For this exercise I was asked to use my imagination and the skills I have learnt to draw someone I’ve seen momentarily.
I decided to draw my 7 year old sons new PE teacher. My son was very excited about his new PE teacher after his first day back at school and spent the evening speaking about him, I felt like I had conjured up an image of him in my head already. However the next morning my son pointed him out to me, I didn’t actually meet him but I did spot him from across the playground.
I learnt from my son that Mr Samual was very young, he was very cool and wore Nike sports clothing, that he told the kids funny jokes and he was kind and didn’t shout at anyone.
My son clearly admired this man, which made me think straight away about the work of Elizabeth Peyton, who was known for creating portraits of the people she most admired, many of whom she had never met. Below is an example of one of her works of the musician Eminem. An artist she admired greatly because of his vulnerability in his music.
I felt I had enough information about this man to begin my drawing, however I was nervous to start drawing without anything to observe. I therefore started by looking at myself in the mirror in order to decide upon a pose and an angle to position Mr Samuel’s head.
I started by doing a rough outline of the basic shapes and features of his head, whilst looking at myself in the mirror. I then proceeded to add tone with my charcoal. I thought about the darkest areas of tone being the eye sockets at either side of the nose. I thought about the lips being darker than the skin and where the shadow and the light might fall. I was aware that Mr Samuel was very young (I’m guessing early 20s) so I was conscious about keeping his skin smooth and subtle whilst keeping his features large.
Whilst drawing I wanted to make Mr Samual look kind, I did this by focusing on how I could make his eyes look kind, I did this by dropping them down slightly and trying to make them look like he was focusing on something.
Overall I am really pleased with my drawing. I was really worried about producing a drawing that I wasn’t also observing. I did not think I could do it. However what I found was, because I didn’t know exactly how my person looked there was no pressure to get everything right. Instead I tried to focus on my persons personality instead. Something Elizabeth Peyton often strives for, rather than just the physical features she tries to portray their personality and their greatness in her works. It is also clear that without even meaning too, my drawing style has been influenced by Peytons.
Whilst I can see that my Mr Samuel probably doesn’t look like a real person, as I have made several mistakes such as the nose facing slightly the wrong direction. I am proud of myself for managing to put together a portrait without observing it too. This I hope will give me more confidence in my future work to trust myself when making marks rather than being paranoid of getting things wrong.
For this exercise I was asked to research artists’ self-portraits.
I began by looking at historic examples, the first artist being Rembrandt. Rembrandt (1606-1669) was a Dutch artist who is known for being one of the most important artists in Dutch history. One of the subjects of art he was known for was his many self portraits. It is thought that Rembrandt completed nearly one hundred self portraits in his lifetime.
Researching and looking through his self portraits that I have found in books and on the internet is fascinating, they read almost like an autobiography of his life. I have found it incredibly interesting to not only see how his face has changed over time in the usual ageing process but also to witness how his personality and mood appears to have changed and developed over time, from hairstyles and dress to facial expression and stance. It is also incredibly interesting to see how his art style has changed and progressed over time also.
Below are a selection of some of his self portraits:
The first self portrait I looked at was an etching called B7 1631.
I wanted to look at this as it is said to be one of only four of his etchings that is considered as his official works, as their is uncertainty over his others being actually completed by him.
This self portrait is an etching on paper of when Rembrandt was just 25 years old. He is wearing a soft hat and an embroidered cloak with generous folds of fur wrapped around him. In comparison to some of Rembrandt’s other etchings this work appears to be more sophisticated and detailed and holds more depth. Also unlike some of his other etchings, he is not pulling a silly face or appearing to be messing around. Below are some examples of his other etchings:
In B4 1631, his body appears still and is turned slightly to the left and there is a heavy shadow across the left hand side of his face from his hat. His youthfulness is shown in his smooth skin and big features, his eyes make me think of innocence and his gaze looks uncertain, this is reinforced by the slight pursing of the lips, he shows an uncertainty that only the young seem to possess.
I love the texture that the process of etching manages to create. The hatching and small close together marks make me want to reach out and touch the fabric of his clothing.
The next self portrait I decided to look at was his 1659 self portrait completed in oils.
In this self portrait Rembrandt is sitting to the side with his head turned so his face is looking forwards towards the viewer. This pose makes him look important. His head is held high and this makes him look confident. He is wearing a hat and dark clothing, he has lots of curly hair that is sticking out underneath his hat. His gaze is staring outward and his deep-set eyes make me think of a man who has lived and who has gained wisdom from his many experiences.
