The Getty example above was likely cut at an early date from a larger sheet we don’t know when.įrom the weight of the ink, we can see how the parallel lines that give shadow to the crazy hair were begun at the bottom and traveled upwards, tapering at the ends. Leonardo generally grouped a number of such “physiognomic expressions,” portraying extremes of expression and facial features, on a single sheet of paper. It’s about half the size of an iPhone, but is an unforgettable image. The result can be seen in one of the smallest drawings in the Getty Museum’s collection (shown above), which is also one of the best known. The hatched parallel lines Leonardo used to shade and render his designs slope precisely this way. If you’re left-handed, you’ll probably sketch lines from top left to lower right.

If you’re right-handed, you’ll probably draw strokes from the top right of the sheet to the lower left. How does the angle of a line indicate whether an artist is left- or right-handed? Well, imagine that you’re asked to shade in a square on a sheet of paper with hatching, or closely set parallel lines. Leonardo was one of the greatest draftsmen in history, and his handedness left a little-known trace in his drawings: the slope of his lines. And mancino…Italian slang for “lefty.” While the historical biases and slurs against left-handers-sinister, gauche, and so on-run through my mind, I confess that what I first think of when it comes to left-handedness is Ned Flanders’s Leftorium on The Simpsons.

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