Chapter 4 | THE BROKEN DRAWING STYLE

Look at the drawing of a woman looking back. At the bottom, the drawing is still only schematically sketched in loose straight lines. The Dutch artist Breitner also started with this ‘broken drawing style’ in the upper body, but there the drawing is already more developed.

If you want to draw a model (real life or from an image), such a broken drawing style can apparently be a good tool: you first draw the shapes/outlines in loose (broken) straight lines. Later, you connect the lines and create smooth curves where necessary. The broken drawing style was already used in the Renaissance (c. 1350–1600).

Exercise: Choose a model (human or animal) to apply the broken drawing style to. Just xperiment with this technique. On large formats (e.g. 50×60) choose Siberian chalk, conté chalk or charcoal.