More about Van Gogh and his drawings and drawing techniques

One of my most popular posts - on a perennial basis - since I started this blog is one about Van Gogh: Drawing media and techniques which was published in February 2007 as part of one of my very first learning projects recorded on this blog.

This 'resources for artists' post summarises:

• what the 2007 post covers
• new information about Van Gogh's drawings, swing materials and drawing techniques made available since 2007

"Garden with Flowers" (August 1888, Arles) by Vincent Van Gogh

Reed-pen and ink, Height: 61 cm (24 in); Width: 49 cm (19.2 in)

Van Gogh: Drawing media and techniques  (2007)

In summary this post focuses on 

• Van Gogh's drawing materials (pencil, pen and ink, prints, brush and colour) and 
• how they influenced his techniques and style.

New Information about Van Gogh and drawing

What follows was mainly published AFTER my blog post from 2007. It's not comprehensive but provides a good overview of what's been added to resources in recent years - and that includes some of the Wikipedia information!

Cafe Terrace at Night (Sept 1888, Arles) by Vincent Van Gogh

chalk, reed pen, India ink and graphite on laid paper

Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection

This post lists links to more information about Van Gogh and the way he drew

• Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890): The Drawings | Metropolitan Museum of Art - which held the iconic exhibition of his drawings just before I wrote my first blog post (see Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. See on MetPublications)
• Catalog of all Van Gogh's work - which includes his drawings | Van Gogh Gallery - except to my mind this is incomplete with respect to the drawings (if you search by media) - or the descriptive identifiers are incomplete
• List of Drawings by Vincent Van Gogh | Wikipedia - ordered by year and then by catalogue number.     
• Drawings by Vincent Van Gogh | Wikipedia - with sub-sections related to the location of 
• where drawings were created
• which museum they are in now
• Portrait drawings by Vincent van Gogh‎ | Wikipedia
• Missing Van Gogh Artwork | Van Gogh Galleries - which includes numerous drawings and images taken when they were still in circulation
• Van Gogh Drawings in Arles | Foundation Vincent Van Gogh Arles

For the first three years of his career, he worked mainly as a draughtsman. A good command of drawing was traditionally considered to be an essential basis for painting, and Van Gogh cherished that principle. As a result, he became an excellent draughtsman long before his paintings started to show real promise. Van Gogh Drawings in Arles | Foundation Vincent Van Gogh Arles

This is a video of Van Gogh sketches - Vincent van Gogh: A collection of 1185 sketches (HD)

These are articles about individual works

• Pencil drawing of old man identified as Van Gogh work | The Guardian (2021) 
• How Van Gogh found his ‘clarity of touch’ with this drawing of his own painting, La Mousmé | Christies (2021)

The bold, contrasting colours of the painting are replaced by a plethora of different lines, dots and hatches. These achieve an alternative form of tonal modelling, as compelling as anything offered by pigment.

• Van Gogh's lost drawings: unconvincing, but does anyone care in a post-truth art world? | The Guardian (2016) Jonathan Jones - "The Van Gogh museum says the 65 newly discovered drawings are fakes – these flaccid sketches certainly lack the spirit of the artist’s greatest period"
• Newly discovered 'Van Gogh' drawings labelled imitations by museum | The Guardian (2015) - "Row breaks out as Van Gogh Museum rebuts academic’s claims she has found dozens of sketchbook drawings by artist"

These are articles related to Van Gogh's use of Reed Pens and ink

• Van Gogh and the Reed Pen at DVSA! | Barry Coombs - about making reed pend and using them in class
• Van Gogh's Reed Pens | Augen Blick (2017)

Blogging about Van Gogh's Drawings

Generally overshadowed by the fame and familiarity of his paintings, Vincent van Gogh's more than 1,100 drawings remain comparatively unknown, although they are among his most ingenious and striking creations. Van Gogh engaged drawing and painting in a rich dialogue, which enabled him to fully realise the creative potential of both means of expression.

These 2012 blog posts- with lots of images - can be found on Art and Artists blog by Paul Webb.

• Vincent van Gogh drawings - part 1
• Vincent van Gogh drawings - part 2
• Vincent van Gogh drawings - part 3
• Vincent van Gogh drawings - part 4
• Vincent van Gogh drawings - part 5

Books and catalogues about Van Gogh's Drawings (2007-2021)

• Van Gogh Drawings: Influences & Innovations (2015)

Vincent van Gogh concentrated on drawing at the beginning of his artistic career. In fact, for the first three years he did little else, convinced as he was that it would give him the foundation he needed to master the art of painting. As a result, his talent as a draughtsman emerged long before he became known as a painter. But drawing remained an important part of his artistic production, and the outstanding mastery demonstrated by his works on paper makes them an equal counterpart to his paintings.