A relaxed evening drawing Jemma

Two hours up in Monmouth, earlier this evening, at Claudia's, and our model is Jemma. I have had the pleasure of Jemma a number of times in the past but not for about three years or so. And it was so good to be with her again.

I had no thoughts about the session, None whatsoever. No preparation. More concerned with activities on the hillfort and the latest Covid threat. 

I had with me my drawings from Stroud last Thursday, with the intention of using the backs. But after the first two sets of numerous very short poses which I responded to in the first two drawings, I then went into my 'building-on-the-past' mode and superimposed Jemma on Shelly for the 3rd and 4th drawings.

This approach of 'superimpositioning' has become for me a real fascination and challenge. I am sure I will be doing much more of this. 'Overlap' and 'transparency', together with 'complexity' are becoming a strong paradigm in my art, and I feel there is so much more to explore and experiment with in this approach.   

In the 5th and 6th, I did a bit of a sculptural/tonal response, with a lovely struggle (which I enjoyed) in the final drawing as I attempted to avoid any mention of 'de-construction' as Jemma's curled up form was so beautiful I just had to respond to it as a whole. The struggle then was all about getting everything in proportion, which is an aspect I tend to avoid with my deconstruction process. 

So. Am I a deconstructivist spatialist?

 November 25th, again with the amazing Shelly, up in the ropes at Paul Fowler's 'Extreme Poses' at Pegasus Art in Stroud. Can't think of a better place to be a life-drawer...........

A perceptual insight into my paradigm

I have talked a lot about me being a de-constructivist. I look at a pose, my eye explores it, I begin to focus on particular parts, I then select a part and start my drawing.

I have also talked a lot about my spatiality. And it is comparatively recently that I have become aware of the influence that my architectural past has played in setting up a structure for my engagement with the human body.

De-constructivism: a philosophy which is about my particular cognitive and perceptual engagement with the subject.

Spatiality: my fundamental architectural paradigm.

What has brought about this focus (as outlined above) in defining my art? Recent life-drawing experiences.....YES. A gradual search over the past months, and in particular the search into myself brought about by the isolation of the Covid 18 months or so..........YES. My disengagement from formal membership from a number of external activities, with the intention of getting deeper into my own world........YES. And, then, just in the last day or so my rediscovery of the art of Barbara Camilla Tucholski.

I first came across her, or rather a quote by Nele Kohler, describing Barbara's drawings, many years ago. I filed it but have now found it again:

"In her drawings, Barbara Camilla Tucholski examines the relationships of objects to each other and the space surrounding them by combining unusual coincidences of different points of view on one sheet, sometimes by moving herself simultaneously. As a result, multiperspective representations emerge without one clear point of view. In addition to this, the process also leads to a deeper perception in which the drawings become abstract in a certain way. In such drawings the artist reaches the peak of her powers in her ability to achieve complex draughtsmanship through minimal lines. In spite of a certain monotomy in her chosen material (graphite) her drawings display a great variety of methods and subjective sensibility and are both conceptual and experimental" (Nele Kohler, Berlin 2009).

It is quite extraordinary that here are words which I now feel describe exactly where I am with my own art. What was my reaction when I first came across them all those years ago? Clearly I did associate with them, but did I really appreciate their relevance to my own art? Did they become absorbed into my thinking and have laid there in my sub-conscious, gradually working their way through, over time, into my present way of working? I did at the time look up the drawings of Barbara but they clearly did not resonate with me and I did not find them relevant, however the text did.

I can now take each sentence from this piece of text and say it echoes or describes my process. what is more  significant is that I can now see that there is an unquestionable relationship between some of her work and my recent work.

I've now looked up Barbara and her work, and here is one drawing which holds the essence of that which I find such a close connection with. I follow it with one of mine which I claim holds the essence of my own similar approach:

This is not Barbara's original but my own recording of her drawing. 

