have drawn the outline of the figure with props, as well as the shadow shapes. While this is considered representational art, I am not copying Nature. I am using Nature as an inspiration to create a pattern of shapes and tones. Illusion is not reality. Illusion is not copying. I have an almost infinite amount of choices. That is why, even when working with the same model and having the same sort of goal in mind, each artist’s work will look different from anothers. Disegni, baby.
