Here is a quick close up of one of the drawings next to the plate drawing. And again the one on the left is the original plate and the one in the right is my drawing.

As I promised i will post all my progress from the Bargue-Gerome Drawing Course, here we go. Plate 1.1 from the Course completed in about 5 hrs and as i have no instructor they do have blemishes but after 5 hrs looking at the same thing almost anything will, i'm using Strathmore recycled paper with HB and a bit of 2B pencils. The one on the left is the original plate and the one in the right is my drawing. I tried to match the thickness of the charcoal that was used in the original with my pencils, some were successful and some were not, but all critics are welcome.

This beautiful painting by Jean-Leon Gerome resides at the Met in NY.
I love it, it takes an incredible use of brush strokes and tones to make a believable stone carving look as if its coming alive, its also a look into the life of an artist in his studio, his dedication to his art but also the hope for more.

Jacques-Louis David
1748 – 1825

My favorite painter, a painter in the neoclassical style, to some the greatest painter of his time, but i would say the greatest political painter of all time, his power to express anything with his paintings is unparalleled, be it with hues and shadows (The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons, 1789), with allegory (The Oath of the Horatii, 1784) or just plain realism (The Death of Marat, 1793) his message was delivered. I am not political so his personal views are not my interest but his artwork has an incredible feel to realism and conveyed the message to the point of having a major impact in the french revolution.
The video above is a BBC program that focused on 8 artist its called "The power of art" by Simon Schama. Although i don't totally agree with some of his comments the show is very comprehensive and gives a extended insight on his life as well as his paintings and the impact they had on the french society. I have added the 1st part of the 6 part video above, but if interested in seeing the whole show they can be easily found on youtube.com.

I have managed to get my hands on a copy of the Bargue-Gérôme Drawing Course book and as my official entry into the art world I will be taking the course á la Van Gogh (who took the course 1 1/2 times). Unfortunately i will have no instructors and as a family man i don't have the time or financial means to pay for instruction, but i do have my love for art and inspiration that i know will take my art to the next level someday. I will make posts of all my progress on this blog with images from the book next to mine. As some images are small in the book, i have made copies of them blown up to 150% and i will be using 11 x 14 paper with pencils from HB to about 6B (depends on darkness i want to achieve). My course drawing posts will come slowly as the major parts of my day are dedicated to work and my kids which are 3 and 5 years of age, but i will welcome all sorts of critics and hope that all your critics are sincere, as i hope to achieve the best images that i can produce.

In the 1860's France was overrun by the poor quality work coming from all art students including those coming from the famed school Ecole des Beaux Arts, Gerome a teacher in the school was asked to create a systematic way to improve the art, he partnered with Bargue a well known lithographer to create this course. The course started as a 2 section course which was to teach students about line and tone, how to perfect the way of three dimensional form, and also to bring them back to the time when teaching classical beauty in greek and roman painting and sculpture was considered the greatest height in art. Most of the actual drawings were created by students and friends of Gerome and then were passed on to Bargue who made lithography plates of them for mass printing. The 3rd section of the drawing was created by Bargue alone for unknown reasons and was publish around the 1870's. The Course enjoyed great success being used in all ateliers and schools for about 30 years until the impressionist movement started.
The course was almost lost through time until a full set of the 197 plates was discovered in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Now, thanks to the efforts of Gerald Ackerman and Graydon Parrish the plates have been published as a book and has enjoyed a renaissance. Although still relatively hard to find, it is being used to teach atelier drawing courses in Europe and the US.

Charles Bargue
c. 1826/1827- 1883

Mostly remembered for his drawing course "Cours de dessin", one of the most influential drawing courses ever created in collaboration with Jean-Léon Gérôme.
Bargue was a well known lithographer as well as a painter who some suggest was a student of Gérôme, but there is no definitive truth to that. They did work closely to the point were his paintings were influenced by Gérôme with his oriental and historical scenes as well as his tonal color usage that bring all his characters to life. But by far his most grandest accomplishment or better said his most revered are the lithographs from the "Cours de dessin".

Jean Léon Gérôme.
1824 - 1904.
One of my favorite painters and to me one of the best realist painters to ever use a brush, his mastery over different textures is enviable.
here's a video of some of his works.