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sketchbook
Design for angel bookplates
First sketch
Original drawing 2004, 2.5 x 5 inches.
The commission was to print fifty bookplates for a private library. This is the first sketch towards a linocut print design.
The angel is based on the figure of one of Job's daughters in William Blake's Job
I have sketched her in pencil and then gone over the principal lines in ink. With lino, one is looking for a simple line, since the medium will not support subtle shading.
In drawing the body it is a good idea (and traditional practice) to draw it naked and then to clothe it, otherwise the body may appear shapeless or unconvincing. Yet the body is so beautiful that it then seems a shame to cover it.
Eternity is in love with the productions of time. - from the Proverbs of Hell, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake.
The ancient Greeks knew how to make clothing appear to adhere to the body, revealing as it concealed. With a simple medium like lino, I had to consider whether there was anything to be gained by hinting at clothing, or whether to leave the angel naked.
To the next stage of the angel bookplate ->.
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