Last week’s drawing from history workshop was based on the works of Raphael (1483-1520), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raphael was quite prolific, he left behind a large body of work despite his early death at 37. This workshop was rejuvenating, I think it was because of Raphael’s spirit… that seemed to hover over us. From what the instructor, Jon, narrated, I think the word, alacrity seems to perfectly capture Raphael’s energy. He just drew and drew irrespective of what others thought, while Michelangelo was known to be self-conscious of his works (he built a bonfire to burn his sketches), Raphael was quite the opposite. Some of the body parts in Raphael’s drawings don’t seem anatomically right, but Raphael still put them out there into the world, which I find very liberating and truth be said these drawings carry a sense of livingness because of these imperfections… these sketches seem more relatable and alive than the immaculate ones. And our instructor Jon went on to say that the more you draw, the less you hesitate; the less you hesitate, the more momentum you gain; the more momentum you gain, the less negativity tends to linger in the mind of the artist and I thought this line of thought was pretty impressive. I mean, Raphael is still imprinting on us from beyond the grave… that’s mind blowing.
