A cast study from 2012

This was one of my earliest cast studies, completed over 5 days at Sarum Studio. It is a sculpture of Niccolò da Uzzano (1359 - 1431) an Italian politician, the Gonfaloniere of Justice in the government of Florence. The original sculpture, attributed to Donatello, is in the Bargello Museum in Florence. I spent a considerable amount of time pushing the shapes around during the early stages. The cast itself has a rather enigmatic, inscrutable expression - wry and calculating but weary - and difficult to capture.

There were a number of 'happy accidents' behind the success of this drawing. I wasn't fully aware at the time of the importance of edges in creating the illusion of form, but I seem to have controlled them rather well. The drawing also has just enough reflected light to give the subject three dimensionality, without breaking the hierarchy of values. 

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