Icons and Statues

Following on from last week's Male Greek and Roman Statues we looked at a few Female Icons Statues some from Greece, Roman and Middle East. In my search, I found this article which in many ways contrasts or complements last week's article.  Last week our focus was on the whole body and inspired by some of the images I had chosen and those that Andrew knew himself such as The Boxer and the Kouros.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/13/absent-female-genitals-art-repeated

Icons and Statues

1. Clay figurine of the Canaanite goddess. (Who is probably Asherah early female God, known about in Syria, Israel, Egypt... I am personally very interested in the history of Female Gods and Asherah 'Queen of Heaven' was worshiped up to about 1000 BC until monotheism and patriarchy started to form...the history is fascinating)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-yhwh-became-god-1457732366

and for further reading down this rabbit hole - https://www.ancientpages.com/2017/04/12/lost-forgotten-goddess-asherah-queen-consort-sumerian-god-anu-ugaritic-god-el/

2. Three Graces

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_Graces_Louvre_Ma287.jpg

3. Artemis (because she rocks!)

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/artemis/

4. Greek Terracotta Figure of Seated Aphrodite
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/greek-terracotta-figure-seated-1871482179

5.Statuette of reclining nude goddess 1st century B.C. 1st century A.D.
https://www.thecityreview.com/worldbetween.html
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/759563

Introducing our new model Edmund...

Greek and Roman Statues

This week we were inspired by a variety of statues. Our Model, Andrew also had rather good knowledge of these classical sculptures and model poses from his own knowledge to. In particular we had a little discuss about 'Kouros', for an informative read on the subject take a look at-

'THE ORIGINS OF THE KOUROS By REBECCA ANN DUNHAM'
http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE0010838/dunham_r.pdf

Some our sparks of inspiration-

Ares Borghese is a Roman marble statue of the imperial era (1st or 2nd century AD)
By After Alcamenes, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15759965

Discobolus in National Roman Museum Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
circa 140 AD
marble

 Agasias of Ephesus

 Poseidon (Zeus), 46 B.C.

 Bronze Figure from the Artemisius at Cape Sounion

Guerrier combattant, dit le "Gladiateur Borghèse" (Fighting Warrior, called "Borghese Gladiator"), c. 100 BC
Marble

The Dying Gaul, also called The Dying Galatian (in Italian: Galata Morente) or The Dying Gladiator, is an Ancient Roman marble semi-recumbent statue now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. It is a copy of a now lost sculpture from the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC) thought to have been made in bronze.

Statue of a Kouros, 6th century B.C.
Marble
76 2/5 in
194 cm


Interesting article-
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-ancient-greek-sculptures-small-penises

Charcoal sketches of Fra. For the first session of the month, we proceed with short and long poses following our model's lead. Next week I will be giving a short demo with a few tips and inspirating from an artist. 

Negative drawing with putty rubber and charcoal follow by a pastel colour. 

This week we took a page or 2 out of 'Quentin Blakes Unseen Art' (book and exhibition). I recommended using pen and ink and watercolour washes. Below are some of my drawings from the evening. Wonderful poses from our model Fra who was given the book a few weeks ago for her birthday which became our inspiration for the session.

Seeing the other side of Blake's work is a real treat...
Here are 2 blogs by people who visited the exhibition last year-

https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2018/11/19/100-figures-unseen-art-of-quentin-blake-house-of-illustration/

https://susanjoylu.com/2019/01/16/100-figures-the-unseen-art-of-quentin-blake/