Friday, March 27, 2015

Michelangelo...Yes, Michelangelo


As an animator, how can you NOT be fascinated and overwhelmed by the masters of the Italian Renaissance?! During that time the depiction of the human figure started to move, it has rhythm and life. As an art student I was utterly blown away by this Michelangelo sheet of anatomical studies for the Sistine Chapel. This is the Libyan Sibyl. She looks mighty masculine, because in those days only men modeled for artists. Michelangelo's observation is intense, he is searching for the truth under the model's skin. A triumph of human artistry. A piece of art that makes you weep.

Below the final painting from the Sistine Chapel.


7 comments:

  1. there was an art exhibition in the Capitoline Museum (Rome) about his sketches and concept drawings about a year ago...
    Sure it was an experience to see a Michelangelo sketch, just a few centimetres away from my eyes!
    Had he lived in the 20th century, sure he would have done animation, he was so superb dealing with motion and energy in his master drawings.

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  2. Thanks Andreas. When I first started my blog I posted a sequence of drawings by Leonardo that (to my way of thinking) suggests his talent for animation:

    https://newartofanimation.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/leonardo-davinci-the-animator-everything-new-is-old-again/

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  3. I'm convinced that these guys would have been animators if they were around in our time. Their graceful, dynamic, and dimensional approach to figure drawing is exactly like good animation drawing, and I think that animation would have supplied them the balance between dynamic form and graphic composition that they seemed to strive for. Glen Keane's figurative rough animation in Duet, Tarzan and Beauty and the Beast is especially reminiscent of Michelangelo, Pontormo, Bernini, etc.

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  4. Gee, Andreas Deja, nice post you've made yesterday. By the way, I have two books on Michelagelo, so let's put it that way.-- and a coloring book of that artist, not to mention a Sistine Chapel print in my mom's bedroom, wallpaper in the bathroom, and a printed vase in the TV room. Thank you.

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  5. I have always been impressed but the Old Masters depictions of feet and noses. There is so much diversity, life and character. I strive to achieve that.

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  6. I once had a teacher assign me to do a study on the Libyan Sibyl in college for one of my anatomy classes. I remember it having a profound effect on me and how I viewed life drawing. Hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago for me hah. Great post.

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  7. Ah, da geht mir das Herz auf! :)
    Viele Teile der Sixtinischen Kapelle sind Inspiration pur! :)
    Ich war zwar nie dort und werde da sicherlich auch nie hinkommen, aber ich bin so dankbar, dass Abbildungen in so guter Qualität zu bekommen sind! :)
    Ich habe ein Buch mit Abbildungen in Schwarz Weiß aus dem Jahr 1953. ... Besser kann ich kaum vergleichen, wie gut dieses Wahnsinnswerk restauriert worden ist! :)

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