Teachers’ notes
Master Drawings
25 May - 18 August 2013
‘Master Drawings’ displays a selection of some of
the finest drawings dating from the fifteenth century
through to the present day. There are 27.000 drawings
in the Ashmolean and these are a selection of some of
the most famous artists.
Master Drawings is organised into roughly four parts:
1. Northern Europe 15th Century (inc Durer, Breughel
& Rubens)
2. Renaissance Italy (inc Leonardo, Michelangelo &
Raphael)
3.17th - 19th centuries (inc Turner & Pre Raphaelites),
4. Modern era (inc Hockney & Gormley)
The exhibition allows us to consider how drawing has
been used by artists:
- as a work of art in its own right
- as preparation for painting
- as a means to explore inner visions
- as an artist’s diary
This is a charging exhibition but FREE for
booked school groups and for under 18s.
To book a group visit please contact the
Education Department:
[email protected]
t: 01865 278015
Drawing as... a work of art in its own right
5. The Temptation of St Anthony
Pieter Bruegel the Elder 1525/30–1569
Pen and black ink on discoloured paper (21.6 x 32.6 cm)
The theme of St Anthony being tempted into the
wilderness was a common subject for artists in
the fifteenth century. St Anthony was an Egyptian
hermit who turned his back on the temptations of
the world to live in isolation in the desert. His story
encouraged Christians to live a clean life.
Activity 1
Make a drawing using a line and no shading
so it can be reproduced on a photocopier, or
as a print to be coloured later.
Materials: Use a sharp HB or 2H pencil
Bruegel’s picture has an hallucinatory quality,
showing a strange dream world, with swirling devils
and strange creatures. They’re not very frightening
devils, some are quite humorous. The main point
is that Anthony, bottom right, is turning away from
worldly temptations to the study of the holy books.
The picture is finely and carefully drawn in pen.
This is because the drawing was to be copied
by an assistant and turned in to a print for mass
production. It shows how drawing had become
popular and marketable by the fifteenth century.
Drawing as... preparation for painting
17. Studies for the Sistine Chapel and the Tomb
of Pope Julius II
Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475-1564
Red chalk with pen and brownish ink on off-white paper
(28.6 x 19.4 cm)
Renaissance artists turned away from the
conventions of the past and began to work directly
from Nature. Drawing was a tool to learn what the
world looked like and to prepare studies for painting.
Working from Nature became standard practice and
that changed not only drawing but painting as well.
Michelangelo painted over 400 figures on the
ceiling, yet every one of those figures is firstly drawn
in a studio from the model. When the drawing was
finished to his satisfaction, it was transferred to a
larger sheet. Pin prick holes were then made in it,
that allowed chalk to be pushed through so it could
be traced on the ceiling. Using red chalk highlighted
with white allowed the artist to create a greater
sense of light and shadow and weight and volume.
Also see:
16. Studies of Two Apostles for the ‘Transfiguration’
Raphael 1483-1520
Black chalk with faint white chalk highlights on off-white
paper (49.9 x 36.4 cm)
Activity 2
Before you create your next painting work out
the details beforehand using drawings which
you then transfer to the painting.
Materials: charcoal or red / white chalk
Drawing as... a way of exploring the visions of the mind
52. Beatrice and Dante in Gemini, amid the
Spheres of Flame
William Blake 1757-1857
Watercolour with some pen and ink over pencil and black
chalk (35.5 x 51 cm)
In this picture William Blake shows his particular
style of watercolour drawing that became his real
hallmark. Its theme is Dante’s Divine Comedy. In the
final section, called Paradiso, Dante and Beatrice
ascend into paradise.
Activity 3
Take a story or poem and freely draw the
pictures it inspires in your imagination.
Materials: Draw with pen and use a
watercolour wash
These figures have not been drawn from the life
model. Very early on Blake went to art school
and was placed in front of the model to draw.
Immediately he rejected that traditional approach.
He felt working slavishly was deadening so he
turned against that convention and began to draw
the visions of his mind, a world populated with
angels, gods and demons.
Drawings are an ideal medium for making visual the
dreams and visions of your inner world.
Drawing as... a way of recording family and friends
71. Henry writing, Lucca, August 1973
David Hockney born 1937
Pen and black ink on white paper (43.1 x 35.5 cm)
Henry Geldzahler was the curator of the twentieth
century collection of art in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York. Hockney and Geldzahler were
good friends and this drawing was made when they
were on holiday in Lucca in Italy.
Of this drawing David Hockney commented, ‘I draw
every day, and this is just a way of recording life like
a visual diary’.
Hockney’s early pictures were graffiti style, but at
this point he had turned to a simple light, witty form
of drawing. He said drawing should have as few
lines as possible to convey as much as possible.
Also see:
68. Portrait of Aircraftsman TE Shaw (Lawrence of
Arabia)
Augustus John 1878-1961
Charcoal on white paper (50.5 x 35.5 cm)
Activity 4
Without worrying about the final result too
much, try drawing your friends and family at
home and on holiday as a diary of your life.
Materials: use a 2B pencil or a pen
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