Drawing Analysis

In our last class, we talked about different techniques artists may use to create space and perspective in their drawings. 

For this blog post, I picked a drawing called "Dancer With Fan" made in 1880 by a French artist named Edgard Degas (1834-1917). The areas in an artwork which determine proximity and space are foreground, middleground and background. In this drawing, the dancer foot appears to be in the foreground while her right arm and the fan are in the middleground and her left arm placed in the background.

The fan is overlapping the dancer's chest and left arm which creates perspective. Overlapping occurs in a compositition when an object is placed in front of another, here we can see that  the fan is in front of her body.

Another technique observed in this artwork is the way Degas hatched the fan and the hair to make them appear darker. He also shaded different body parts, the floor and the wall to create value. The shift from light to dark creates value. The tutu being so light suggest an idea of transparency, eventhough it is overlapping her legs, we still can perceive them through it.

The position of the dancer's feet create an idea of distance. Her right leg being seemingly longer than the left one and overlapping it suggest that it is forward. Her left foot and left elbow are at two vanishing point. 

The dancer's body has dark and strong countour lines and the variations in the tonal range creates light and volume.

 Artists use the side of their pencils to create shade, in this drawing the shade behind the dancer's upperbody creates the idea of a wall in the background. 

Degas used many of the techniques we talked about to give life and depth to his dancer. It was mostly a work of value.