Today is Day 28... only one more challenge to go...
Today's challenge is to post your finished
Albert Einstein Drawing.
They are looking absolutely fantastic!
You should all be so proud of yourselves.
Today I'm posting my drawing of a girl, Jeanne Hebuterne; partly because I think it will help you to see how deep I make the black powder in the darkest areas before firing a drawing,
and partly because I've always loved this photo and I didn't feel like drawing Einstein. lol
Here's a little history about Jeanne...
She was born in Paris in 1898. As a child, she loved to draw, and later pursued a career in painting. In her late teens, she began modeling for some of the many sculptors and painters working in Montparnasse. At nineteen, she was introduced to Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian Painter living in Paris. They fell in love and became inseparable. He painted many portraits of Jeanne in the three years they spent together, and she painted at least one portrait of him.
Jeanne's parents weren't too keen on the relationship. He was fourteen years older than she...Jeanne's family were devout Catholics, Modigliani, a Jew.... Certainly, they didn't want their daughter hanging out with a guy who was smoking, drinking, and drugging himself into a complete human disaster, either... but that's another story.
They became engaged but were never married because of the family differences... They had a daughter together in 1917, and Jeanne became pregnant again shortly after. Money was tight. They traded work for food and an apartment, but never got ahead of his drug problems. He was picked up by an agent who arranged his only solo art exhibit, only to have the show closed because it wasn't acceptable to show huge nudes in the storefronts...
Just as he began to gain popularity and see some success in selling his work, Modigliani's health quickly deteriorated. He had been hiding the fact that he had tuberculosis, and coupled with his lifestyle, he became ill very quickly and died rather suddenly on January 24, 1920. After the funeral the next day, Jeanne's parents, relieved that the relationship had ended, gave her no choice but to bring her daughter and come home to live with them. She was 8 months pregnant. When they arrived at her parent's home, Jeanne was so distraught that she threw herself from the 5th floor window and committed suicide.
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| Modigliani, painted by Jeanne Hebuterne |
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| Jeanne Hebuterne, painted by Amedeo Modigliani |
The story is sad and the images haunting, but I dearly love looking at them. So many beautifully talented artists live tragic lives and never see the fulfillment of their life's work...
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Onward to positive things now! I want to give you a little hint to help you get ready for the final challenge, for Days 29 and 30... Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds.
The final challenge is going to be a self-portrait. I KNOW you don't want to do it, but please do. It can be very simple or very complex, serious or silly, but~
your drawing must include your face.
A self-portrait can be a beautiful expression of you as a person, and on the final day of the challenge, I'd love for you to look yourself in the eye and say I DID IT.
Use your phone or a camera to take a black and white selfie. To get good contrast, I stood by a window and let the ever-gray Ohio sky light my face from one side. Overcast days are the best for taking black and whites!
Charge on Sgraffito-ers!
