Drawing Ocean on 29/04/2010

After a few sessions at life drawing classes concentrating on charcoal and achieving some very satisfying results I perhaps was in need of a change. Yet with no particualar strategy for the day in mind I stood in front of the model, paused, waited, and gradually sensitised myself to the visual dialogue taking place between myself and the model. She was graceful and poetic, relaxed and beautiful.
First drawings of the day are more than often an initial tentative step: hesitant, explorative, and an awakening gesture to that which lies ahead. The second pose was a difficult one to hold and it was cut short after about four minutes.

The third pose was a favourite of mine. My first sale was a back view, like this one, and being reminded of this I launched into this drawing with a certain confidence. The marks were becoming bolder. A characteristic technique of these first three drawings is that I am creating the outline of the figure not with a drawn line but with a block of colour, i.e. a pastel stick is placed on its side and moved to create the background and to define the edge or outline of the figure.

The coloured backgrond, drawn on the white cartridge paper then helps to emphasise the white, direct light (highlight) areas left on the body. This works particularly effectively in the two drawings below.

In this final ten minute pose I elected to use yellows and reds with a touch of blue drawn over the darker toned areas on the left side of the figure. As with the above two drawings I was interested to maintain the purity of each colour in relation to other colours and against the white of the paper, and also very interested in the 'structure' of the marks on the paper.

Although not as 'dramatic' a drawing as those for the earlier short poses, I used below a technique recently employed with charcoal drawings where a series of marks is rubbed down with a tissue or hand a number of times until a final version is felt to be ready to take a final application of bold but limited dark tonal points. During the process an eraser is also used to draw out the highlight points, as on the breasts, left arm and nose and forehead.

At the end of the day I took a sheet of grey pastel paper, drew the figure in pastel, rubbed it strongly down into the paper and the started some tonal treatments with white pastel and charcoal. Maybe there is something here to take further in the future. I'm not sure about this at the moment!

Drawing Gladys on 27/04/2010

Gladys is a new model to our life drawing circle at Brockweir in the Wye Valley. And this is the first time I have been presented with a black live model.
Firstly, two warm-up 10 minute quickies (charcoal on A2 cartridge).

In this much longer drawing (below) I brought together charcoal and soft pastel on A2 white cartridge. Firstly a charcoal drawing in which the basic forms were outlined was then rubbed down with a piece of kitchen roll. This was repeated, and again rubbed down, and again, during which process the accuracy of the form was discovered. Deep toned areas were blocked in with charcoal and again this was rubbed down with the pointed tissue. I then drew across each part of the figure the appropriate colour. I lightly blended these with my finger. I then drew a flat piece of charcoal over the darker toned areas and finally finished up with a bold red and a purple to add contrast.

Finally a quick charcoal drawing on toned newsprint.

Drawing Angela on 27/04/2010

Angela Palmer is the artist and sculptor who runs the life drawing classes at Brockweir in the Wye Valley. A rare event is when Angela gets into a pose because the model has been delayed on her journey to the venue. Here is a quick 10 minute 'fill-in' drawing of Angela. Charcoal on A2 cartridge. I outined the basic form and then rubbed down with a tissue. I drew again, and rubbed down. I punched in the deep tones with a big stick of willow charcoal. I again rubbed this down with the tissue scrolled up into a pointed stump. I then brought out the highlights with an eraser.

Drawing Jane on 24/04/2010 [or 'How can I get things so wrong?'

In my self-congratulatory previous posting I was on something of high. I had had a good week. So when I was able to squeeze in a third session on Saturday over the hills into mid-Wales at Arts Alive in Crickhowell in the county of Powys, I jumped at the opportunity. Good things should last, but not this time. Over three hours, less breaks, I did three drawings. The model was again Jane who I have had the good fortune to draw more times than any other model. There were two poses, both seated on a table.

The problem with the first pose is that there is very little tonal variation to respond to. Although the fenestration in the studio is to the right, and hence this is the principal source of light, unfortunately the wall to the model's left is light in colour and extremely reflective. So I was inventing darker tones which were not actually present and so the drawing, to me, appears rather flat. I would expect the left side of her back to be in shadow. But it is very difficult to draw what is not there. The pose itself was also quite challenging in that a concentration of arms, legs and feet were contained within a small triangle in comparison to the larger rectangular area of back and bottom. This is charcoal on A2 cartridge. The second drawing jumps to A1 and I wanted to explore the complexity of arms, legs and feet and avoid the previous issue of lack of tonal variation to the left side of the back. But just how is it possible to get so many aspects of a life drawing wrong? In particular look at the tiny 'withered' right fore-arm, and then compare this to the massive and 'thick' left calf and lower leg. Then how did the left foot grow to such a size? It is a strange phenomena: one can look, and look again and again at each part and study and compare each part to the proportion and size of other parts, and still it comes out wrong. In looking at the drawing after two days these faults are obvious. At the time I didn't see them. Is this a matter of lack of experience, a lack of visuaI skills, a blindness to proporation and scale, a distraction with some other aspect of the life drawing, or what? As an architect I rather pride myself in not having these deficiences, or at least I did. Maybe, life drawing is something different. I could correct the drawing, but will not, and will learn from the experience.

