1844
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
The Prodigal Son is a 1844 ink by Honoré Daumier, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a lone figure walking away, his back turned. The lines are loose and quick, almost like hurried notes. His hair and clothing are drawn with rough, overlapping strokes, giving him a shapeless, wandering look. The artist used ink with a little wash to shade in the figure, making some areas darker. The paper looks old, with faint stains and faint pencil marks in the background. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows with layers of lines.
Honoré-Victorin Daumier was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.
See the richer artist page
