EssentiaLine

Tracings of paintings and drawings I study — de László, Sargent, Munch, Leonardo, Schiele among them — reduced toward the line that carries the form. Each post is a drawing, its source beside it, and what the hour taught; a process video where there is one.

About the practice · Atelier & commissions

Vermeer’s Het Straatje, in line

My tracing beside Vermeer's Het Straatje Left: my tracing. Right: Johannes Vermeer, Het Straatje (The Little Street / Gezicht op huizen in Delft), c. 1658, oil on canvas, 54.3 × 44 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (SK-A-2860) — public domain.

Modigliani’s L’Amazone, reduced to line

My tracing beside Modigliani's head study for L'Amazone Left: my tracing. Right: Amedeo Modigliani, a study for L’Amazone (The Amazon) — public domain (Modigliani d. 1920). Reproduced in the Kindle compilation Amedeo Modigliani: 140 Master Drawings. See Background.

Egon Schiele’s Plum Tree, in line

My tracing beside Schiele's Pflaumenbaum Left: my tracing. Right: Egon Schiele, Pflaumenbaum, 1909–10, oil on canvas, 57 × 50 cm, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt — public domain.

Munch’s Dance of Life, in two sittings

My tracing of the woman in black beside her detail from Munch's The Dance of Life Left: my tracing. Right: detail, the lone woman in black, from Edvard Munch, The Dance of Life, 1899–1900, oil on canvas, 125 × 191 cm, National Museum of Norway (Nasjonalmuseet), Oslo — public domain.

Munch’s Alexandra and Inger, in line

My tracing beside Munch's Alexandra Thaulow Left: my tracing. Right: Edvard Munch, Alexandra Thaulow, 1891, oil on canvas — public domain.

Munch’s Madonna

My tracing beside Munch's Madonna, cropped to the face Left: my tracing. Right: Edvard Munch, Madonna, 1894, oil on canvas, National Museum of Norway (Nasjonalmuseet), Oslo (NG.M.00841) — public domain. Cropped to the face, matching the scope of the tracing.

Munch’s Laura, straight and three-quarter

My tracing beside Munch's Laura Munch, three-quarter view Left: my tracing. Right: Edvard Munch, Laura Munch, 1882, oil on board, 18 × 15 cm, Munch Museum, Oslo (MM.M.01045) — public domain.

Leonardo’s Madonna dei Fusi, the bust study

My tracing beside a study for the Madonna dei Fusi Left: my tracing. Right: Leonardo da Vinci, Studio per la Madonna dei Fusi (Study for the Madonna with the Yarnwinder), c. 1501, red chalk and silverpoint on rose-prepared paper, 25.7 × 20.3 cm, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venezia (Venice) — public domain.

Leonardo’s Testa di Leda, three attempts

My first tracing beside Leonardo's Testa di Leda Left: my first tracing. Right: Leonardo da Vinci, Testa di Leda (The Head of Leda), a detail of the sheet, pen and ink, Royal Collection Trust, Windsor (RCIN 912516) — public domain.

Leonardo’s Battaglia di Anghiari, in line

My tracing beside Leonardo's studies of horsemen for the Battaglia di Anghiari Left: my tracing. Right: Leonardo da Vinci, Studi di battaglie a cavallo (studies of battles on horseback), preparatory studies for the Battaglia di Anghiari, c. 1503–04, pen and ink, Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze — public domain.