This document contains summaries of 14 drawings by Henry Moore from 1977-1983. Moore used a variety of mark-making techniques to depict forms, including loose lines, hatching, dots and dashes. Shadows were indicated through tone, directional lines and changes in mark density. Moore often exaggerated shadows and varied mark length. He experimented with mixed media, collage and unusual perspectives. The summaries provide insight into Moore's drawing process and techniques for suggesting form.

2. Head of Alice 1981
It’s rather unrecognisable as a face as it’s very
subtle in how it hints facial features. For instance, it
is made up of random marks that makes no sense
to a face but would have shadows highlighting
around the shape of the face and also where the
eyes, nose and mouth are. I really like the eyes on
this drawing, as it’s incredibly simple and looks
more like an animals eye because of how round and
small it is.
I don’t fully understand the random marks of white
and orange but it might possibly suggest where a
light source is hitting the face as the shadows are
on the opposite side of the face.

3. Mother and Child 1977
Medium unknown
Similar to ‘TheTemptation of Saint Anthony’, this is a loose
sketch with rough scratchy lines, however has a lot of focused
detail in the baby’s face; suggesting that what Moore wanted
to learn in this drawing was the face of the baby. Moore
showed the form of the face with curved lines. He didn’t cover
the entire face in marks, only where there’s an obvious shadow.
In the figure behind the baby the woman’s hair has very untidy
lines that look as though they were done very quickly only to
suggest things, possibly suggesting less care about the
background and wanted to focus more on the child’s face. I find
that Moore might possibly of over exaggerated the shadows in
his drawings as it seems as though he uses them around the
focus to highlight it, and make it stand out on the paper.The
shadow marks curve around the head, drawing you to the
baby’s head instantly.

4. The Artist’s Hands 1977
Carbon line, pencil, charcoal, chalk on off white wove
Because I’m looking at hands in my studies I
found this drawing in particular very interesting.
It uses strong contrasting tones to form the
hands – again including a dark background. He
used a range of mark lengths depending on how
it would suit the hands. For instance, long lines
were used on the back of hands and background,
and short lines going around the fingers. I feel
like the hands are rather squared (very different
to the baby drawing) but this could be because
the marks are mainly straight.There are some
pale loose lines going across the hands as well,
which may help suggest the form of the
knuckles. Even though this appears to be a
rough sketch, Moore seemed to of payed more
attention to the smaller details such as the veins
on the hands.

5. Seated Mother and Child 1976
Chalk, wax crayon, watercolour wash,
gouache, ballpoint pen
This drawing caught my eye because of how it shows the direction of
shadows; long, largely gaped lines that go around the figure suggesting that
it’s coming out of the figure.Also like a few of the drawings I saw in ‘Raphael
to Renoir’ it uses block washes to help suggest the shadow with the lines.
There is also another type of mark making in this drawing to suggest shadow
(suggesting the darker clear shadow): short lines going vertical. Having
vertical lines contrast even more against the horizontal lines, separating them
even more from each other.
Also, like my drawings that I’ve done
that were inspired by Henry Moore,
this drawing of his includes a thick,
dark line around the figure.
One of my sketches from my
figure sketchbook

6. Reclining Mother and Child: Maquette IV 1979
Carbon line, ballpoint pen, charcoal (rubbed)
Different to the other mark making drawings
I’ve seen, this one uses rectangular lines
wrapping around the figure. I have seen this
drawing before in life drawing to help inspire
us in how to show form.This is an interesting
way to show form as Moore imagined what
these lines would of looked like if they would
of wrapped around these figures in real life. I
found that it was difficult to separate the
mother and child as there is limited shadow
and the lines used makes it look as though
they are joint together as some connect.
The shadow is a blurred mark, giving it a
slightly more realistic appearance compared to
the last drawing where the shadow was made
up of lines.

7. The Artist’s Feet:Two Studies 1976
Charcoal, ballpoint pen, wax crayon, watercolour on wove
Using mark making he showed the form of
feet and their dimension. He used mix
media for different tones: wax for the
lighter tones and ink for the darker tones.
The highlights and shadows are possibly
over exaggerated on the feet as there
doesn’t seem to be much tonal gradation,
only slight suggestions where there isn’t
any wax but shows the ink wash. Some of
the marks are close together showing both
tone and form but the marks on the lighter
parts of the feet are just showing the
structure of the feet.

