The advancing knee

When it is presented there is one aspect of a pose which I am fascinated to engage with.......the advancing knee and with its associated thigh and foot. The proportioning and scale of both the thigh and the foot in relation to the knee are critical in creating the sense of perspective and foreshortening. Often the rest of the pose is either not drawn or only suggested. Here the whole pose gives context and drama to the foreshortening of the lower limb.
One of these drawings is an early one of mine. Which one? Answer in a week or so.

7 drawings of Natalie on June 25th 2015

I recall my main preoccupation with these drawings was in my mark-making. Lighter early exploratory lines with HB or 2H, then some focussing in on the main aspects of the pose with 3B or 4B, then some final selective lines and other marks with 7B or 8B. All with graphite pencils in both hands.
My favourite of the morning is the 3rd drawing which was very quick, a hurried production at the end of the usual 30 minute pose, taking about 5 minutes at the most, with the aim of capturing the whole pose following a frustrating attempt to respond to the very attractive idea of 'dangling hands, hair and breasts' in the previous drawing.

Enjoying my new graphite 'woodless' pencils

I suggested in my last posting that I may have taken a significant step in my life-drawing journey. Today I believe that is in fact happening. I am feeling an opening up in the potential with this newish medium. In fact it is not a great leap forward. It is still the use of graphite, but I do feel a freeing up in my mark-making technique. So, we'll see what emerges during the next few sessions.
Today, Liv inspired. As she always does. To start with a five minute pose as she clasped and sipped from her coffee mug. Then the two main poses before and after lunch, and an exploration of a relationship between my tonal/value work with my two-handed 'searching-for-the-form' technique (by this I mean that the final drawing holds a record of how the drawing is made).

The journey's changing? But, how much?

I've always talked of my 'life-drawing journey' and that the path of that journey is 'made by walking'. In other words, moves are made without any goal in mind. My essential criterion when doing life-drawing (at least in recent times) is simply to start mark-making in response to the situation one finds oneself in, when standing with a blank sheet of paper and a model, and recently also with a pencil in each hand.
Yet every so often I feel the need to move myself, rather than to let myself be moved.
Today was, I feel, one such occasion.
The first drawing with two HB pencils was very deja vu. OK, I can go on mark-making like this, but I sense little or no movement, whether in 'drawing design', 'composition', 'variation in line', 'attention to detail', 'the nature and character of marks' etc. etc.
So, I picked up two woodless pencils also known as graphite sticks: and instructed myself to draw in the same way as though I had two wood pencils with thin leads in my hands. Here are the outcomes which followed. Another difference was that in place of five 30 minute poses (at Extreme Poses in Stroud) we had a greater number of 20 minute poses. Thoughts and reflections on the new steps in my journey at a later date.

Exploring with two hands

I selected my location in relation to the model so that there was an aspect of the pose which I felt would be interesting to explore with my 'exploratory' two pencil approach. First: a focus on the lower leg and then a journey up the body. Second: the hand seen between the knees, then as the drawing emerged a diagonal from left foot up to right shoulder. In both drawings deliberate use of the 'lost edge' aimed to help this focus.

A day at PRIMA

Yesterday Paul Fowler allowed two models to theatrically position themselves in varying poses up in the ropes at PRIMA Arts Centre in Uley, Gloucestershire. This was great venue for life-drawing being a spacious converted chapel.
My summary, at the moment: an enjoyable multitude of continually changing poses which challenged our usual approach to life-drawing. Two of our regular models worked hard together and hurried us to respond as they paused for varying lengths of poses throughout the day. I'm not yet able to clarify exactly what the benefits are to me for the day's experiences, or whether there will be any appreciable changes in my life-drawing process. Not at all sure.
At one point I produced a drawing of a single model pose which I was pleased with, and which confirmed for me a number of aspects which have come to characterise my skills in recent times.

Inspired by Robin on June 11th 2015

What a contrast to my engagement with Liv on Tuesday (previous posting), in which a longer drawing time, tonal work, opportunity to amend aspects I was unhappy with, resulted in a 'considered' outcome.
Today, was different. And today my drawings just happened. Today reminded me of the diversity of variables one is working within, and when these come together in a conducive synthesis, then a pleasurable outcome results, and a feeling is reached that one's life-drawing journey has experienced a significant step ('paths are made by walking').
What are these variables?  Well two of them are: a) How one feels within ones-self (particularly free of stress and current worries); and b) The creativity of the model (I have commented many times on how I recognise and value the contribution of the model to the 'success' of the life-drawing process).  For me also is a deep involvement in my art. Life-drawing is part of me. The activity plays a major role in my week. When life-drawing I enter into a depth of experience which is meditative and (dare I say) 'spiritual'. And I have been aided by my re-reading of Frederick Franck's 'Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing: meditation in action'.  It is so full of remarkably challenging insights into seeing/drawing as a process. 

