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Saturday, April 16, 2011

French Fries and Potato Chips

In learning to cook Asian style, one of the first steps is the proper cutting up of vegetables.  The belief is that more of the vegetables' energy is preserved if they are cut in the direction in which they grow rather than across their path, something like the cutting of french fries as opposed to the cutting of potato chips.

A parallel exists in shading drawings with linear hatching.  This detail of a sketch by Titian illustrates how the hatching describes the forms and at the same time suggests a flow of energy through them.



This is a more elaborate example of the same thing:



Next is a life drawing with the hatching cutting across the upright form of the torso, creating a relatively static impression.




This torso in another life drawing employs hatching which flows up and down the length of the figure.  The result is a felt current of energy along its axis.


No one conveyed more power and animation in his work than Michelangelo.





 

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