This painting shows a 53 year Rembrandt. In my opinion his weathered face, deep set wrinkles and extra weight make him look older than a typical 53 year old would look today. I’m not sure if this is down to healthcare & advances in technology in today’s society or if it was down to the stresses in his life at the time? I discovered from research that he was suffering financial failure at this time?
The light illuminates his face so this is the first thing the viewer is drawn too. Every weathered mark and small detail can be seen. The light also shines on his large hands that he is holding together and slightly lights up his left shoulder just enough to work out the colour and fabric of his clothing.
This is a stunning portrait, it makes me want to ask so many questions and it makes me want to know so much more about this extraordinary man. I have found just looking at this portrait on my computer to be mesmerising, I can’t imagine what impact it could have in real life.
The next artist I looked at was Van Gogh, a Dutch impressionist painter. (1853-1890).
Van Gogh like Rembrandt painted many self portraits over his lifetime. It has been suggested that the reason Van Gogh painted himself so often was because he could not afford to pay for a model.
The portrait I decided to focus on was his 1889 self portrait. I am interested in this portrait because this self portrait was painted when Van Gogh was at the asylum at St.-Rémy, where he had committed himself following a mental breakdown. This self portrait is said to be among one of, or the last self-portrait he ever made.
This portrait shows Van Gogh age 36, sat at an angle and facing forward. He is wearing a smart jacket, a collarless shirt and what appears to be a waistcoat under his jacket.
He has red hair, green eyes and a beard, his features on his angular face appear gaunt and he holds an intense and serious gaze with a look of concentration on his face.
When looking at the work I am immediately drawn to his eyes.
To me they look deep and sad with a hint of insecurity and confusion.
I think his gaunt features, his confused and insecure eyes and his thin and sad face makes him look fragile.
The blue colours that are used in the background of this self portrait contrast with the orange and green tones on the face which emphasises his paleness and adds to his look of frailty.
Van Gogh’s brush stokes are heavy and expressive, on his face these brushstrokes look like lines of age as they are mostly facing downwards and make him appear older than his 36 years, but in the background the expressive swirls add to his look of confusion, and make me think of something almost psychedelic coming out of his head- which makes sense knowing that he was in an asylum when this was painted.
After looking at two very different yet historical artists I decided to look at how some more contemporary artists approach self portraits.
I started by looking at Tracey Emins’ Self portraits. Emin uses a range of mediums to create her works of ‘self’ including installations, sculpture, painting, drawing and mono prints. Her self portraits appear to be used almost like a diary where she records important moments, events or experiences in her life.
I wanted to start by looking at Emins mono prints. I am familiar with Emins installation work, however I was not familiar with her mono prints. From observing and researching these mono prints in both books and the internet I discovered that Emin mainly focusses on painful moments and memories of sadness.
I wanted to look at ‘from the week of Hell 94’. I initially wanted to study this piece because I was intrigued by the title, I felt like I could learn something about Emin and her life from this piece of work.
‘From the Week of Hell’94’ was created in 1995 and was based on the painful memories and events that took place in a week the year before. During this week Emin had major dentistry work and she also split up with her boyfriend, but perhaps most significantly she had an abortion.
This monoprint appears to be a quick, frantic, scratchy looking drawing of that abortion.
Emin appears to be lying naked on a Bed with her legs apart on the right of the print. Standing next to her is a dark sinister looking figure whom I would assume was the doctor performing the abortion. To the left of the piece is what looks like a figure taking away the fetus. The use of white space and frantic thin black line make me think of a large white unwelcoming room.
To me this mono print is harrowing. In the frantic and scratchy nature in which it has been drawn makes it feel raw and honest. It makes me think of writing words in a diary in a rushed way in order to get thoughts out to make sense of emotions. But instead of words she has used line. It feels vulnerable and brutal all at the same time. Even though she has used just quick simple line, with a scratchy and informal drawing style she seems to have included some really important details. The part that really stands out to me is the sinister looking doctor holding what appears to be a sinister looking long and torturous instrument that is positioned pointing towards her opened legs.
This is an account of her feelings and emotions towards the procedure rather than a realistic depiction of the facts of what actually happened. I would assume that the doctor was not a sinister looking monster and was in fact a respected professional carrying out a role in the best way he could. However going through such an emotional ordeal could have made her memory remember this time differently to how the doctor for example may have remembered it.
