1480
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Apprentices Fighting is a 1480 ink by Martin Schongauer, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows two men fighting in a small room. One guy is swinging a stick at the other, who’s ducking and clutching his head. A stool with a bowl of food and a hat on the floor suggest a messy, hurried scene. The lines are sharp but simple, with no fancy colors—just black and white. The artist used tiny parallel lines to build up shadows, a trick called cross-hatching. It makes the figures look solid even though the drawing is small. Next, check out how engraving works to see how this kind of sketch was made.
Martin Schongauer, also known as Martin Schön or Hübsch Martin by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter.
See the richer artist page
