Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 112

Drawing Lessons_094-125_11803.indd 112 16/2/17 3:50 PM

Text

How does the body communicate in art? As important as facial

expressions are, their impact is enhanced and carried forward by

the expressive gestures of the hands and body — by the “language”

of the human form itself.

In the sketch below by Austin Briggs, additional details are not

necessary to give us a sense of what is going on. It seems abundantly

clear that this figure, perched on a rocky incline with one arm thrust

into the air and the other set for stability, is in trouble and asking for

help. In contrast, spontaneous flowing lines capture the attitudes of

the figures in the rough sketches shown opposite, created in pencil

and ink, communicating a sense of relaxation and languor.

HANDS, GESTURES, AND BODY LANGUAGE

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Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

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Proof 1 C

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 113

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Text

clear that this figure, perched on a rocky incline with one arm thrust

into the air and the other set for stability, is in trouble and asking for

help. In contrast, spontaneous flowing lines capture the attitudes of

the figures in the rough sketches shown opposite, created in pencil

and ink, communicating a sense of relaxation and languor.

(All images on this spread)

Austin Briggs

Figure studies, c. 1948

Pencil and ink on paper

(Opposite)

Figure on rocks

Ink on paper

113

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 113

Drawing Lessons_094-125_11803.indd 113 16/2/17 3:48 PM

Proof 1 C

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 114

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Text

In these Austin Briggs studies, the casual

body language of the men in the group at

right gives a sense of ease and congeniality,

whereas the stances of their younger coun-

terparts, below, infer tension and separation.

(All images on this spread)

Austin Briggs

(Above)

Figure studies

Men Talking

Charcoal on paper

(Right)

Figure studies

Young Men in Group

Pencil and colored

pencil on paper

114

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Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 114

Drawing Lessons_094-125_11803.indd 114 16/2/17 3:48 PM

Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 115

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Text

A Matter of Life and Death

Study (left) and final (below) illustration for

Cosmopolitan, June 1947

Oil on board (final)

When Briggs accepted this assignment, the art director

wanted him to illustrate the subtitle of a fiction story that

read, “He could not remember clearly what happened;

but one thing was starkly plain: a man had been killed,

and soon the police would be looking for the murderer.”

Note the heaviness of the figure and the weight of the

arm and overturned hand, which seem to weigh the

lifeless body down. “The flat horizontal of the figure in

a calm state in itself suggests no movement, although

a sleeping figure might well have an arm over the side

of the bed as I’ve painted it,” Briggs wrote. “I wanted to

make very sure the figure could not move and accented

the vertical of the arm with the repeated line of the bed

covering at right.”

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Proof 1

Job: 11803 Title: #218076# Drawing Lessons From The Famous Artists School (Rockport)

DTP: GLP Page: 115

Drawing Lessons_094-125_11803.indd 115 16/2/17 3:48 PM