In it you can see an architecture which has been explored, and desconstructed into its parts: its plans, elevations, spaces and perspective views from a number of different points; looking down, along and up all at the same time; all with a transparency so reminiscent of my own recent 'Picabian' approach.

This is one of mine from a few weeks ago, but I have so many which incorporate the essentials of Barbara's process:

examines the relationships of objects to each other and the surrounding space

combines unusual coincidences  of different viewpoints

multiperspective representations

moving herself simultaneously (ref: my cubism)

no one clear point of view

the process leads to a deeper perception

the drawing becomes abstract

complex draughtsmanship through only minimal lines

monotomy of chosen material (graphite)

conceptual and experimental

She appears to have discovered a way of perceiving, analysing, representing and communicating architectural form and space from the basis of being an artist, Whereas as I have discovered my own way of perceiving, analysing, representing and communication the human body from the basis of being an architect.

I must now attempt to make contact with Barbara, and I will post the outcome.

An unexpected evening?

Just going thro' a concentration of life-drawing sessions. Well, it feels like this after the paucity of the past Covid two years. Last night I was up in Monmouth at Claudia's evening class. The model is Andrew, who orchestrated those stimulating virtual Zoom sessions with himself modelling together with the amazing Wren and Fra (all recorded on this blog).

Lots and lots of movement and pauses for us to respond as we wished.

Then 3 or 4 short poses from which I took bits.

I began to see this as a framework for working on at a later date. Lots of feet and hands, and finally a more or less full-length pose superimposed upon everything else. 

Finally, this evening, something worthwhile! It was a struggle to start with. The arm and dangling hand went in first. Then the lower foot. So, "What next?" I asked myself. In an attempt to connect these two parts I introduced the outline profile curve of the left side of the pose. But something additional needed to be introduced to make a journey up thro' the composition. So I started on the face profile which I then worked on, and then I noted his right hand appearing into view, which introduced completed a journey structure up through the composition. Five minutes remaining, I just sat and went through what I had placed on my paper. A most fullfilling outcome!

November 21st: Claudia's photos

 I've just looked on Facebook to see that Claudia took a number of photographs during the day.

I can just be made out on the right, drawing with my two hands, but the image is somewhat blinded by the sun's rays pouring in through the window.

Here I am participating in the collective merry-go-round drawing session (see a previous posting)

During the morning coffee break I did a short presentation using A4 copies of my A1 drawings of the model Penny from over the past 15 years or so. It is fascinating to see oneself at work.

Re-united with Pennny

I have perhaps drawn Penny more than any other model over the something like 15 years of my life-drawing, so you can imagine what my delight was when I heard that she would be modelling in November particularly after not seeing her for well over 2 years. She agrees with me that a special bond exists between us and we have discussed the extreme advantages of this. Is my drawing any different because of this energy flow between us? Six drawings emerged from Sunday November 21st. A number are composed of two or more poses in my continuing pursuit of my 'Picabian transparency'.

Penny moved around and people prompted her to pause when something they liked was presented. Graphite pencil in each hand.

Three 5 minute poses in two-handed fine-liner pens.

Four standing poses in which Penny hinged herself around keeping one foot in the same position.

A curled-up pose sitting on a plinth. Graphite pencils.

Penny was stretched out before me. Most would turn their paper to a landscape format. But as you know I have a limited set of variables within which I pursue my art. One of my self-imposed parameters is 'portrait format'. I don't reduce the scale of my drawing in order to get the full length of the pose within the width of the paper. No, because it means that in drawing large I have to overlap and superimpose, and in order to still make out each part I have to employ transparency. So here we have 3 parts of the pose included: the upperpart shows the most of the body from her groin area, on the left, up to the lower part of her neck; then there is the left arm across the lower part of the composition; and within all this there is the left side of her head. How did I construct this drawing? With a fine-liner pen in each hand I mapped out the basics of these three parts. I then went in with a graphite pencil in my dominant had to firm up the forms. Glances of charcoal caressed in with my finger gave some 3-dimensional feeling. Final touches of heavier graphite pencil line were then added. I take particular delight in the outcome: firstly it takes time to identify exactly what is taking place, it is not immediately obvious; my morphing of the parts, which principally takes place between the head and the adjacent area creates an ambiguity; and finally the outcome is much more of a 'landscape' than a representation of a nude.

