Architects draw

Page 40

F IGURE 4 facing page

F IGURE 5 right

Two figures nest in close proximity in the center portion of the page. Furnishings and architectural notations contain the figures in physically and psychologically differentiated postures. The left foreground table top, supporting a cushion taken from a sofa, counters their central location. While not a structural device in reality, the cushion’s cut-out curve and the shadow cast upon it echo and support the woman’s hand, suspended loosely at the wrist from her outthrust arm. The man’s darkened horizontal shoe supports and emphasizes his more upright posture.

The chair’s understated wire legs contrast with the sitter’s weighted posture, creating an intriguing tension. A vertical seam, starting at the bottom right edge of the model’s left trouser leg jumps to the vertical edge of the chair back and is picked up again as a fabric fold just under the chin. This vertical cut counters the figure/chair’s tilted thrust toward the left edge of the page. Given the inward focus of the model—eyes closed, intent on his own music—the offkilter posture is psychologically accurate.

F IGURE 6 left

The drawing is a witty riff on legs and framing. The top edge of the frame cuts off the two figures at about elbow height. All that appears of the standing figure at left is one leg and a portion of arm and hand. That leg obscures and substitutes for a chair leg. Similarly, the right leg of the seated woman conceals a second chair leg. What is created is a four-legged creature, three of whose legs are human. Dark horizontal bands echo the composition’s framing; the distant baseboard links up with the miniskirt across the model’s lap, repeated again by vertical strips that represent the chair seat and rung. At the base the dark shadow shape mirrors the triangle created by the woman’s legs, also echoed by the smaller triangle her high-heeled shoe creates meeting the floor.

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