Below are more examples of Emins mono prints, that have also been based on traumatic experiences, some of which include text. Reinforcing the idea that her work almost reads like a deep and personal diary?
These self portrait are so different to both Rembrandt’s and Van Gogh’s work. Both Rembrandt and Van Gogh created a skilful likeness of their exterior faces, be it in different artistic styles. However Emin has not attempted in anyway a likeness of her external self, instead she has based her art on her emotional life and has attempted her deepest saddest, hardest and probably most traumatic memories of what is in her head. Perhaps this is more important than her external face? Perhaps for Emin creating these portraits is a way to heal her memories? Maybe this is a personal type of therapy for her that also allows her to communicate with her audience? Perhaps we can learn more about someones self by what’s in their head rather than how their face looks?
I decided to look at a more recent self portrait by Tracey Emin, this was completed in 2018, and is a more traditional if you like, version of a self portrait- it is a watercolour painting of her face. (Or at least I will assume it is her face! This portrait is not titled a self portrait, so I am only assuming this is the case, the reason for my assumption is because all of her previous work has been about her self. However it is not a realistic enough depiction to be certain.) The title ‘The memory of Tears’ however points towards the idea that these are her tears.
This painting shows a face painted in delicate washed out tones of pink on a white background. There are a few scratchy lines to imply the neck and shoulders. These lines suggest an element of movement, which makes the portrait more real and seem alive.
The eyes are blank and covered.
The eye on the right hand side is filled in with a dark pink tone and looks closed. Whilst the eye on the left hand side is covered and almost completely obscured by a wash of grey that travels across the entire side of the page in a quite dramatic way. The direction of the brushstrokes coming downwards make her eyes look like they are crying. This links in well with the title of the piece ‘The memory of tears’.
To me Emin looks vulnerable in this painting this is reinforced by the fact that I can’t look into her eyes. Looking at this portrait makes me feel like I am intruding in her personal space.
From my research on Tracey Emin, I discovered that she was inspired by artist Egon Shiele. This I found was evident in the nature of her drawing style, especially the wiry figures and in much of her sexual subject matter too. Therefore I decided the next natural step in this research point would be to research the self portraiture of Egon Shiele.
Egon Shiele was an Austrian painter (1890-1918).
He is known for the many self portraits he produced and for the intense and sexual nature of his work.
Below are a selection of some of his self portraits:
These portraits all show twisted body shapes and expressive line with an intensity in their facial expressions. These self portraits like Emins, all give me the impression of someone who is deeply disturbed.
I decided to look further at his self portrait 1911.
This portrait shows Shieles emaciated nude body from the top of his thighs upwards . He is facing forward towards the viewer and the painting has an unfinished feel about it. The portrait looks revealing and I feel like I am intruding in Shieles private space.
In the portrait Shieles looks bony and angular, it makes me think of a tortured prisoner or somebody struggling with an eating disorder.
He is surrounded by a jagged while line which is almost like an aura around his body, but also seems to highlight his thin emaciated body.
The quick brushstrokes and visible pencil line makes him look agitated. His facial expression looks tortured. He has large dark bloodshot eyes that are staring widely, with red lines underneath them. His mouth is open and his hair is standing up. One arm his hidden behind his tiny body whilst the other is held up in the air and bent down at the elbow.
The colours used on this portrait have been used sparingly. Shieles has used a selection of realistic skin tones of browns oranges and fleshy pinks on his body. His face is darker than the rest of his body, to me this makes him look wild or scared or both? His stomach area barely has any colour applied to it which reinforces how thin he is. There is no background to this portrait, perhaps this is so the viewer focuses all their attention towards the portrait?
Over all I really like the self portraits of Egon Shieles, even though they are most definitely disturbing, I feel like as a viewer I get to learn a little about the artists inner thoughts.
For this research point I have explored the way four very different artists from four very different time periods have approached self portraiture.
All four artists were known for creating many multiple self portraits and each artist approached it differently. I hope that I can experiment with some of their styles later on in this project.
For this exercise I was asked to create two interesting images of my own head.
I started this exercise by looking at myself in the mirror and trying to complete some quick 5 minute studies of my head. I tried to put my head in different positions in order to draw different angles. Below are my drawings.
