Many amateurs, and I am no exception, in their activities are not inspired by close people with the same interest, but by “monuments” of the past or the present. Moreover, their physiological lack of any “creative” restraint is well known. As for the illustration, my main interest, it is then practically impossible to ignore the Masters of the “golden period” at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I prefer pencil, china and watercolor; the fact is that study and curiosity eventually led me to Arthur Rackham, an artist heir to the great “romantics”, virtuoso of color and watercolor in particular. Browsing the web there are many attempts to reconstruct his technique (I point out for everyone William Stout); it will be because of my limits of understanding but the many articles on the subject do not correspond equally to clarity and comprehensibility. At least as far as I am concerned, I understand very well how Rackham came to the china definition; a different matter with regard to colours and watercolor. From the works one can only guess the absolute personality of the technique adopted, perhaps a technique “to the imprint” all played on a great manual skill, very little transmitted by theory, acquired over time I don’t de-democratic and I keep thinking like I’m a Rackham. Moreover, according to an ambitious project, conceived to give a common thread to the hours I dedicate and dedicate to drawing: thirty-three illustrations taken from Dante’s “Inferno”. This is a ‘pastime’ which is already widening the boundaries within which I intended to contain it. Even wanting to retrace the “canti” in a “fantasy” key, and therefore without so many textual constraints, the complexity of the Comedy is requiring a lot of study, it conditions the composition, it constantly slams against a starting point of mine: to do as if Gustave Dorè had never existed, avoid it and avoid its suggestions, draw “different things”. As an amateur, I am a … Professional! Then I pursue atmospheres at Rackham, ignoring illustrator French and perhaps seeking solace in an un mythical but mystical and “free” Dante “illustrator”, the English poet William Blake. This blog wants to be, if not only, the diary of this “chase”. There will then be pages dedicated to the results step by step and perhaps pages dedicated to the most demanding work in progress. It will be more a matter of resisting. Until next time.
Very good. Congratuliations!!!