Copies of Bargue Drawings
Charles Bargue was an academic painter from 19th Century France. Under the auspices of art dealers Goupil and Cie (Vincent and Theo Van Gogh's employers,) and along with Jean-Leon Gerome, he produced a series of two hundred or so lithographs, reproductions of which were circulated around the ateliers of the time for students to copy. Copying these drawings is supposed to teach the student about line and tone, how to create an illusion of three dimensional form, and also to instil a sensitivity to classical beauty in painting and sculpture. These plates were almost lost, but, thanks to the efforts of Gerald Ackerman and Graydon Parrish, they have now been republished and a book version of the plates is available. It's proved popular enough to be on it's second priniting at time of writing. That has to be a good thing. Apparently the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a full original set.
The Bargue drawing course has regained popularity in recent years, and is now a standard part of the curriculum of modern academic ateliers in Europe and the US. I've got hold the book with the intention of copying a few of the plates, for much the same reason as I'm doing the old master copies. Although I doubt it's quite the same as going to an atelier, it's got to be pretty good practice all the same.
I've had a lot of unanswered questions as I've been working through the first few plates, largely because I didn't read the book carefully enough before I started. I've put up a brief run-down of what I think is the right method in a post on Bargue drawing technique from May.
A more in-depth, step by step description of my effort at the fifth plate starts here: Bargue plate five.
Follow this link for my (rather personal) initial review of the Charles Bargue Drawing Course.