For my first drawing I used charcoal and chalks, however this ended up taking me much longer than 5 minutes as I couldn’t get it to look like me, I kept working and re working it until it did resemble me. For my second drawing I was adamant it needed to be a quick study, so I tried to be less precious about my marks, and it did end up looking more like me than my first drawing. For my third drawing I decided to use biro, there were less options for mistakes aside carrying on with a biro so naturally I was quicker. This drawing was a fairly good likeness except I made my eyelashes too long.
My next task was to complete a longer more detailed drawing of my head. I worked again with charcoal and chalk on white paper. My drawing was of me looking straight on. I started my drawing by blocking out my features and the approximate shape of my face, I then started to add tone by adding dark and light areas and thinking about the direction of the lines on my face. Below are the different stages of my drawing:
I worked and re worked with my charcoal and chalk to try to show the texture of my skin and try to show the form of my head.
Below is my drawing:
In the end I do feel like this drawing does actually look like me, however I did find that because I had so many layers of charcoal, the white chalk was less effective. Next time I need to try to use the white paper to show the lighter areas as it should look brighter and more effective. Also I have drawn my eye lashes too heavy and this takes away from the realism of my drawing. I also think my hair needs more work, it looks very two dimensional as it is and I could do with building up my tones in order for it to look more realistic.
For my second drawing I used a blue biro, I had already experimented with a biro in my quick initial drawings and this worked fairly well. I wanted this drawing to be completely different to my previous drawing so I put my glasses on and a hat and turned my face to an angle. This entire pose was wholly unflattering but I felt it would be both interesting and a challenge to draw. I found this hard. I found using a biro to build up tone in order to show form on my face hard. I have used biro before on townscape drawings and on quick figure drawings but it felt difficult on a portrait. I tried to to keep my pen moving around my drawing and I tried to keep working in shadows and lines. I found however that my lines were too obvious and it felt messy. I feel like to make it look better my lines need to be more refined and sensitive. Below are the different stages I went through:
Over all my drawing does look like me (on a bad day.) However I think my biro lines have added quite a few years on me. I am pleased with my use of shadow in the drawing particularly the shadow my glasses are making and that I have managed to show texture particularly in my hair and areas of my nose. However the area between my nose and lips is wrong and I have made my nose and chin area look quite masculine.
I found this exercise difficult as I know my face very well, therefore I was highly critical of all of my mistakes, however after completing my portraits I feel more confident to continue and excited about my next portrait.
For this research point I was asked to look at contemporary as well as historic artists who work on the face in different ways.
I started by looking at Graham Little, a contemporary portrait artist who is known for using gouache and coloured pencils. His focus appears to be beautiful elegant women who look expensive and radiate luxury. Images that were often copied from glossy magazines.
Below is an example of one of his drawings, Blue Bulb Lady.
This portrait shows an attractive woman facing forward and leaning on a table next to a blue light bulb. The woman is dressed in what appears to be expensive 1980s fashion, with a short 1980s hairstyle. When zooming in on the portrait you can see Littles subtle use of fine lines and repeated fine marks. This intricate and detailed technique manages to create beautiful patterns and texture whilst at the same time creates a realistic interpretation of the model. I would imagine that this effective process would be highly time consuming and that each portrait could take months to complete.
Below are more examples of his work that show beautiful, strong, confident women in this similar style:
Even though these women are all highly attractive, the one thing that seems to be missing is their personalities. Maybe this is because of the absence of their expressions? Or their exaggerated un realistic poses? They all seem to be very similar with no real differences between them? I also noticed in the naming of these works they are mostly named as ‘untitled’.
Upon researching Graham Little I discovered that the reason he focusses his work on these beautiful women is because during his childhood, he wished he was a woman himself.
I then looked at the portrait work of Elizabeth Peyton.
Elizabeth Peyton is a contemporary American portrait artist who is known for creating stylised portraits of people she loves or admires, these are often hugely successful, famous and sometimes historical figures. These works are in huge contrast to Graham Little who tended to select random models from glossy magazines.
Her portraits are often small scale and are completed mostly in oils with glazes that can drip. She also uses watercolour paints and completes drawings and etchings too.
These stylised portraits show a more fluid blocking in of tone than that of Graham Little. They are devoid of intricate detail and pattern like Littles work. However Elizabeth Peyton unlike Graham Little manages to capture a personality in her faces almost like a moment in time. The individuality of these portraits appears to be captured in the expression of these faces.
The next artist I looked at was Frank Auerbach a German-British artist who is best known for his portraiture made up of layers upon layers of thick oil paint.
