Observations: Prud'hon's Materials

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
detail --Academie
Charcoal, heightened with white chalk, on blue paper

Many of Prud'hon's drawings on blue paper have faded to shades of tan. Various reproductions in my reference hint at the original color, but from these, I couldn't know what blue was used. However, color may be a moot point, given the slim pickings in today's available papers. Perhaps it is enough to know that the paper was blue. It must certainly have been a middle value, between #'s 3 and 5 in the scale below. In the case of #5, the artist can go equally darker and lighter from the blue base. If using #3, the artist can use the paper for middle and darker lights.

Throughout my book is evidence of a laid paper texture, as seen in the detail above. The degree of texture in this paper must have been subtle, since it was easily obscured with certain treatments. From experience, I imagine that the paper needed enough tooth to capture and hold pigment, but it also had to be pliable enough for the laid ridges to back off under the mild pressure of a sharpened chalk, allowing for uninterrupted crisp lines.

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
detail --Academie
Charcoal, heightened with white chalk, on blue paper

The blacks and whites of Prud'hon's drawings carried a full range of densities from opaque to transparent, from fine and firm to fat, intense and fluid. Sometimes a charcoal-like "mist" was used. Stumped areas leave a trace of the original lay-down of color, reading as a subtle vibration...

Note the soft transparent gray surrounding the arm, the blended veil of white in the arm,

... and the dense whites and blacks in the hand...

Note the crisp opaque black and white hatches below.

Next Page: Discussion: Modern Materials

Updates | Discovering Prud'hon: Introduction to a Lesson on Technique | Why Is His Drawing Unique & Obscure? | Observations: Prud'hon's Materials | Discussion: Modern Materials | How to Make Your Own Better Black Chalks | Supply List: Black and White Chalk on Blue Paper | Observations: Parameters of Technique | Theory: Best Guess at Prud'hon's Step by Step Approach | Demonstration: Step 1 -- Outline | Demonstration: Step 2 -- Bold Hatching | Demonstration: Step 3 -- Stump Out Hatches | Demonstration: Step 4 -- Hatch White | Demonstration: Step 5 -- Hatch Black | Demonstration: Step 6 -- Lightly Stump | Demonstration: Step 7 -- Apply White Again | Demonstration: Step 8 -- Add Black Again | Demonstration: Step 9 -- Hatch, Tortillon, and Hatch Again | Demonstration: Step 10 -- Finishing Refinements | Demonstration: Steps 1 through 10 -- Visual Summary

 

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