Charles Chow analyses de Ryckere " Head of A Dying Man" 1563

1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS 

•What is the title of the drawing?

"Head of A Dying Man"

•What is the name of the artist?

 de Ryckere

•What is the year the drawing was done?
1563

•What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc) 
Pencil

•What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?) 
It is a figure drawing about a old dying man. It showed the last moment of the old man's life.

•Does the drawing have a particular purpose? eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works? Does it record accurately record the appearance of something? Does it express the artist's emotion or memory?
It recorded accurately the appearance of a dying old man. From the man's half-opened eye and mouth and his weakness, we know that the man is dying or just dead. The painting may reflect the sad memory of the painter. The scene may be seen by the painter and made him depressed.

2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL

•How is line used? What does it do/express? 
There are both thin lines and thick lines in the painting.  For the modeling and shading, the painter trend to use thicker line to express the shadow of the old man. However, the line that on the man's face is usually thin because the painter want to emphasis the weakness of the dying man. There is contrast between the bed and the old man's shadow.

•How is tone used? What does it do/express? 

The tone of the picture is mainly back and white. There is no sharp colors on the painting.  The reasons behind is that black and white usually used on sadness things. It strengthened that the man is dying. Moreover, it is more obvious to show the contrast between light and dark. 

•What can you say about shape and/or form in this picture? What is the effect? 

For the shape and form in this picture, the painter showed the dying man's half body. The shadow of the body had made a 3-D effect on the man. Moreover, the form is quite uniform that using black and white and the same style of brushwork. 

•Is texture a feature of the drawing? 
The texture of the painting is quite rough. It's surface is not smooth, showed that the sadness of the dying man. It help to show the facial expression of the old man. 

•What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing?
The composition of the drawing is mainly the upper body(head) of the dying old man. The effect of this composition is that it makes the audience to focus on the object. Like the old man, we can easily focus on his facial expression and even the lines. 

•Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...

I think that rhythm is not quite important in this picture. Since it depicted a dying old man. Although there  are linkage between line and line. However, there is no major rhythm that active in the picture. The time is just like stopped at the dying time.

•Is the picture balanced? Explain...

Firstly, on the structure of the painting, it is quite balance that the old man's head is occupied at the center part of the painting. Moreover, the line's thickness is quite balanced too.  For the old man's face, the lines are both thin in both side. But thicker line is used on both side of shadows. 

•Is perspective used in the picture? If so, describe the way that the illusion of three-dimensional space has been created.

There is no apparent perspective used. As the picture depicts only a small area of space (close up on the dying man's head), so it's hard to use both linear and aerial perspective. However, by using the shadow on the man's face or his body shadow, a clear 3-Dimension sense has been created.  

•Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way? 

This picture is quite harmony because the structure of the picture is quite balance. On the other hand, the tone and color of the picture is kept by same style. The whole picture is coherent and give the audiences a harmonious feeling.

•Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more...

There are a few strong contrasts in the picture. The most apparent part is the shadows on the bed and the shadows on the dying man's face. Those contrast seems telling us that the burden of the old man is too heavy. But the line that on his face showed that he is so weak that cant afford those burdens anymore. 

3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

•What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.

The mood of the drawing is sad. The close up on the head of the dying man make the readers feel the actually situation of the scene. By the facial expression of the man, we can understand that the moment on the painting is harsh. The man seems quite painful and sad. The painter used black and white color in the painting, even make the sadness mood more apparent. Lastly, the thick lines on the bed and the thin lines on the face even make the scene more pitiful. It seems that the old man is stare on the painter, it showed that the man may knew the painter.

•What does the drawing express? Justify your answer using information from your responses above.

I think that the drawing had expressed the compassion of the painter on the dying old man.  The dying man that painted is like a kind old man. The feeling of the old man is just like one of the relatives of the painter. So, the picture depicted the scene in a harmonious way. The memory between two person seems to be cut off soon. It spread a kind of sadness and pain. 

•In your opinion, why is this work interesting/moving/ clever/ imaginative/thought-provoking/......?  Choose the adjective(s) that best fit(s) the work, and then justify your conclusions by referring to specific features and qualities of the drawing (including those you have discussed above).

In my opinion, the picture is quite imaginative and clever. It used black and white color and great light and dark contrast to perform well. Audiences' emotion might be easily caught by that way. Moreover, the painting is just like real case. People may even think about similar scene that may be happened in their memory. Thus, the picture become  more sad and hurt. 

WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE DRAWING ANALYSIS?

Use the link on moodle to upload your work to the classblog. “Understanding Drawing 2013” or use the blog address http://understandingdrawing2013.blogspot.hk/

Add your name to the title of the blogpost that is about the drawing you find  most interesting. Upload a picture of yourself on the post that is about the drawing your chosen drawing to blog

Then, during the rest of the course, add your detailed responses to those questions

AND

be sure to give your fellow students constructive feedback on their drawing analyses. Post your feedback in the comments section; include your name before your comment 

eg Wong Amy:(comment)[1]