Charles Bargue

“Charles Bargue is mostly remembered for his Cours de dessin, one of the most influential classical drawing courses conceived in collaboration with Jean-Léon Gérôme. The course, published between 1866 and 1871 by Goupil & Cie, and composed of 197 lithographs printed as individual sheets, was to guide students from plaster casts to the study of great master drawings and finally to drawing from the living model. Among the artists whose work is based on the study of Bargue’s platework, is Vincent van Gogh who copied the complete set in 1880/1881, and (at least a part of it) again in 1890.”
 – wikipedia

 

   

In the following plates Bargue demonstrates how an accurate understanding of an object’s outer “shape container” can play a pivotal role in guiding the rendering of an objects inner three-dimensional planar structure. In each case the initial drawing is a straight-line-inspection that assess angles and proportion. The lines are there not as an outline but as a guide to find the shape that contains each object. The finished drawing sees the guide of the container melt away into a more naturalistic shape while the inner form becomes highly three-dimensional (note the restricted use of 3 or 4 tones of value to achieve this). Most people dive into shading before understanding the basic shape container of the form they are drawing. The important thing to note is the restricted use of value in the finished drawing and the restricted use of straight lines in the initial drawing. It is the restriction that gives each drawing it’s sculptural solidity. 

  

Charles Bargue Drawing Course at Amazon or ask your local bookstore to order it for you.