Drawing Natalie on 31/03/2011

At Extreme Poses today I chose an easel position within half a metre of the nearest part of the model and I felt that each pose was asking for a particular response. So the four drawings are different. Firstly, the attention is on tonal value and variation, and focuses not on her back but on the shapes beyond. Three tones of grey compressed charcoal on smooth very white A1 cartridge but treated with a coating of clear gesso to help hold the charcoal and so accentuate tonal contrast. The charcoal marks are as applied, with no rubbing back. Secondly, I felt the call was to outline the forms of the different parts of the body as they overlapped each other and to capture and emphasise the perspective as she lay in the ropes. 2B and 6B pencil on smooth white A1 cartridge.

This pose appeared to glow so I chose a beige A1 newsprint treated with clear gesso which helped hold the coloured conte strokes. Recent engagements with lost edges were thought about during the construction of this drawing.

Finally, a fairly energetic and quicker drawing (we were given about 20 minutes as opposed to 30 minutes each for the three above) in which I used two tones of grey compressed charcoal on an A1 smooth white cartridge paper. The lighter tone outlined the first enquiry into describing the basic form, which was followed by the darker toned compressed charcoal stick to finalise the form and to help the play in tonal variation.

Drawing Penny on 29/03/2011

Firstly, the three ten minute gesture drawings at the start of the day, using three tones of grey compressed charcoal and a light brown conte crayon, on smooth white A1 cartridge. Then a ten minute drawing on a heavier off-white A1 cartridge from later in the day.

On to the main pose, and four drawings from different positions in the studio.

The final one uses pencil and a graphite stick.

Drawing Penny on 26/03/2011

Today I'm over at Arts Alive in Crickhowell with Tony Tribe's life-drawing session, and Penny has been invited to model.
I'm posting four of my drawings this time, although I produced another three or four, rather experimental attempts, which I feel did not take me further along my life-drawing path. So I am not posting these.
The first below is a ten minute 2B pencil on A1 cartridge. The next is a five minute charcoal on a white smooth A1 cartridge. I like this one! Its quick! The first charcoal sweeps are pushed back into the paper with a piece of tissue. Then I went in with a charcoal stick on its edge to capture the principal lines and the darker tonal areas.

The next drawing took place over about an hour. I used a tinted charcoal pencil on a smooth, very white A1 cartridge paper. The pose was captivating! And Penny's voluptuous and curvilinear forms demanded an attacking approach. I was pleased with the outcome. At the end of the day Tony set up three, five minute poses. For me, this was a new experience. Previously, I had been used to 'quickies' at the start of a session in order to get the grey matter working for the day ahead. However, it did, for me, introduce a new dimension into life-drawing. I felt, when executing these short five minute drawings that (at the end of the day) I was being encouraged to grasp the essence of the pose in a much more focused way. My lines, as I placed them on the paper, were required to be more exact and true to the image before me. I felt very relaxed whilst drawing them.

Natalie is back! At Extreme Poses on 24/03/2011

Yes! Natalie is back from India. What a pleasant surprise as we arrived at Paul Fowler's Extreme Poses studio at Pegasus Arts near Stroud to discover that Natalie, after her amazing adventure in India, wanted to continue as a life-drawing model. She told us she would be back, but I think many of us felt that she would experience something which would take her away from her life as a studio life-model. At the end of the session we were discussing our morning's experience and Paul told us that Natalie had mentioned to him something most significant: that she felt she was part of our drawing. I know what she meant by this, because she works extremely hard at creating an interesting pose, and then she works very hard at holding that pose for the required time (usually about 30 minutes). I believe she feels she is very much part of the processes going on in the studio, and not simply an object for someone to draw. We certainly feel that she is special.

This first drawing is a ten minute 'loosener'. I just wandered over the paper with a 2B pencil and searched for the form. It is on A1 cartridge paper.
Then, on to four 30 minute poses, on A1 cartridge paper on which I had applied a thin coating of clear gesso, to give a textured surface which would better hold the charcoal. I had experienced this for the first time drawing Penny on Tuesday (see my last posting).

Here, I went in heavy and bold with the charcoal to the darkest toned areas. I then pushed this back into the textured surface with a stiff brush. I then emphasised these areas again with charcoal, and finished off with a few selected lines using a charcoal pencil.

In this next drawing I did not push back the charcoal at all, so it remains rather heavy.

However, for this inclined pose, I vigorously brushed into the textured surface my first charcoal blocks of darkest toned areas. In actual fact the stiff brush was drawn over the entire drawing so leaving a kind of ghost image of the figure. I then went in heavy with charcoal to emphasise the deepest tonal areas and points, and finished with a white pastel for the highlights around the shoulder areas.

