Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The Da Vinci Code




Illustrations By Ellinor Forje

"Indeed, the depiction of drapery, in the form of a carelessly thrown shawl on one's knee, is an important theme in Renaissance art."
- L. Mahadevan

I'm obsessed with drapings. Drawings and paintings of them, to be more precise. Jean-Honoré Fragonard's "The Stolen Kiss", is one of my favourite pieces in this domain. But, Leonardo Da Vinci, in my opinion, remains the master of the realm.

I would say that my obsession reached fever pitch last year. I was possessed, by the idea of it. Its mystery. If that makes sense. And the only way for me to exorcise this textural demon, was by trying to emulate the way fabric hangs and drapes around the anatomy, through sketching.

The first illustration (as well as the others), is of a dress in an editorial spread, that I saw in "Vogue" last year. I don't remember what design label it was. But, the garment was of a beautiful sheer chiffon, modelled by Laetitia Casta.

Note to self: Start cataloguing your drawings.

Response to note: The self ain't listening.

The best way to learn how to paint or draw draped textile, is through observation and practice. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this I have come to discover, the hard way. There is no other route. Although I'm still in the process of learning the craft; I can tell you this much right now, never argue with those who know better than you.

There I was last year, with my lack of good sense, refusing to listen to (what I then called,"the rants of a raving artist") the demystification of the elements of draping, by someone who knew better than me. He, my instructor, presented it as something fairly simple. Just observe the relationship between the folds, the light and the shadows. Then sketch. And there you have it. Simple.

But no, I was determined to crack the Da Vinci puzzle and uncover the sine qua non of this art through frying my brain. So, I drew nothing. Practiced nothing. Instead, I revisited the old theory books. That was the key to solving the old draping enigma, according to my own hypothesis. And I read:

"To extract the main ingredients of the theory, we start by considering the 'draping of a point' when a thin heavy circular sheet of thickness h and radius R, made of an isotropic material of density ρ, Young's modulus E, and Poisson ratio ν is suspended from its center. If the sheet is large, a conical shape with multiple flutes is observed...

In terms of t, the tangent to the curve , and n = t × u, the normal to the surface, the only nonzero surface curvature is 1/Rc = κ/r, where κ = –n·.f Differentiating the second expression in...for the curvature then yields..."

Eh...?

26 comments:

  1. so your an illustrator? Nice work!

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  2. amazing!
    thank you for passing by and leaving your sweet comment! it means a lot for me! remember you can keep in touch with my blog via blogger, bloglovin, facebook and twitter!

    xoxo from rome
    K.
    http://kcomekarolina.blogspot.com/

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  3. lovely work ellinor, especially the second.

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  4. Beautiful illustrations, love!

    thank you for passing by and leaving me a lovely comment, i'm gonna keep up with your blog for sure =)

    Ashi

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  5. These illustrations are all soooooo stunning!!! You are very talented, ad I'm sure I've said that before, but you truly are.


    xoxo,
    MelRod

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  6. These pictures are beautiful! These last words about... I stopped reading it when i realised it looks like my mathbook... but I'd love to be able to draw something like this!
    By the way thanks for your comments your blog's awesome!

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  7. lOVELY POST
    AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE GREAT
    YOU ARE SO TALENTED!
    EVERYONE IS INVITED TO
    THELOVELYSAN

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  8. I love your writing style although maybe im thick but how can drapery require so much maths!? eh indeed!

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  9. Great job!
    You've got talent my dear!!!

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  10. nice blog!
    take care,
    www.anasstyle.blogspot.com

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  11. thanks for ur comment :)
    i make the header on my own, only the drawing i've from a picture from google ;)

    xx

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  12. wow, these are so pretty. you're super talented!

    xoxo

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  13. hi. thanks for the comment:)
    love your blog, you are soooo talented!
    following you

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  14. really nice illustrations!
    thanks for ur post!
    (:

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  15. you're a fantastic illustrator! Your sketches remind me of Garance Dore, in fact. Loving the blog :)

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  16. love the illustrations..I wish i could draw too..And thankx for sharing the ideas and fact abt sketching...They were of gr88 help
    xx

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  17. That sounds too complex at the end there... Remember to keep it crisp & clear because the seamstresses will be the ones looking up your sketches. :) Yes, the H&M collab is so enticing, only if shipping cost aren't as fierce as it currently is.

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  18. hola pues ya ves , estoy viendo tu increible blog, me encantan tus dibujos!!!!!!!!!!!

    I follow you!!!!!!1

    tatiana

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  19. You lost me at the end of the post lol.
    I didn't know the painting 'The Stolen Kiss', so I googled it and it's really beautiful. Thanks for mentioning it.

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  20. Wow, your drawings are very good I wish I could draw like that! You have good tips I will certintly be praticing for my project. Thank you for reading my blog and reconmending yours!

    P.s great name btw :)

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  21. Ellinor - these illustrations are great! I remember drawing fabric in my college 'fundamentals of drawing' class and it perplexed and excited me too. Share more of your drawings with us!

    (also your note to self/reply from self made me laugh. My mind functions in the same way)

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