8. Standing Figure:Architectural Background 1979
Charcoal, watercolour, chalk, ink, gouache,
collaged photograph on wove
Unlike all the other mark making drawings I’ve
come across this one uses a photograph.The
photograph merges with the drawing as marks
are drawn on it – like at the bottom of it.The
architectural background also fits with the rest
of the drawing due to its shape of being curved
but with some sharp angles.Again using lines
to show its form.
I may try out drawing with a photograph to see
what it’ll be like and whether it would work or
not. I believe that the photo can’t be on glossy
paper as pen probably won’t work on it, and
also it may be best to work on a black and
white photo so I could add washes of colour
easily.

9. The Artist’s Hands 1981
Pencil, ballpoint pen on Bockingford white wove
This sketch is really loose and rough but still
manages to clearly show the form of the hands
through marks. Like the ‘Reclining Mother and
Child: Maquette IV 1979’ it uses rectangular
lines that wrap around the hands showing its
structure. It also uses hatching which helps
with the shadows: shadows help show the form
as well.
I find it interesting in this drawing with how the
outline doesn’t always meet up, allowing the
marks to suggest the form.

10. Skeleton Figure 1982
Charcoal (rubbed) on white medium-weight wove
This drawing has a loose outline that repeats it’s
self: possibly adjusting the shape.There is thick
mark making on the study showing different
tones and direction.The marks also look rather
broken and textured reminding me of a
rubbing. I’m a bit confused by the light source of
this drawing as there is a dark shadow on the
background on the left but the bones are lit up
as well, but on the right side the background is
light but the bones have a dark shadow on it.

11. Idea for Sculpture: Standing Figure – Shell Skirt 1982
Charcoal, watercolour wash, gouache, ballpoint pen
on cream lightweight wove
I found the marks on this drawing interesting and I
have been doing something similar in my studies.
By using wax and watercolour wash to make marks
like this it can be slightly random as you don’t fully
know what the wax marks are going to look like
until you put the wash on – you only have a rough
idea.The marks Henry Moore created on the
bottom part of the figure still curves around the
shape whilst still going vertical – very different
compared to the other studies Moore had done.

12. Standing Figure: BackView 1982
Ballpoint pen, felt-tipped pen, wax crayon on cream lightweight
wove
Different to his other studies where the object would
only be semi covered in marks, this figure is completely
covered in hatching, making it very dark and rough in
texture.The scratchy hatching follows the shape of the
body still helping to show form. It is difficult however to
separate the limbs from the torso or each other as
Moore seemed to of treated it as the same thing with
only slight shadows suggesting that it’s separate.The
background uses thick lines to make a quick coverage
that helps the figure fit in instead of just floating –
Suggesting that the background isn’t a focus.

13. TreeTrunk 1982
Charcoal, pastel, conte crayon, ballpoint pen on cream
lightweight wove
This is a very different approach to drawing the form
of a tree. UnlikeVincent van Gogh who drew lines
going around the tree horizontally, Henry Moore
decided to draw the lines vertically, following the
bark.This way of showing form still worked as the
marks curved over bumps of the tree. It reminds me a
lot like flames with the way it climbs up. He also
showed tone by making the darker areas dense with
more than one medium and the lighter areas with
thin lines and limited marks.

14. Leopard 1983
Charcoal, pastel, ballpoint pen on white medium-weight wove
This drawing uses different marks compared to the
other drawings as it focuses more on dots and
dashes.These marks were most likely influenced by
the pattern on the leopards fur, however instead of
just keeping it on the leopard, Moore combined it
onto the background as well making it look like
camouflage for the leopard. Even though the
drawing is covered in small dashes there are still lines
curving around the limbs, suggesting that he still
wanted to show the form of the animal. He also used
very dark tones like he usually did with his other
drawings – It seems that he was interested in
creating a dark atmosphere, maybe influenced by his
London Underground sketchbooks he produced of
people taking shelter from the bombs.

15. Overall, from looking at these drawings done by Henry Moore I’ve learnt and been inspired
to try out a few techniques and ways of mark making that I’ve never considered before. Such
as using collage with mark making to make a mixed media composition, using the same
marks as the object for the background to make a camouflage, using rectangular lines to
wrap around the object to help suggest its structure, and using vertical lines to show form.
From all this I’ve found that it is very beneficial for me to research things in depth as it allows
me to know more things with my subject and improve with my work.
Henry Moore: Complete Drawings 1977-81Volume 5
Henry Moore: Complete Drawings 1982-83Volume 6