Bargue Plate 01

Towards the end of 2013 I stumbled across the Bargue course of drawing (look up the Charles Bargue Drawing Course on the web). I’ve always loved absolute realism in art and the object of the course is to take the student through a series of copying sessions before moving on to still life, portraiture and beyond. This makes it sound simple but it isn’t. The course takes years, demands absolute accuracy and copying a drawing like the one above will take many hours using the techniques taught on the course.

This is my first attempt at a simple Bargue plate. It took three or four hours to complete and it’s rubbish. You can see the differences between the master copy on the left and my copy on the right. The model’s left arm is totally different, the front of the loin cloth is at a different angle etc. etc. However, it’s what I want to do (for now!) and I’m going to stick with it. Wish me luck!