On Sketches

"Yes, I often make dessins preparatoires or esquisses for my works. First, I make very small sketches, like this one, about 15 x 15 cm, so that I can grasp the composition of my painting in its final form. Then I try to transfer this initial sketch to the given surface of the painting. I place a sheet of paper on the canvas and draw the sketch with any repentirs. Next, I use a very fine paper, papier riz to be precise, for the final sketch. I transfer this sketch to the canvas using carbon paper. Afterwards, I give tone to the forms. My paintings come about in a somewhat strange way. When there is a certain intensity or peculiarity at some moment in life, images take shape in my mind and I endeavour to transfer these to the canvas. At first, vague shapes and colours appear that gradually begin to acquire form." This is how Nikos Engonopoulos himself once described the first stages of his work, and what appears in this section are those intermediate sketches that adapt the initial composition to the chosen surface of the painting.

In order that the creative process followed with such punctiliousness and precision by the surrealist Engonopoulos may become clearer, corresponding preliminary esquisses and the final painting have, in several cases, been placed face to face. The preliminary sketches, which he called bozzetti, were usually small in size and done in ink, crayon, watercolour or wax crayon. They were used in the composition of the subject and the choice of colours and, in their final form, can evidently be regarded as the first work itself. The final work was, as a rule, oil on canvas, cotton or linen, as taught by Parthenis, in various characteristic sizes during the five decades of his work.

Following the coloured preparatory sketch, Engonopoulos would sketch the subject in charcoal and pencil on ordinary paper or papier riz, the dimensions of which were equal to those of the canvas, making at the same time the necessary repentirs, adjustments, corrections and additions so that the composition would acquire the desired scale. He drew the lines in pencil, using fine charcoal from linden or willow for the outlines in order to create chiaroscuro effects. This sketch was, in a manner of speaking, the final one and as such was transferred as faithfully as possible to the canvas and into colour. [...]