The Blessed in Paradise with the Virgin and St. John the Baptist before God
1590
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1590
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This drawing is packed with tiny, swirling figures in brown ink. They fill the whole page, some standing, some floating, all tangled together. The background looks like a stormy sky or maybe a crowd of faces, all drawn in quick, sketchy lines. The figures near the center seem calmer—one holds a staff, another looks upward. The artist used layers of ink to build up shadows, making the lines look almost three-dimensional. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists create depth with lines.