I seem to need to break into colour after a tonal study in charcoal. So on a blue/grey A2 pastel paper I searched for the colours in the body and finished the drawing off with some added charcoal work. What is wrong with this drawing? Well, I didn't find the pose itself particularly inspiring, but apart from that the body is rather 'stiff', and I have given her a joyless facial expression. In both of these, the model is not!

There you go!

Incidently, Peter Seabourne who runs the class, hung a red sheet on the wall behind the model for this second pose, to nulify the refected light. It worked, with some shadow in evidence on the back and a suggestion of reflected red on the upper thigh.

Best of the week! (April 20th & 22nd, 2010)

These two drawings have already been posted following Tuesday's and Thursday's life drawing classes during this week. Not only do I think they are my two best of the week but I consider they mark a significant level of achievement along my life drawing journey. I would go as far as to say that "I can now do life drawing". It has taken about four years to reach this point, and I am well aware that during this journey there have been many occasions when I have been very pleased with a particular piece of work, and for all sorts of reasons. Whether it is to do with technique, colour, tonal values, capturing a graceful pose, mastering the use of pastel, pencil or charcoal, or meeting any number of other criteria. But more often than not, when I have looked back at an earlier so called 'achievement' I realise how far I have travelled along the path in the meantime. But I feel there is something about these two drawings which have brought together so many aspects of life drawing into a pleasing piece of work.

This is my personal view at this moment in time, and probably at some point in the not too distant future I will feel the same about this sense of achievement as I have done previously. Others may want to differ, and of course I acknowledge the discerning opinions of those four individuals who have been kind enough to purchase my drawings in the recent past.

This drawing is of Jane, 60cm x 40cm, charcoal on cartridge paper.
This drawing is of Marcia, 85cm x 60cm, charcoal on cartridge paper.

Drawing Marcia on 22/04/2010

I am continuing my re-engagement with charcoal. It is such an easy, free and flowing medium allowing a diversity of marks to be utilised and one can embrace contrasting glances of subtleness with attacks of energy and rigour. My first three ten minute drawings each focused on capturing the pose and particularly the angle of the head. However, together they do illustrate the above point. [each is 60cm x 40cm on cartridge] After lunch three more quickies to help the wine go down.

Then the main pose of the day. As on 20/04/2010 the challenge was in the perspective. A similar pose, looking from the head down the body but this time I was closer and the head was not raised as high on a pillow. I did two quickies, on A2, to become familiar with the pose and its issues of perspective and proportion and then embarked, with confidence on a sheet of A1 cartridge. And I am very pleased with the outcome, accepting that the size of the right hand is somewhat exaggerated. Again, combinations of finger, tissue and eraser help extend the vocabulary of marks made with charcoal.

Drawing Jane on 20/04/2010

Here are four drawings of the main pose of the day. Firstly a quickie to get an idea of the form and particularly how to deal with the key issue of perspective. From my standpoint the breasts and upper body were sunk down beyond the head, and a key question was how did the upper part of the raised right leg relate in size and proportion to the upper part of the body. I felt with this first drawing that the legs were too long and I would prefer to include the full width of the shoulders and the right arm which is raised above the head [60cm x 40cm on cartridge] In this second quickie the legs are reduced in length but still the full width of the figure nearest to me runs off the paper. However, this drawing concentrated on capturing tonal values [60cm x 40cm on cartridge]

I spent about one and a half hours on this third one and gradually built up the drawing in layers, each time rubbing down with a tissue or a finger. I began to realise that the tissue, rolled to a point or stub, became a drawing tool in itself as it picked up charcoal and deposited it as it was drawn across the paper. The resultant marks added to the more familiar vocabulary of marks previously used. An eraser was employed to draw out the highlights [60cm x 40cm on cartridge]

I could not let the day end without a final attempt to get the whole figure on the paper: so I chose an A1 sheet. This I achieved but I think I lost something of the subtleness and attractiveness of the marks which characterise the above drawing [85cm x 60cm on cartridge]

I finish this posting with three ten minute drawings [all are 60cm x 40cm, the first two on cartridge, and the third is on a light grey pastel paper]. I could not do a whole day without a touch of colour.

Drawing Marcia on 15/04/2010

Today I got nowhere with the longer psoses so here are a few of my quick drawings, all on white paper, to show I did something worthwhile.
Firstly an 'architectural' attack on the angled forms of the body. Graphite stick to start with followed by charcoal to give emphasis.My nearly two metre height gives me a different view of the world to that of most other people, and introduces perspective issues which for others may not be so acute. Again I use a graphite stick with some charcoal and a light application of brown pastel.

I'm beginning to enjoy filling the peice of paper with a selected part of the figure and have not worried when some aspect disappears off the sheet. Clearly the challenge of getting all parts of the body in the correct proportion to each other is immediately elliminated and I feel this frees one to concentrate much more on other issues, e.g. tonal variation, marks, etc.

Here, as you see, I needed to have no interest at all in the head and legs.

Drawing Jane on 13/04/2010

The green or blue figures below are each maximum ten minute quickies.

Most of the day was spent on the following three studies. Each is 50cm x 70cm. I like doing the charcoal study first as this helps me to understand the tonal properties of the figure. It has other advantages: it is a comparatively quick medium to use (so I can quickly come to grips with the pose, and its issues), one can utilise a variety of marks, one can vary the application to achieve a range of densities, and it is so very easy to correct lines one is not happy with. Charcoal is so very versatile. This was on a grainy white paper.

The two coloured studies are soft pastel on a blue/grey pastel paper. In the first the paper is covered completely by pastel, over the body area. After applying the initial range of colours I lightly skimmed across the surface a paper tissue which casually dragged one colour into the next. White and pink highlights were then added, and a charcoal block was very lightly drawn across the darker toned areas allowing the underlying colours to show through.

The third study is very unusual for me in that it represents a reserved use of simple blocks of 'pure' colour. I could have continued with this technique but sometimes "its knowing when to stop", and this time it has revealed an interesting use of pastel which I rather like and will further explore in the coming weeks.

Drawing Penny on 08/04/2010

Well! Here I am again with the wonderful and theatrical Penny. A lot of people in this life class comment that Penny is the most evocative and provocative model that we have the pleasure to draw. She is a real favourite. This is my view, also. However, on this morning, I just wanted to do some life drawing. The need to pick up the pastels and to engage with the wonderful act of life drawing was overwhelming. It was a week ago since I last indulged. So, I just let go. These five drawings, about 10/15 mintes each, are not attempting to capture accurate proportional representations of the human body, but rather: to celebrate the gestural poses of this wonderful model; to explore the juxtaposition of colour and tone; and to capture and illustrate (i.e. to communicate) the energy and excitement of drawing from a live model.

The white paper has a smooth and glossy surface which the pastels skid over. I have avoided rubbing and blending the colours, preferring to leave them in their 'raw' and 'vibrant' state. I have added quick 'linear' charcoal lines to them all, in order to emphasise the key dynamics of the drawing. In the drawing below I have skidded a charcoal stick across the areas not in direct light which has allowed the initial colour applications to show through. I have used this technique to pleasing effect before, and will hope to explore its potential in future drawings.

The pose below was a real challenge! Penny was leaning towards me just a few feet away.

Below, the arm pushed the hand almost into my face. I don't feel I rose to this challenge: the hand should have been drawn so much larger. In fact, very much larger. The perspective should be exagerated! Here, I am 'woken-up' by the recall of my lying on the floor of the Cistene Chapel and looking upwards to its ceiling and those amazing exagerated perspectives of Michaelangelo's arms and legs pushing towards the beholder (In 1960 it was possible to just wander into the Cistine Chapel and lie on the floor and look upwards. In 1960 it was also possible to drive up to Ghiberti's bronze doors of the Bapistry at Pisa, park alongside and sit and do a drawing of them, before driving away. Similarly, I drove my landrover under one of the outside arches of the Colisium in Rome prior to studying its architecture). Have we lost a certain immediacy with our heritage?

This final piece I laboured over, for about an hour or so. It was on a heavily textured white paper that could take a great deal of 'adding layer upon layer', of rubbing out, and corrections and amendments of one sort or another. I am really not sure whether I like it or not. No-one else at the class seemed to warm to it!. What do you think?

Drawing Penny on 01/04/2010

After my recent life drawing sessions I have been posting my 'quickie gesture' drawings in sets of either three or six, then selecting one or two to make detailed comments on. However in the three above I do think that a particular set of colours and marks are beginning to emerge which seems to characterise a style of drawing which I am very happy with. So I am giving each of these three an importance by showing them individually.

Each is about 15 minutes. I start with a yellow, an orange and a red, in that order for the basic tones. I add a little blue or green, and then jump in with a minimal amount of dark brown for the specific deep tones.
For the fourth (below) light green, dark green and blue, dealt with the tonal range, but I felt it needed a touch of yellow/orange to 'brighten' the drawing up.

For the main seated pose of the day, firstly I persued my exploration of utilising a diversity of marks with charcoal on a textured white paper, and secondly blending with the finger light applications of pastel followed by a light application of charcoal for the darker toned areas.

This first drawing has 'a strength of purpose' about it in the positive way I feel I have used the different charcoal marks.

This second drawing achieves a lovely roundness of forms which I have rarely reached before.

I am very pleased with both these drawings