Drawing Robin on February 28th

This is the second session with the new and simplified suspension system at Paul Fowler's EXTREME POSES at Pegasus Art in Stroud.

Drawing John on February26th

John is a new model with us at Angela Palmer's life-drawing class at Brockweir in the Wye Valley.

Drawing Robin at EXTREME POSES on February 21st

Drawing Penny on February 19th

This was the extra day set up by Angela Palmer in Brockweir in the Wye Valley to compensate for the lost day due to snow on January 22nd.

Drawing Tracey on February 12th

Drawing Paul on February 7th

Drawing Martin on February 5th

The second day drawing Martin, following on with the same pose from January 29th.

'during the day I moved my location in order to engage with the diagonal of the pose and the line of the journey up through the pose from the right foot, along the leg, picked up by the right hand and continuing up the arm and chest to the head. The mark-making process comprised:

• a two-handed charcoal pencil drawing of the whole form,
• then rubbing back with an eraser to leave a ghost image,
• then a second two handed drawing,
• then a small amount of finger applied charcoal powder with additional charcoal pencil to the darker tone areas again rubbed in with the finger,
• then finally an emphasis given to selective deep dark points with a heavily applied thick charcoal stick. 

So now to the challenge from last week: a prominant knee, a shin receding and a highly sculptured foot, made all the more interesting with a hand which tended to change position and expose a different number of fingers at different times). All are drawn with two hands, but slightly varying technique.



'drawn in the order from right to left: the first follows my recent squigly mark-making technique, the middle drawing attempts to use short straight lines the first of which were rubbed back with the finger and then additonal ones added, and finally the one on the left incorporated two pencils followed by charcoal powder followed by two charcoal pencils' 



'three 7 minute double handed drawings with charcoal pencils'

'the final one of the trilogy above which I would say is the most sculptural'

Drawing Paul on January 31st

At 'extreme poses' with Paul up in the ropes. Maximum time for each pose is 30 minutes.

I have been wanting to slow down my drawing process. To some extent I have achieved this by pausing, standing back, and reflecting on what's happening. This works. But there is also the speed at which marks are actually made on the paper.
Graphite in all its forms skids across the surface to some extent. So I dug out my box of Derwent Tinted Charcoal pencils with the recollection, from the last time I used them, that they would introduce a resistance to the pressure applied to the paper. And indeed this is exactly what happened.
With a charcoal pencil in each hand, so continuing with my ambidextrous approach of recent months, I immediately experienced a heightened tactile engagement with the surface of the paper. I am not holding the pencil near its point, as when writing with a pen, and pulling the pencil across the paper, but holding it at the top end and to some extent pushing it across the paper. This makes a very different line and mark.
I'm loving it. Here below are the results. All are on A1 220gsm cartridge paper. 

'a little too heavy and anxious use of the charcoal pencil to the upper part of the drawing'

'a far more gentle overall approach to mark-making'



'following the first drawing of the pose I pushed back the marks with an eraser and the applied a second series of marks which were lighter to the head and body further away, and darker/heavier to the advancing arm and hand' 



'some additional charcoal for the deep shadows'

Drawing Martin on January 29th

This is the first of two Tuesdays drawing Martin, in the same pose, at Angela Palmer's class in Brockweir in the Wye Valley.

All drawings are on A1 220gsm cartridge paper.

 

'the real challenge in this pose was to capture the perspective and the form of the left leg, with the foot receding beneath the knee (and supported on a stool). To emphasise the attention I gave to this challenge I included the technique known as 'lost' or 'soft' egdes in the upper part of the drawing. There is also a clear decision to apply a tonal treatment using a thick charcoal stick up through the drawing in order to present a journey up through the drawing, of which the lower left leg is part'



'this was the last drawing of the day and in this quick drawing I felt I wanted to introduce a background into the drawing which is quite unusual for me. The idea was to introduce a dark tone to contrast with the highlighted side of the pose and emphasise the irregular outline of the body' 





Below are two drawings of the main pose.

In the first, of about 15 minutes, to get a feel for the form, I am using a graphite stick in each hand which work together as they follow each other around the paper.

In the second drawing I have a HB pencil in each hand and then introduce a tonal treatment with charcoal dust applied with the finger.

 

 

It was during the above drawing that the challenge of the left leg became really apparant.

So what was it that caused me to feel so challenged and then to return on the following Tuesday to spend up to two and a half hours drawing it, not once but three times? 

See next Tuesday's posting [Drawing Martin on February 5th] for a full explanation'

'the early morning warm up of three 8 minute poses, with a 2B pencil in each hand'