Drawing instructions and prompts

Instructions and prompts for the education and exercise of those with artistic talent via drawing and painting.

Drawing instructions and prompts.

To her grace X of house X:

The two of us discussed earlier me potentially giving you some prompts of various things you could practicing drawing. I am glad to deliver this promise to your grace, and I hope your grace uses these various ideas I present to sharpen your craft.

If you want to know what to draw, you must first learn what different kinds of things can be drawn. I will now digress into the traditional hierarchy of genres for painting, which will also serve as the organizing principle for the rest of this bout de papier. Anything mentioned can serve as inspiration.

Before I get into specifics, I would like your grace to know that you can always draw mermaids to your heart’s content. Almost everyone likes mermaids. I only mention them now, because I am unsure as to how to properly classify them.

There are six traditional genres of painting, and they are arranged in the hierarchy of genres as such: history painting, portrait painting, genre painting, landscape painting, animal painting, and the still life.

History painting, or the grand genre, depicts a moment in a narrative. The narrative can be from the Bible, Greek mythology, or a nation’s history. As your grace can see from the inclusion of Greek mythology, it is not literal facts from the past, but the Latin “istoria” which means a story. The important element is that it is a moment in a narrative, so these paintings usually include a large number of known characters.

The Portrait is a painting of an individual.

Genre painting, or the petit genre, depicts aspects of everyday life. It will show many people, but they are not named characters. They are typically ordinary people going through daily life. They are not named, but many a painter in this genre has based persons on who they have met in person.

Landscapes include skyscapes, cloudscapes, moonscapes, seascapes, riverscapes, cityscapes, townscapes, hardscapes, inscapes, or battle scenes.

Animal painting depicts animals, and was often used by scientists.

The still life is a painting of inanimate subject matter, which may include commonplace objects that are either natural^[1] or man-made^[2].

I can discuss history painting in terms of the Bible, various mythologies, and national history, but firstly I can give your grace a quote from Joseph Campbell about the archetypal Hero’s Journey: “A hero venture forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” – Campbell 1949, p. 30.

With your grace drawing from biblical passages, I recommend reading the book of Gensis and the first twenty chapters of the book of Exodus; there is a lot of material to work with there. Just read and then draw accordingly. Also try to draw the tabernacle, ark of the covenant, the lampstand, etc. based on how it is described in Exodus chapters twenty-five through twenty-eight. There is also some particularly interesting stuff at the end in Revelation, among many other things in-between. Honestly, I would tire me out trying to write about everything in the Bible that could possibly serve as artistic inspiration – it would probably be even longer than the Bible itself! Just read it for yourself, your grace, and be inspired.

Another main constituent of history painting is Greek mythology. Both of Homer’s masterpieces – the Iliad and the Odyssey – should serve as fertile inspiration. If you want to avoid pagan deities, I am glad to inform you that the Iliad, and to a large extent the Odyssey as well, focus on human heroes instead of the divine. Your grace may also explore Norse mythology, dependent on your discretion, leisure, and morals.

I also request that your grace draw the classic trope from almost every known folklore: the knight saves a princess from a dragon.

As for national history, there are several dramatic and epic moments of our people that I may briefly outline:

The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes sail to Britain and establish colonies.

King Arthur defeats the Saxons.

William the Conqueror defeats Harold Godwinson in the battle of Hastings (1066).

The usurper Stephen is crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey (1135).

King John signs the Magna Carta proposed by the Barons (1215).

Edward II is forced out of England by his wife, Isabella the she-wolf of France.

Edward III comes of age and hangs Roger Mortimer.

Henry V wins the battle of Agincourt.

Elizabeth I is crowned Queen of England.

Jamestown is founded. The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery land in Chesapeake Bay.

The Mayflower lands at Plymouth.

King Charles I tries (and fails) to arrest five members of parliament on January 4th, 1642.

King William & Queen Mary assent to the English Bill of Rights (1689).

These events may require some research on your grace’s part. I think once you start on these subjects, your grace may find others that you are interested in and can pursue on your own.

A portrait is of an individual. Firstly, I will give your grace some pseudo neo-Jungian psycho babble, and then secondly, I will give your grace some historical persons. Generally, your grace can attempt to draw a portrait of any person, real or imaginative, as your grace pleases.

The main archetypes are Sage, Innocent, Explorer, Ruler, Creator, Caregiver, Magician, Hero, Outlaw, Lover, Jester, and Regular Orphan. The Sage is the Wise Old Man who is a mentor. The Innocent is the Child who is a Dreamer. The Explorer is a pioneer who goes on adventures. The Ruler includes the King and the Chief. The Creator is a visionary entrepreneur. The Caregiver is a guardian angel who heals. The Magician is an innovative alchemist and engineer. The Hero is an athletic liberating warrior who rescues. Also, what would a Hero’s wife look like? The Outlaw is a rebellious maverick. The Lover is a romantic companion and matchmaker. The Jester is an entertaining clown, who may be a shapeshifting provocateur. The Regular Orphan is an everyman citizen – your “average joe”. And then there is the maiden, the mother, and the widow.

Three great men of classical antiquity are Alexander the Great, Julius Cæsar, and Augustus. Of the English royal family, there is William the Conqueror, his son Henry I, his daughter Empress Matilda, her husband Geoffrey of Anjou, their son Henry II, his great-grandson Edward I the Hammer of the Scots, his grandson Edward III, his great-grandson the heroic Henry V, his cousin Richard Duke of York, the frugal Tudor king Henry VII, and the glorious Queen Elizabeth I. Of early American colonists there is Massachusetts Governor William Bradford, Captain John Smith, and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Your grace may also do portraits of your family. This can include your father, your mother, your brothers, your sisters, your grandparents, etc.

Some scenes from everyday life that I would like your grace to attempt to draw for the petit Genre include the banquet, the hunt, the trial in a courtroom, the wedding, the matchmaker matchmaking, a hairstylist’s beauty salon, a horse stall, the dinner table, and children playing outside.

Landscapes can be of either real places or imagined ones.

For animal paintings I recommend attempting to draw the horse, the dog, the cat, the bull, the hind, the hart, the boar, the wolf, the bear, and the eagle. Some fictitious creatures your grace may attempt to draw, if your grace pleases, would be dragons, elves, giants, griffins, trolls, and unicorns.

For the still life, find an interesting object in your grace’s room and draw. Once your grace has completed that, go outside to your backyard and find an interesting object and do a still life of that.

Hopefully these digressions shall keep your grace busy with practicing the craft and art. Learn how to draw well. May God grow your talent, acumen, and favor.

Sincerely,

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[1] Examples include food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.

[2] Examples include drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc.