Looking again at the three drawings of Penny on 25/02/2010

Please see my comments about these three drawings together, at the end of my previous posting.

Drawing Penny 25/02/2010

A morning of black and white (above) with an afternoon of colour (below).

Firstly, 3x10 minute charcoal drawings on A2 cartridge. I started with my usual 'rounded' form, with some smoothing with the finger. I then employed a technique which you will see I have been developing in my hard pastel/conte work. The charcoal stick is used on its length in an up-and-down movement. I very much like the mark this technique creates.

For the main pose of the day Penny reclined on rugs on the floor with her left foot drawn towards her so raising up her left knee. In the morning I did a quick 10 minute charcoal drawing to familiarise myself with the principal form issues and particularly the perspective issue. Then the first of the three A1 drawings which evolved around a number of issues. The first deals with, (i) the character and quality of marks on the paper;

(ii) perspective;

(iii) the respective and relative sizes of different parts of the body;

(iv) tonal values; and

(v) composition. [these five issues are not placed in any particular order]

After lunch we again did 3x10 minute 'warm-up' drawings. Here I again place emphasis on tonal issues by selecting only reds/browns. This is related to the use of 'analogous colours', i.e. utilizing the tonal differences between colours which are adjacent each other on the colour wheel. I use a red-orange, a red and a light and darker brown (before anyone corrects me I know there is no brown on a colour wheel). But I hope you can see what I am trying to do. This experimentation with 'analogous colours' was then taken into the final two drawings of the day.

For the final drawing (below) I introduced an even lighter tone to start with by outlining the basic form with a yellow pastel. I then introduced into the build-up an orange, a red, a light brown and then a darker brown. Finally I punctuated the darkest points with a black. It is interesting to note that the first yellow marks dealt with about 85% of the figure with each darker tone addressing a lesser percentage of the body, until the final black perhaps focussed on only 1% or 2% of the drawing. The white paper, of course, is utilised as the areas of lightest tone (the highlight areas).

If we bring the three main drawings together we can summerise the learning, and development, that has emerged in the process:

(i) the figure is transformed from an angular, muscular, masculine and a rather uncomfortably stiff body, to one that is appropriately softer, more rounded and feminine, and is very relaxed upon the rugs.

(ii) the thighs are given prominance against the reduced torso, and the right arm is lengthened, which gives an enhanced (and more correct) perspective to the form.

(iii) the hand is better understood and the drawing of the hand consequentely improves at each stage.

Drawing Dave 23/02/2010

Firstly two very quick drawings, probably 8 minutes each. It was suggested we try and look at the model and move our selected drawing medium over the paper with only the occasional glance to check on what was emerging. I was fairly surprised to see how 'accurate' the form became. I used 6B pencil to outline the basic form and the areas of darker tone, followed by light use of charcoal for the middle tone areas and then I punched in the dark tones with a thick charcoal stick. This simple and 'energetic' technique is to me quite effective.

In the kneeling figure with his back arching towards me the challenge was to capture the perspective in the pose. The large feet with the very foreshortened lower parts of the legs, shooting towards the viewer, I believe does achieve this.

For the coloured pastel drawing I moved across the studio as Dave took up the same pose as last week when I produced the trilogy of studies of his back. Here I continued my interest in using warm colours for the light side and colder colours for the dark side. However the use of a warm green on the lighter side and introducing some mauve and yellow into the darker toned side indicates just how complex the colour/tone relationships are.

All four are drawn on A2 white cartridge paper.

Looking again at Jane on 18/02/10: specific issues of colour/tone relationships and of perspective.

Up until now I have generally posted the full photograph of each drawing. However, on occasions I have cropped the image. Here two different croppings emphasise different aspects of the work. Firstly, the contrasting tonal values: the 'pink' direct light with the 'green' shadow. Secondly, the prominance of the advancing arm and hand in the overall perspective of the composition.

Drawing Jane 18/02/10

To start with, three ten minute quickies.

I am using conte crayon on white cartridge. I am enjoying the characteristics of the quality of line, and the translucency of the colour on the paper. I have seperately repeted the first drawing which is my favourite of the three as it utilises the 'energetic' sharp line of the conte crayon to emphasise the main features of the body. A 'mark on paper' which is becoming an attraction to me, and a characteristic of my work.

The main drawing of the day returns to the pose from last Thursday. So, as I had become fairly familiar with this pose (its form and structure) I was able to concentrate on the colour and tonal issues.

I believe this to be one of my most successful pieces: the hair colouring works well; there is a clear contrast both in colour and tone (direct light and shadow) between the two arms: there is an empathy with the geometry, structure and perspective of the pose; colour is exploited to the full; my above average height allows me a particular, unusual and advantageous viewpoint to this particular very 'attractive' pose. I am pleased to have captured the structural integrity of the pose, i.e. the two arms push up into the shoulders and are seen to give support to the main body. As a result, the legs stretch out into the distance, yet contribute to the overall status of the pose.

For the final piece of the day (about 45 minutes) Jane entered a new pose and I confronted her as she poised upon a stool and seemed to challenge me to draw. I think I captured this challenging attitude. A quick form, using charcoal, was emphasised with a dark brown pastel stick. I then ploughed in with colour, utilising my emerging preferred palette of colour/tone relationships.

Drawing Penny on 16/02/10

The first four drawings use conte crayon on A3 white 130gsm cartridge paper. They are 10 minute gesture poses. I find I can work really fast now: no measuring with a pencil at arms length, just a speedy movement of a conte stick on its side over the paper to suggest the principal form, then punching in the highlights followed by the deep shadow tones (for the initial marks on the paper I chose a colour which the model's body as a whole suggests to me). I then add the intermediate tones.

Beforehand, I did select a palette of colours which I believed had tonal relationships, and I stuck with these. The white cartridge paper allows a translucency to each colour, i.e. to varying degrees the white of the paper penetrates through the applied colour. At 130gsm there is a fine texture to the paper, but I would really like to try a very rough, heavily textured 'white' paper.

The third drawing is a frontal study on A2 Fabriano Tiziano 160gsm light grey pastel paper. This was such a contrast to using the white cartridge paper, in that I felt I really had to attack the paper to gain the colour and tonal impact I desired. The characteristic of this paper is that it fights backs and an amazing dialogue is set up between the artist and the 'canvas'. Wow! This is a new experience for me. You will see that the palette of colours is similar to that in the previous quick 10 minute drawings but this time the conte crayons skip lightly on the paper's surface and I bring in a similar colour range of soft pastels to make a louder impact.

In the final piece I moved across the studio to carry out a study of Penny's back, using the same conte and soft pastels but this time on A1 white cartridge paper.

My learning from the day is this: "I have an increased awareness of the complex relationships between 'colour and tone', between 'the drawing medium and the paper', and between 'the artist's perception of an object and the inherent properties of the object itself'. I have now learnt to fully enjoy my day life drawing, whatever the output."

Drawing Jane on 11/02/10

The first two sets of three drawings were supposed to be 10 minute gesture drawings to get us warmed up at the start of the morning and the afternoon sessions, but I recall they tended to last for a bit longer. I like the marks made by the conte stick in the red drawing. With the other three I've individually posted I particularly like the wider range of colours employed. In the crouching figure I am using a much quicker and bolder technique than is usual in my work (using both conte stick and soft pastel) and I would like to follow this up. Although the marks seem crude it suggests to me a growing confidence, as I am not proposing an outline of the figure to start with before applying colour, I am simply throwing blocks of colour at the paper. Any outlining comes later to enforce certain parts of the figure.

For the main pose of the day Jane propped herself up by her arms and it was important to capture the underlying structure of this support given to the rest of her body. The purple drawing (conte on white cartridge paper) was the first, carried out speedily in order to familiarise myself with the basic form/geometry and to establish the correct body proportions. Perspective is also an issue. The blue and orange drawing (again conte on white cartridge) engaged with tonal issues, and slightly corrected the overall proportioning. The figure seems slightly more relaxed in this second drawing, less angular and less upright (perhaps she was by this time). The final drawing (pastel on a toned pastel paper) and was just beginning to fulfill its promise when the day came to an end.

Drawing Dave on 09/02/10

Two really good life drawing days this week! Firstly with Dave, and then Jane (see Drawing with Jane 11/02/10).

Above is a compilation of five 10 minute gesture drawings following Dave as he engaged in various challenging positions.

In the main pose I used a selected palette of colours to further explore the relationship between colour and tone, or perhaps more appropriately termed 'tone in colour'. In the tryptych I firstly selected blue/green/mauve pastels, with light grey paper as the lightest tone. I then used red/orange/yellow pastels, with the light yellow-brown paper as a middle tone. Finally, I combined these six colours together, with one or two others, to engage with the full range of colour-tone relationships I believe I had discovered by carrying out the first two studies. By the third drawing I had become more confident with the pastel technique I was using, and had begun to understand how to draw the hand.

Favourite Life Drawing Artists and their Websites

Five artists whose work I have totally fallen in love with, and have been fully inspired by:
Roz Macquillan http://www.rozmcquillan.com/
Brigitte Hintner http://www.artifolio.com/Brischit/gallery
Antoine de Villiers http://antoineart.com/
Carmen Tyrrell http://www.carmentyrrell.co.uk/
Kristina Laurendi Havens http://www.etsy.com/shop/krystyna81

However, in trawling the websites of ‘life drawing’ artists I would have to add the following who I have found fascinating and inspiring, each in a different and particular way. There is something from each, whether it be the energy expressed in their drawing, their choice of pose, their use of colour, their quality of line, their excitement, their obvious love of the art, or just a particular un-describable aspect or quality of their work which has captivated me. I list them in no particular order and include the web address I accessed:
Joanne Claxton http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/joanne-claxton.html
Zhaoming Wu http://www.zhaomingwu.com/
Kim Roberti http://www.imagesofeyes.com/nudes/roberti.htm
Richard Young http://ryoung-art.com/
Pioyr Antonow http://piotrantonow.blogspot.com/
A Life Drawing Class http://www.chalkart.com.au/lifedrawing/
Adam Butcher http://adambutcher.co.uk/index.php/category/life-drawings/
Dusan Wolczko http://www.artabus.com/wolczko
Raluca Vulcan http://vulcana.livegalerie.com/
Julia Trops http://juliatrops.com/
George Cayford http://www.georgecayford.com/
Ken Daugherty http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/ken-daugherty.html
Dan Fergus http://danfergusdesign.com/drawing-charcoal/
Tim Brough http://timbrough.co.uk/lifedrawings.htm
Daniel Gill http://www.figuredrawing.net/
Patrick Deshaye http://patrickdeshaye.com/
Noriko Sasaki http://www.norikosasaki.co.uk/
Henry Yan http://www.henryyanart.com/
John Stoa http://www.johnstoa.co.uk/figurativeart.htm
Glenn Ibbitson http://www.glennfineart.com/lifedrawing.html

In addtition there are a number of artists whose work I have accessed via the Red Bubble website: http://www.redbubble.com/
Lorenzo Costello
Derek Jones
Charles Peckcom
Nina Smart
Pauline Adair
Benjamin Ruskin
Nong
Gary Crandall
Mick Kupresanin

I am sure there are many others I will discover whose work fascinates, but these are the artists I've found up to now.

How my work relates to that of the above artists is interesting. In nearly every case I have firstly tried something in a life class, whether it is a graphite, charcoal or pastel technique, or the use of a particular palette of colours, or have drawn a particular pose, and then (often by chance) have come across something similar on a website which has helped me understand what it was I was attempting, and also by the quality of the work shown me how I can improve and develop my own approach to life drawing. As a consequence I thank each and everyone of the artists for sharing their work.

Who needs a theory?

Looking back over my recent postings I have detected the beginnings of a slide back into a former life, where as an academic, my research and publications were carried out with intellectual rigour, and where as an architectural educator, my community architecture work required the transparency which is essential when professionals engage with any form of social process. So, my recent references in my postings to the relationship between colour and tone in my life drawing could suggest the emergence of an academic approach, and the development of a colour theory.

I have had to remind myself that my life drawing, along with much else I now do, is a purely personal activity which I do not have to justify to anyone. Equally, there is no demand to rationalise it in any way, certainly not within a theoretical framework. I do life drawing simply because I enjoy it. I get great pleasure from it. I like the people I meet doing it, and I get immense satisfaction from it. Additionally, a piece does not have to be completed. There is no such thing as failure. Each drawing is a step along a path of discovery, as my blog title acknowledges with its inherent philosophical standpoint ‘paths are made by walking’.

Yet it is impossible to avoid reflecting on what one is doing. Just as it is impossible not to be self-critical, for example with regard to developing and improving one’s technique, or trying to understand why a certain combination of colours is more effective than another. Also, my familiarity with the colour theory work of Newton, Goethe and Steiner and of some of the Impressionists, means that it is impossible not to intellectualise now and again.

However, the emergence of a particular aspect of my personal colour theory was highlighted the other day when my hypothesis ‘there is a correlation between the colours used in drawing with the clothes worn by the artist’ was born out when my wife caught me holding two of my most recent pastel drawings [see this blog: Life Drawing 04/02/10 Nos2]. Perhaps the bulge as my tongue pushes out my cheek should (to a certain extent) continue to accompany any theorising which may occur in future.

More 10 minute poses from 04/02/10

These are four more quick 10 minute poses from last Thursday which initially I dismissed as not worth displaying. However, over the past few days I have come to acknowledge that they do hold certain characteristics in the way my drawing is developing. I like the marks made with the conte crayon; the transparency of the colour on the paper; the limited palette of colours in each one; and the contrast between the more subtle application of colour to the body in the top two as opposed to the more energetic application in the lower drawing.

Life Drawing 04/02/10 Nos2

These are my two drawings of the main morning and the main afternoon poses of this Thursday's life drawing class. Both are pastel on 'heavy' white paper, A1 in size.

With them I believe I am entering a stage in my life drawing journey which is beginning to make some progress with the issue of the relationship between colour and tone. I know this is a very complex subject but one which I feel there is a strategy emerging in my work for addressing it. But that is all I'm saying about it at the moment. This is a very good example for me of a path that is made by walking. Over the next few weeks the direction this path is taking will, I anticipate, become clearer (or more complex). In the meantime, I will add that I am really enjoying the way colour has entered my life.

Both these drawings are unfinished and represent what was produced within the time constraints of the session and have not been worked on or added to later, as are all the drawings so far posted on this blog.

Life Drawing 04/02/10 Nos1

I attend Thursday life drawing for three hours both morning and afternoon. We start each session with three 10 minute poses. The model again was Marcia as last Thursday.

I particularly like this pose and was very pleased with the drawing: it conveys an iconic image of the female form, and the technique of using a conte stick, both on its edge and drawing the stick across the paper, produces some interesting marks. For each of the six poses I selected three colours to deal with the tonal range with the paper itself providing the fourth 'highlight' tone. This drawing used blue (darkest tone) and purple and green. Another combination I explored was red, orange and yellow. The paper size is A3.

Life Drawing 02/02/10 Nos3

An evening session which lasted for two and a half hours with a new model, Michelle.

Firstly, one of three 10 minute warm-up drawings, followed by a fairly quick A1 charcoal response on cartridge paper, all to familiarise myself with the characteristics and personality of the new model. I then chose a close up study of the same reclining pose, in pastel on an A2 grey pastel paper, to explore the landscape of the human form with warm and cool colours.

This completed a first for me: eight and a half hours of life drawing in one day. I shall not be doing this very often. However the satisfaction I felt from my achievements masked my exhaustion.

Life Drawing 02/02/10 Nos2

Three A3 warm-up 10 minute studies of Sue, using pastel and conte crayon, prior to the longer pieces in 02/02/10 Nos 1, and looking at ways of conveying the strong directional lighting on the model.

Life Drawing 02/02/10 Nos1

These are two drawings of Sue. The first was started last week at my Tuesday all-day life drawing class and completed on February 2nd. So in all I spent about 4 hours on it which is probably the longest I have spent on any one drawing. I used HB, 2B and 6B pencils on A1 cartridge paper. The process and technique contrasts to my usual more recent quick and energetic pastel or charcoal work. One of the issues was 'perspective' which I then addressed from viewing the same pose from the feet end. This A2 pastel drawing took about an hour. Here I was able to concentrate on the legs and feet as they came towards me: how big to make the left foot; the forshortening of the left leg; and the dominance of the right leg and knee. Fortunately the head was hidden from my view.

Life Drawing 28/01/10 Nos1

The model is Marcia, who I am drawing for the first time.

The first drawing is somewhat hesitant. However, the overall outcome of these three 10 minute gesture drawings at the start of the day came as something of a surprise to me. I do like the second and third.

In the second and third drawings the use of the green conte crayon as a tone which is darker than the paper tone, together with the bright soft pastel announcing the highlights, and the red working with the green to emphasise the darkest tone or deep shadow areas, I believe works well. The A3 paper is light grey with a slight texture.