Sketch Book for the Artist

EARTH

AND

the Elements

Air in Motion

THE GREAT INVISIBLE SUBJECT of these drawings is the wind. By

seeing how it shakes, lifts, and gives motion to each image, and

by observing its tides and eddies in our own environment, we

can soon learn to draw its force. Below, Daumier's cartoon

shines with the brilliance of his comic memory. He knew how

the world bends and stutters under such gusts. This wife, like

an umbrella forced inside-out, has become a hysterical kite,

fluttering heavily; a sail broken loose in a stormy marriage.

Turner carries us to the heart of the maelstrom. Terrifying

waves of merciless nature roar across the paper. The great

master of English seascape is conducting with his graphic

energy. The ship, a scratched ghost, is already lost.

Hokusais sedate wind presses reeds and the journeys of

young ladies. Flapping kimonos and an onlooker turning his

back have the magic of a moment caught, undramatic but

brimming with stylized realism.

HONORE DAUMIER

French satirical cartoonist lithographer, painter,

sculptor, and pioneer of expressionism. Through

political drawings he fired his sharp wit at the king,

the government, the bourgeoisie, and the legal

profession, serving a prison sentence for his views.

Crayon and limestone This is a lithograph. A hard waxy crayon

was drawn across a heavy limestone Varying definitions of lire

and depths of tone conspire to give volume, distance, speed, and

solidity. Fluid strokes inflate the woman's dress and pin shadows

to the ground. Hazy vertical marks reveal buildings receding

into the mist. Dots and dashes suggest trees out of focus.

Danger of Wearing Balloon

Petticoats

UNDATED

HONORE DAUMIER