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Inspirations
There are many, many artists whose work inspires. The one that pushed my drive for learning how to draw was Michelangelo. As cliché as it is to admire his work, I loved then and will always love studying his work. And my inspiration ran even deeper after reading The Agony and the Ecstasy (by Irving Stone) which was given to me by my aunt.
I had been studying the many drawings and sketches Michelangelo created during his long apprenticeships. At the time, I was trying to learn how to draw realistic rendering of the typical subjects like still life and every day objects. I filled sketchbooks with my sketches and repeated drawing the same thing over and over again to achieve better final pieces.
Reading that book triggered something in me – something that made me want to keep going. Something that made me realise that copying the masters is one way of studying their lines and strokes, their technique of creating depth and injecting life into a drawing. The journey Michelangelo took to hone his craft, as an artist, as a sculptor as well as an architect and painter was, and remains, awe inspiring to me.
I began using his sketches and drawings as my study material. The image of the Damned Soul, part of the composition of hell in the Sistine Chapel, was one I drew in many different versions: pencil, charcoal, ink, woodcut, etching. I grew to know every every line and shade – every curve and minute detail. It taught me so much. I learned to understand how to use light and shading, how to ‘sculpt’ with lines and space.