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Study for the Figure of Christ
by Peter Paul Rubens
ca 1610; black chalk and charcoal,
heightened with white, 15⅞ x11₁¹⁄₁^6
FOGG ART MUSEUM, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ART MUSEUMS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.Studies of Heads and
Clasped Hands
by Peter Paul Rubens
ca 1610; black chalk heightened
with white chalk, 15⁵⁄₁^5 x10⅝
ALBERTINA, VIENNAACTION POSES
Not all models can hold strenuous
poses for the length of time it would
take to render them in paint, so it’s
helpful to do a quick sketch as Rubens
likely did. Allow yourself only 20 to 40
minutes to minimize the model’s dis-
comfort—and to reinforce the
essentials of the pose in your mind.
By referencing your drawing, you
can position the figure on the canvas,
getting its general proportions and
perspectival placement accurate while
accentuating the gesture of the pose.
Later, you can go back to working
from life, painting details of the figure
in parts without subjecting the model
to the added strain of a tilted-back
head, for example.
If the overall pose is too difficult
for the model to hold even for 20
minutes, or if you simply want to
experiment with variations, you can
always resort to drawing isolated body
parts in pursuit of the painting, as
Rubens does in Studies of Heads and
Clasped Hands (right).
Lessons like these abound through-
out art history and can serve as
fodderforyourowncreativeefforts.Dan Gheno teaches at the Art Students
League of New York and formerly
taught at the National Academy
Museum and School, in New York City.
He’s a professor emeritus of the Lyme
Academy College of Fine Arts, in Old
Lyme, Conn., and is the author of Figure
Drawing Master Class: Lessons in Life
Drawing (North Light Books, 2015).
Visit his website at dangheno.net.