In the final drawing I repeated the above process, again with two layers of charcoal to the darkest toned points and areas, but decided to end by leaving the ghost to illustrate a stage in this new process I am exploring. So this is in no way a finished drawing, but come to think about it, very, very few of my pieces are finished or complete works in themselves.

Next time, I will get to this stage again, and then I will experiment with how this particular charcoal technique may be taken forward.

Drawing Penny on 22/03/2011

Penny put on a white silk slip for the 'quickies'.

Then she assumed the main pose for the day. A real 'perspective' challenge!

Firstly, I eased myself into the pose with a pencil drawing.

Then, on an A1 smooth white cartridge paper I took up an HB pencil, and then toned the drawing with graphite powder applied with a brush and then the finger. Highlights were introduced with an eraser.

Then, for the first time, I used charcoal on a previously prepared sheet of A1 cartridge paper to which I had applied a minimal application of clear gesso. For some time I felt that I had wanted to experience a surface which would hold charcoal much more than a medium weight cartridge paper. So here are my first two attempts. The 'experience' was quite amazing!

After quickly outlining the basic form with an H pencil, I vigorously went in with a thick charcoal stick to block in the areas of darkest tone. These were then brushed back with a coarse dry paint brush. I re-emphasised these same dark tone areas and then added the next layer of slightly lighter toned areas. These were all brushed back into the 'grain' of the gesso treated paper. I added a further layer to the darker toned areas and finished off by introducing some lines and marks with a charcoal pencil. [click on the image to see a close up of the marks and the texture of the drawing]

Tomorrow (Thursday March 24th) at 'Extreme Poses' I will really push this technique and see how my tutor Paul Fowler will respond (at my last session at Extreme Poses, he and I briefly discussed this approach, and now I have an initial experience to take forward and build upon).

For this last drawing (below) I again used a clear gesso treated cartridge paper but this time it was one of my very smooth, very white, papers. I did not rub back any of the marks, so all the charcoal marks you see are as they were made first time. I also introduced some pencil hatching which I feel is a worthwhile addition to the range of marks and adds to the character of the drawing.

In comparing these approaches I feel that the above drawing exhibits a much more sculptural and rounded feel to the human form, and that the second drawing is so much more 'flatter and lifeless'. I wonder what you think?

At 'Extreme Poses' again.

This morning I had some thoughts about lost edges and about introducing a colour to work with the charcoal.

In this above pose the foot came advancing towards me and I attempted to use the colour to help the perspective (everybody liked the foot). For me the colour did not work.

So I gave up the introduction of the colour and enjoyed the flexibility and malleability of charcoal by itself.

Drawing Jamie on 15/3/2011

Four quickies from the morning and afternoon sessions.

Then three experimental studies using different sets of pastel colours but seelcted for their tonal properties.

Finally I returned to the position from last week but closer to the model so I was looking down upon his head and shoulders from my two metre height.

Finally I did a pastel study of the head and shoulders.

Up in the ropes again!

The ropes being the matrix of trapeze ropes fixed to the ceiling and tensioned to the floor into which the model climbs for a variety of 30 minute poses. Today our tutor, and designer of this provocative form of life-drawing pose, Paul Fowler had fixed a horizontal A1 drawing board into the rope structure and the model took up the following positions on it.

For the first one I used charcoal which I rubbed back a number of times.
I felt I was not moving beyond the earlier use of this technique so decided on a change and I opened up my box of pastels

The three pastel drawings are built on, and try to develop, the following principles:
a) colour and tone relationship: a pastel colour is selected to convey the perceived skin colour but also chosen to indicate the tonal property or value at that point on the body.
b) use of 'pure' (not blended) colour.
c) use of lost edges in play with a more focused attention to a part of the pose.

Drawing Jamie on 8/3/2011

A new model joined Angela Palmer's class at Brockweir in the Wye Valley.
Firstly, two A1 sheets of 10 minute poses.

Then two drawings from the same position.

First is charcoal on smooth white A1 cartridge paper. This mostly uses the charcoal stick on its side.

For the second drawing from this position three layers of charcoal each in turn rubbed back into the paper with a piece of kitchen role. Some fine lines were added with a charcoal pencil where the darker toned areas met the edge of the figure, then I used a white pastel stick with a touch of blue to emphasise the highlight areas.

The same pose but from the back. An aim was to see if I could bring the right shoulder towards me within the context of the perspective in the pose.

I then did two further drawings from the same position. No lines but simply using pastel sticks on their edge to mark blocks of tone.

I completed the day with a quick pencil drawing, with graphite dust added with the finger for the darker toned areas.