Drawing Closer

Drawing Closer: Four Hundred Years of Drawing from the RISD Museum, the interactive digital catalog accompanying the exhibition of the same name, invites readers to consider 67 drawings from multiple perspectives, with a focus on how and why they were made. Interwoven sections highlight the most common drawing materials and techniques employed by artists during the early modern period (roughly between 1400 and 1800) and some of the purposes drawings served both in the artist’s studio and the world outside it. Sections on pen and ink, brush and wash, chalk, and color explore the distinctive characteristics of each medium and the range of effects they produced when handled by different practitioners, with sections on observation, process, and humor further examining making and function. Made possible by a lead grant from the Getty Foundation, this publication was edited by Jamie Gabbarelli, with additional contributions by Emily Banas, Dominic Bate, Gina Borromeo, Wai Yee Chiong, Jan Howard, Maureen C. O’Brien, and Elizabeth A. Williams.