So here are this morning's drawings, with a huge 'thank-you' to Robin our model. Each pose presented a particular challenge. With each I attempted to extract an 'essence'. And to focus my efforts to bringing this essece to the fore.
I feel very good about today. It wasn't easy. And I feel I have moved my journey in the right direction.

'Liv' seated on June 9th 2015

Just the one drawing this morning. Unusual for me to spend time. Yet, it was beneficial. I deliberately chose a view that I felt was a challenge. And it proved to be so. The knee moved about and finished off the sheet. I wanted to bring the arm forward, and to probably exaggerate it, and it also moved about horizontally. The relationship of the breasts was also a challenge, particularly from my position which was about one metre from the model and looking down into the lap.

Early on I decided to take the drawing to the two edges of the paper. This was not an intention to start with. My only decision was to get near to the model and to use my height to look downwards. Then to start to draw, and to discover the possibilities. The composition emerged, and the final 'design' of the sheet is, to me, very pleasing. I'm beginning to value the part of the paper I don't draw on.

Two-handed-pencil, with tinted-charcoal for tonal work. The tinted-charcoal has a transparency which allows pencil marks to show through, and it can take pencil marks (whereas a tone introduced say using graphite powder produces a glossy surface which will not take a pencil mark). As usual, on A1 220gsm cartridge paper.

NATALIE

Here is one of my many drawings of Natalie from a few years ago.
Today, I had the pleasure of her company again.
Please see my last posting.

Drawing Natalie on June 4th 2015

I have been able to draw Natalie over a number of years. Recently there was a break and now she is back in Paul Fowler's studio of 'extreme poses' at Pegasus Art in Stroud. So, when a familiarity has been built up, it still remains, and becomes embedded in one's own personal culture of life-drawing.

Natalie has returned, she has evolved just as I, as an artist, have evolved. But I found today that within me a profound foundation existed of my relationship between Natalie as model (my memory of her form, the nature of her poses, the character of her anatomy) and myself as artist (my memory of my drawings of her, the poses which captivated my attention, and her particular contributions in the way her hands dangled, the form of her head, and the length and triangulation characteristics of her body and poses.

Perhaps you can sense my enthusiasm for this morning's session, and the opportunity to re-engage with drawing Natalie.

So, here are my five, 30 minute drawings, all on A1 220gsm cartridge paper, with the fourth drawing in charcoal on a clear gesso treated paper.

Drawing Liv on June 2nd 2015

Tall, long Liv performed three 5 minute poses to start the morning session at Angela Palmer's life-drawing class at Brockweir in the Wye Valley. As on previous occasions I feel I created a pleasing composition of the three although not knowing beforehand what Liv had chosen.
In the second drawing, of the main pose for the session, I sat at my easel in order to bring her feet and legs towards me and with the intention of distancing the upper part of her body. The theme of the drawing then was to create a journey up and down the body along her left side which I found particularly interesting. To place emphasis on this left side the right side was considered as a lost edge.
The third drawing uses charcoal on a clear gesso treated 220gsm cartridge paper. Charcoal marks are lightened and pulled across the surface with a tissue, which itself becomes a mark-making drawing tool. A number of marks are repeated and treated in the same way and gradually tonal variation is built up. Some pencil lines are added. This was a quick 10 minute drawing before I left for home and a lunch.
All drawings are two-handed on A1 cartridge paper.

Looking forward to tomorrow

A week or two without drawing from a live, nude model, arouses anticipations as to what will be the next steps in my life-drawing journey. And, as is fairly usual, I have trawled through images of my own work, and countless images which I have downloaded of the work of the great artists, and images of the less well known. This exercise, I believe, primes me for the session ahead. Once done I can release myself from any ties of preconceptions of what I might do, knowing that my subconscious is loaded ready to be unconsciously accessed as I confront the model and the pose before me. I shall enter the session tomorrow without any plan, without an goal, without any preconceived ideas of what I might do. As I enter the process of life-drawing, I will enter into the unknown. Yet, it will be a process, and there will be outcomes. One outcome will be the drawing, which will be a record of the process of the making of the drawing. Another outcome will be a change in me, in the way that I as an artist am able to express my feelings through my mark-making.

I'm on a 'life-drawing' journey

Here is an echo of my life-drawing philosophy that 'paths are made by walking'.

Laurie Steen: an inspiration!

My last few postings relate to the time I spent with Laurie Steen on her course 'the nature of drawing'.
So, I thought it appropriate, as an introduction, that I celebrate her work with the drawings which prompted me to journey down to Devon to find out about her art, her approach, and her techniques and materials.
I have concluded that I am unable to better my appreciation for the experiences she gave me and the group attending the course, by using her favourite phrase when commenting on someone's work: "that is awesome!"  
Laurie, and her art, are awesome.