two artists that exemplify mastery of detailed drawing

My first artist is Andrea Del Verrocchio born between 1434 and 1437c -to 1488 in Florence in to a artist family.  Verrocchio was counted among the best draughtsmen of his time (Hemingway). His Head of a Woman is a line drawing in black charcoal on paper which has acquired a buff tone during the centuries. Observe the decisive line with which the hair and its ornaments are drawn but wonder whether the line was used tin the shading of the face. The features are draw in charcoal, this was them rubbed down with a stump or finger to create a greater subtlety of tone - a method which most art student have adopted but which has never produced a result comparable with this study by Verrocchio.  He has softened the face shading to suggest the texture and tone of flesh with highlights which he has emphasised with white also with the texture of the hair.  (from the book The Magic of Line by Percy V Bradshaw).

The next drawing by Verrocchio is a design for a monument in the form of the covered bowl surmounted by a figure of Justice, as a design for a funeral monument to Andrea Vendramin commissioned by Vendramin while his was in Venice the original  drawing in lead pencil has been covered in pen by a later hand which may have modified the main shape (V and A Museum)

William Albert Green 1907 to 1984

Green began drawing as a teenager using pencil and water colour then turned to pen and ink mainly concentrating  on historic buildings in the Mildlands counties then  later on further a field. His method was to make a pencil sketch on location (by bicycle or public transport)  from which he would later trace the outline on to cartridge paper and complete the drawing using Indian ink and a fine mapping pen (wag@ewgren.org.uk).