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These are six of my drawings from the day, each pose for up to 20 to 30 minutes.
Friday, 29 January 2010
New Year's Day at St Ives
I started my 2010 life drawing activities on New Year's Day whilst staying with friends in St Ives in the south west corner of England. I spent the day at the St Ives School of Painting and reflected on the long line of eminant artists who had connections with the town: Turner, Whistler, Sickert, Nicholson, Alfred Wallis to name but a few, together with the sculptor Barbara Hepworth and the potter Bernard Leach. We occupied a well used studio, windows overlooking the sea, atmospheric, layered with past artisitic endeavours. I enjoyed the poses our model Kate created for us. The first drawing, above, is a warm up sketch to get a feel for the pose: 'Kate Reclining at St Ives 1'
Towards a life drawing philosophy: Part 1
I chose ‘PATHS ARE MADE BY WALKING’ as the title of my blog because I had used these words in a slightly longer version, i.e. “Travellers, there is no path, paths are made by walking” as an inspirational directive for the past three and a half decades of my working and home life.
I discovered that spiritual satisfaction could be achieved if one was in control of one’s own philosophy and actions. I also discovered that to achieve anything, in unfamiliar areas, one just had to make a move in order to start a process off, after which the excitement of discovery through experimentation and trial-and-error became a fascination and a satisfying and fulfilling way of proceeding. I have now found, that in the act and processes of life drawing, this same approach applies, and the same philosophy encourages my way forward as I create my path and continue my journey into the unfamiliar discipline of drawing from a live model. Each drawing is another stride!
The quote is taken from Antonio Machado.
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the literary movement known as the Generation of '98.
Antonio Machado (1875-1939) was born in Seville and moved to Madrid at the age of eight. He studied in Paris where he worked as a translator, and met French poets. He became a schoolteacher. He returned to Spain and taught at Soria in Castile, from 1907, where he met his wife Leonor. Tragically she died very young, and in 1912 he left Soria for Baeza in Andalusia. Loyal to the Republic he left Spain for France when Catalonia fell, and died there in February 1939. He is acknowledged as Spain’s finest poet .
'Wanderer, your footsteps are the road,
and nothing more;
wanderer, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
By walking one makes the road,
and upon glancing behind one sees the path
that never will be trod again.
Wanderer, there is no road.
Only wakes upon the sea.'
Proverbios y cantares XXIX" [Proverbs and Songs 29], Campos de Castilla (1912); trans. Betty Jean Craige in Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Louisiana State University Press, 1979)
I discovered that spiritual satisfaction could be achieved if one was in control of one’s own philosophy and actions. I also discovered that to achieve anything, in unfamiliar areas, one just had to make a move in order to start a process off, after which the excitement of discovery through experimentation and trial-and-error became a fascination and a satisfying and fulfilling way of proceeding. I have now found, that in the act and processes of life drawing, this same approach applies, and the same philosophy encourages my way forward as I create my path and continue my journey into the unfamiliar discipline of drawing from a live model. Each drawing is another stride!
The quote is taken from Antonio Machado.
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the literary movement known as the Generation of '98.
Antonio Machado (1875-1939) was born in Seville and moved to Madrid at the age of eight. He studied in Paris where he worked as a translator, and met French poets. He became a schoolteacher. He returned to Spain and taught at Soria in Castile, from 1907, where he met his wife Leonor. Tragically she died very young, and in 1912 he left Soria for Baeza in Andalusia. Loyal to the Republic he left Spain for France when Catalonia fell, and died there in February 1939. He is acknowledged as Spain’s finest poet .
'Wanderer, your footsteps are the road,
and nothing more;
wanderer, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
By walking one makes the road,
and upon glancing behind one sees the path
that never will be trod again.
Wanderer, there is no road.
Only wakes upon the sea.'
Proverbios y cantares XXIX" [Proverbs and Songs 29], Campos de Castilla (1912); trans. Betty Jean Craige in Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Louisiana State University Press, 1979)
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
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Tuesday, 19 January 2010
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A brief introduction to my life drawing
I started attending life drawing classes just over three years ago. I'll start this blog with two quotes from artists about their own work which I feel characterises my life drawing as it has developed over the past three years or so.
The first is by Carmen Tyrrell: “I work with a lot of enthusiasm and pretty quickly. My style of work is spontaneous, energetic and loose, trying to maintain the freshness”.
The second is by Kristina Laurendi Havens: “I love the colours and the energy, the minimal amount of detail in her face and hands while still relating her gesture”.
I have very long way to go to even begin to touch the quality of the work of these two artists: at the moment I return again and again to their websites and draw out inspiration from them. There are others who have also inspired me and I will be soon placing a list of these people for you to follow up.
The first is by Carmen Tyrrell: “I work with a lot of enthusiasm and pretty quickly. My style of work is spontaneous, energetic and loose, trying to maintain the freshness”.
The second is by Kristina Laurendi Havens: “I love the colours and the energy, the minimal amount of detail in her face and hands while still relating her gesture”.
I have very long way to go to even begin to touch the quality of the work of these two artists: at the moment I return again and again to their websites and draw out inspiration from them. There are others who have also inspired me and I will be soon placing a list of these people for you to follow up.
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