I chose to look at Auerbachs work as it is so different from both Little and Peytons work. Both Little and Peytons portraits show a sense of realism, their portraits look like the people they are trying to portray, whereas for Auerbach, his sitters external detail appears to be less important? His portraits appear to be so full of paint they are almost abstract. Below are some examples:
Auerbach is known for developing intense relationships with the people he paints, he tends to just focus on painting the same small amount of people repeatedly and often these people could sit for him every week for years and years.
Unlike Peyton who is trying to capture a moment in time Auerbach appears to want to capture the movement of time, this is evident in his repeated works of the same sitter year after year. It lfeels like the more he gets to know his sitters the more fascinated he is with them.
I love Auerbachs style, his thick layering of paint makes his portraits feel almost 3 dimensional like they are alive. This thick paint makes me think of all of the layers of the person he is trying to capture.
This is definitely a style of working that I would love to experiment with.
The next artist I wanted to look at was Stanley Spencer, this is an artist whose work I have loved for many years. Stanley Spencer was an English artist best known for his biblical paintings. However it is his portraits, his self portraits in particular that I am interested in.
The first self portrait I wanted to look at was his first self portrait in oils in 1914.
This self portrait is face on set in a very dark background. It’s tones are dark and rich with a strong sense of light falling across the left hand side of the face. His gaze is fixed and direct and The skin tones and features are painted realistically. It reminds me old master paintings. Such as Gainsborough and Da Vincini.
When this portrait was painted in 1914 he was about to enlist for the war. Could this be the reasoning behind the dark somber tones and shadows? Could he have been worried about the possibility of death?
The next self portrait of Spencer’s I decided to look at was his 1959 portrait. This self portrait is very close up with incredible attention to detail with every line or mark on his skin being recorded. His use of colour and light is also far brighter than his 1914 portrait.
This portrait was completed when he knew he was dying of cancer. Like his 1914 portrait he was again facing the possibility of death. However there is a difference in his expression. His gaze is more intense, when looking at this portrait I as the viewer see more than just his external skin, I am drawn to what’s inside him, his thoughts, his processes.
His eyes have been painted larger than they probably were, this could be because they were magnified by his glasses, but these over sized eyes make me think of fear, could this be linked to his own impending death?
His skin tones are bright, mostly pink tones however he has used a small amount of green tones which give the skin an element of translucency. Perhaps this adds to the viewer seeing past the skin and looking inside?
The final artist I wanted to look at was Raffaello Sanzio, in particular his portrait drawings. Raffaello Sanzio was a historical Italian Renaissance artist. His drawings were mostly used to plan his compositions for his final paintings. However I am fascinated by these beautiful portrait drawings even more so than his finished paintings. I love their precision and the sensitive nature of these carefully drawn faces.
The first drawing I looked at was a self portrait of when he was just 14.
This drawing is both serene and harmonious. It is simple, yet precise. His accuracy makes up for limited tone or detail, which is shown through a small amount of hatching around the edges of the face and the shadow created by his nose. The eyes however are mesmerising. They are detailed and show a powerful gaze out towards the world. The small amount of detail and tone on the rest of the face makes the eyes stand out even more. His expression is captivating and I as a viewer am drawn in straight away to wonder what this boy is thinking. For me it is the sensitivity of this drawing that makes it so special.
It is likely that Raffaello Sanzio used silverpoint and ink to make this drawing as this was a medium he mostly cherished.
Below are some more examples of his portrait drawings that all display the same attentiveness, grace and elegance as his self portrait at 14 did.
From my research, I’m hoping I have gathered enough information and inspiration in order to influence my own experiments and drawings.
For this exercise I was asked to draw facial features. I drew a selection of different features from my own face and from images I found on the Internet. I tried to bear in mind tonal variation to show form and the use of mark making to show texture.
Below are my drawings:
I found these drawings quite difficult as drawing features on their own apart from the rest of the face felt un natural and un realistic. However hopefully it has helped me to understand the form of these features and will help my full face drawings to be more accurate.
I then drew the entire head. I copied a photograph of my 9 month old baby’s face. I really focussed on drawing his features and tried to make sure my positioning of his features were accurate.
Below is my drawing:
I am pleased with my proportions, and I am especially pleased that my drawing does actually look like my son.
However I do feel that I have over used heavy pencil lines. I need to somehow try to make my drawing look less like a drawing and more realistic? I could do this by trying to form more sensitive lines and tones with my pencil? And by working on my pencil work to give the face and skin a better sense of form.
