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| My graphite copy of Morandi Still Life |
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| Morandi Still Life 1951 |
I am taking a drawing class at the University and we are studying Giorgio Morandi, (1890-1964). So I thought I would try copying some of his work. I can see that my graphite sketch is out a bit here and there... if I was trying to create an exact copy... but I am happy with 'close'. And besides, our instructor has banned all erasers in the class... what he really said was "using erasers in my class to 'correct' any drawing mistakes is a no no."
Morandi's work has a bit of a rough, yet elegant feel, and he restricted his subjects almost exclusively to still life work, with the exception of a few landscapes. His favorite colors were gentle and delicate tones and his contemplative still life setups were usually a few plain bottles, cups, bowls and jars, which he always arranged anew. He would physically paint all the clear bottles gray, cream or white solid tones for his setups, rather than use any clear glass with reflective qualities, as he seemed to want all the objects to be more 'solid', with no reflections. Certain shapes appealed to him and he kept painting many of the same objects over and over... dust and all.
I think tomorrow I am going to try either copying one of his still life paintings for fun, or if I can find some nice shapes around the house, I will set up my own 'Morandi inspired' still life, (without dust).
I must admit that I can certainly understand why he liked to reuse these shapes... drawing them put me into a 'zen zone'. There was a feeling of becoming one with these elegance, simple shapes and muted colors.
NFS
approximately 6x8, graphite on paper.