WAN Lai Na (Nina) talks on de Ryckere's Head of A Dying Man

Bernard de Ryckere, Head of A Dying Man, 1563

1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS

The drawing is called 'Head of a dying man' and it is drawn by Bernard de Ryckere in 1563. The medium of the drawing is chalks on paper. It is obviously a figure drawing and it depicts half of a dying man lying on a bed and shows a low-spirited and tired facial expression. The purpose of the drawing may be divided into two parts. First, it records accurately the appearance of a dying man, such as the angular face, half opened eyes and mouth. Also, it express the artist's emotion or memory. I just guess that the artist really saw the scene in real life and the scene impressed him very deeply, so he drew it on the paper in order to express his personal feeling.

2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL

About the line quality in the drawing, there are both thick and thin, smooth and rough, but it is mainly focus on the latter. And the types of line mainly emphaize on flowing, feathery and soft, but also includes some heavy lines. Since the theme of the drawing is about a dying man, so the painter uses such thin lines to depict a pale human face and show a sense of weak and lifeless. On the other hand, the painter uses rough lines to depict the shadow which makes a great contrast to the man. It seems that the background is much more stronger than the dying man.

In terms of the tone, the drawing is mainly depicted in black and white, and a little bit yellow colour, so black and white as the major tone of the image. It creates a gloomy and lifeless mood which mach up with the theme. There is a strong contrast between light and dark, such as the deep shadow behind comparing to the light head. Also, we can see other small contrast full of the drawing, such as the parts of neck and face. The artist describes the contrast between light and shade in detail so as to make the object more three-dimensional and show a sense of reality.

About the shape and form of this picture, it is clear to show a half of a dying man lying on a bed. We can see every detailed clearly, such as the angular face, low-spirited eye contact, half-open mouth and so on. As I mentioned before, the artist uses detailed lines and light and dark tone to generate a three-dimentional effect and make the object more real since the dying man just like in front of the audience and looking at us hardily. Such realistic form is effective to arouse people's emotional effect.

The drawing is a rough texture because of its sketchy quality and the prominent heavy lines, so it creates a harsh textured rather than a smooth surface. Especially, the artist uses rough brushstrokes to draw the shadows, using tight and dense brushstrokes to draw the detail of the object. As audience, we can see clearly the contour and construction of the human body, such as the pulse and bone.

About the composition of the drawing, the painter enlarges the head of the man and depicts it in the centre of the drawing. It shows a shallow and given space. This type of composition is effective to draw audience's attention since we are force to focus on the main and only one object in the drawing. Moreover, it is easy to express the emotion and impress the audience. Because the head of a dying man is shown clearly in the centre, so we may have a deep feeling through his facial expression.

As regards the rhythm in this picture, it is not a strong rhythm, but a weak and even no rhythm could be seen. As I mentioned before, the painter uses soft lines to depict the figure, so as to create a sense of inanimate and lifeless. It is impossible to see a strong rhythm through the lines since a dying man is not active and dynamic.

In terms of the perspective, it certainly helps to create the illusion of three-dimensional space. The space in this picture is narrow and small because the artist uses close-up to show the head of a dying man which lead us focusing on the facial detail. Moreover, according to the man's eyesight, he seems to look at the upper areas and the viewers just like standing to look at him from a high angle. Therefore, it creates a down to up perspective.

All elements of the pictures work together in harmony. Although there are contrast between both lines and tones, they are linking together in a very coherent and comfortable way. For example, the coordinating of light and dark generally creates a dull felling which gives us the sense of unitary and harmonious.

3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

Form the content of the drawing, I feel sad and sorrow because it is a scene depicted of a dying man. I can feel the pain and hopeless through his appearance, such as low-spirited eyes, half opened mouth, angular face and body. As I mentioned above, the use of light and dark contrast makes the object more three-dimensional and real, so the man just like in front of me and look at me hardily. Also, the tone of the drawing is dull which generates a feeling of unhappy. But on the other hand, when I emphasize on other aspects of the drawing, it seems peaceful rather than painful. For example, the lines of the man are very smooth and soft and the whole drawing is harmonious in different aspects which can reduce the painful feeling to some extent. Perhaps I take my own passion into analyzing this picture since I think subjectively that when it comes to death, it must be sorrow or painful, but it can also be natural die rather than suffering from illness. Although the picture provides me with both negative and possitive feeling, I think the unhappy emotion is more stronger than the other one.

Now I would like to talk about what does the drawing express. The drawng seems a record of a real situation because the painter uses tight brushstrokes to make the drawing more accurate and detailed, even the pulse can be seen in the drawing. Also the scene just like real because of the use of light and dark contrast. Furthermore, the painter express his sympathy and pity towards the object in the drawing. The evidence is that the dying man is not such sinister in appearance, but quite peaceful. Also, painter's compassion are fully reflected on the harmony of the whole picture.

In my opinion, the picture is moving and thought-provoking since it moves audience's emotion and provokes thought on the issue of death in terms of its general tone and feeling. The painter enlarges the head of a dying man in the centre of the drawing in order to catch our attention and generate certain kind of emotion which are pity and mercy. Also, the picture reminds me of the issue of death. What is the feeling when we are dying? What is the circumstance after death? What does death mean? And many question aroused in my mind.


Reference:

Tania Kovats, Drawing book: a survey of drawing: the primary means of expression, London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007