I also struggled with the hair, I tried to draw the hair in shapes of light and dark areas rather than individual hairs however I think I need to work on this further as I have managed to show the darker and lighter areas and where the light is shining, but I haven’t managed to really capture the texture of his silky smooth hair.
For this research point I was asked to research artists who explore the structure of the body.
The first artist who immediately came to mind was Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci is an artist who is famous for his drawings on the mechanics of the human body.
One of Da Vinci’s most famous works is The Vitruvian Man completed in 1490.
This is a pen and ink drawing on paper that depicts a man in two positions within a circle and a square. It is accompanied by notes on the ideal proportions of the human body based on the work of the Roman architect Vitruvius. Such as how big a hand should be in relation to its fingers and how big a foot should be in relation to its hand.
In this drawing Da Vinci demonstrates the mechanics of the male human body, he shows that this man can both simultaneously fit within the four sides of the square when he stretches out his arms and when in a spread eagle position he can fit inside a circle.
The Vitruvian Man is just one example of Da Vinci’s exploration of the mechanics of the human body.
Da Vinci is also known for exploring the mechanics of the human body by dissecting corpses. He would dissect dead human remains and then draw what he saw.
His studies were presented as drawings of parts of the human body surrounded by notes and observations about how they function.
Below are some examples:
The first thing I notice about these drawings is how they are exquisitely detailed and seemingly perfectly accurate. The notes describe how the bones and the muscle fit together and the mechanisms of how everything works. I found this fascinating to look at and I felt almost like I was looking at a medical journal.
In order to learn more about Da Vinci’s anatomy drawings I watched an episode of The Culture show on the BBC called ‘Leonardo Da Vinci- The Anatomist.’ This show was hosted by art critic Alastair Sook who looked at Da Vinci’s anatomy drawings. Here I discovered that Da Vinci through his drawings of the mechanisms of the human body actually made many medical discoveries, including the first accurate depiction of the human spine as well as the first known description of cirrhosis of the liver.
This television show states that these anatomy drawings by Da Vinci lay undiscovered for hundreds of years- (possibly because cutting up corpses was illegal at the time unless you were a physician.)
It also explores the theory that if Da Vinci’s drawings were discovered earlier they could have transformed the history of medical knowledge.
I found researching Da Vinci both fascinating and inspiring, and I have been inspired to learn more. I look forward to completing my own drawings using his methods of proportions and measuring each body part in relation with each other in order to strive for accuracy.
The next artist I decided to look at explores the mechanisms of the human body in a much more contemporary, but equally fascinating (if not a more gruesome way) than Da Vinci.
Gunther Von Hagens is a German anatomist who is known for displaying dead bodies without their skin, often taking part in a sporting activity. Below are some examples of his work:
Gunther Von Hagens invented the technique ‘plastination.’ This is a technique that uses polymer chemistry to preserve biological tissue by replacing water in cells with plastic material. Each body can take 1500 hours and can cost an approximate twenty five thousand pounds.
Gunther Von Hagens wanted to bring life back to anatomy. He also wanted people to know and understand anatomy and the mechanisms of the human body. He wanted people to understand themselves. He felt that displaying real dead bodies in this way was the most effective way of achieving this.
One of the things Gunther Von Hagens wanted to do was to show the viewer what happens to the human body if it is mistreated, for example the comparison between a smokers lungs and a non smokers lungs. This was to emphasise the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
It has been questioned whether Gunther Von Hagens work can be considered art or whether it is purely science?
I wonder if the fact people had to die in order for these works to be created has any influence over this answer?
I feel that Gunther Von Hagens work is clearly the science of anatomy and has an amazing learning aspect to it, however I can also see how it can be considered art as well? His works are deliberate and exhibited? He clearly spends a great deal of time presenting his work, making sure everything is smooth, and looking good. If these works were purely for science, making the bodies look good may not be as important? The bodies are also arranged in different positions, again if this was just science would there be a need for this?
I found lots of similarities between the two artists I have looked at. Namely both artists being anatomists, and both anatomists presenting their findings in exceptionally artistic ways, both managing to keep their bodies alive after death. Ways in which both shocked their audiences of their time and causing great controversy. Da Vinci worked illegally and secretively dissecting dead bodies, whilst Gunther Von Hagens displayed dead bodies in exhibitions without their skin, for all to see- something never to have been done before.
Caitriona 