The final pose of the day was to create an exaggerated perspective by either looking down along the body with the head pushing forward, or viewing from the other end with the feet advancing towards one. Not everyone in the room could take advantage of this, and I was positioned at the side. But I did start off by bringing a foot to the fore. I have also (significantly) just noted that I have included four parts of the pose (see an earlier posting on the 4th Dimension). I would also place this drawing within my 'minimalism'.

Having now analysed and described what happened I am feeling this has been a most worthwhile day in further exploring my emerging themes.

A magical day

Just spent the day life-drawing in Monmouth organised by Claudia with the model Penny.

Here is my email just sent to Claudia, with the images from the collective drawing event in which we moved from easel to easel and making a contribution to the emerging drawing.

I will post my individual drawings of Penny in a day or so once I have photographed them.

 Hi Claudia, Congrats on your well orchestrated day!  You got us all going. And I particularly felt the group moving from easel to easel and each making their contribution, especially the second time around, was really good. Outstanding images resulted. An outcome quite special. I do enjoy your enthusiasm which I am certain helps people into experiencing a process and an art form in a very special and deep kind of way. Also, for me, it was a rewarding and somewhat necessary event: to join up with Penny is a fabulous way of helping to re-engage with the wonderful world of 'real life-drawing' after the past 18 months or so, as she has been so special to me in my evolving life-drawing journey. And what a lovely collection of people you attracted. See you tomorrow, Love, Bob

The first three, this morning.........

 ...........are serious drawings, which continue with themes which are now becoming well established. But I do consider that the quality of line is improving. The final two poses, after the coffee break, I felt demanded a different response: the full pose, i.e. no de-construction. But also I felt with the first three I had exhausted myself, and did not have the energy to continue that particular journey.

First three are fine-liner pens with graphite pencil. The full poses are graphite pencil only. The 'new' Paul is the model, who told me is just beginning a creative approach to being up in the ropes. In the final two poses he also brings in the plinth, and creates two highly exaggerated foreshortening forms which were quite difficult to handle.

 

Some recent thoughts....from my note-book

 Prior to my last posting I had made the following notes in my sketch/note book:

4th

the 4th dimension: this is about the time and the space within which a drawing is made.

I have also detected that some of my most successful drawings include, in their composition, four anatomical parts.

I have developed a language for evolving my art:

all those parts of the drawing:

• the sensuous bits
• the foot
• the heavy line alongside the tonal area
• the face profile
• bringing the two body profiles together
• a trilogy of mark-making
• overlapping, transparency, superimposing
• exaggerated foreshortening and perspective
• spaciality

May I include: Uncertainty AND Ambiguity.

Also: A language of basic 'concepts'

• 2 profiles, concentrated together
• a spatial complexity of arms, limbs and body parts
• ambiguity resulting in a 'landscape'
• the foreshortened exaggeration
• diverse, contrasting mark-making

My Picabian transparency theme keeps recurring

What are the essentialities of this genre?

• superimposing
• overlapping
• transparency
• different scales
• emphasis
• penetration
• spatiality
• contrasting mark-making
• a chance process

Here are some recent examples:

Building on the Past

 I suppose it's inevitable that occasionally I use an architectural metaphor when attempting descriptions of process. I started studying architecture in 1960 and spent the majority of my career as an architectural educator and academic.

Here I am referring to two aspects of this approach. On the one hand, and this is  fundamental to how I view my process, I follow an evolutionary nature of change in my art. Occasionally a big jump will take place, and perhaps this has happened only three or four times during the 15 years of my life-drawing. 

The characteristic of evolutionary change is very much encouraged by how I engage with my art in the time spaces between life-drawing sessions. Photographing my drawings, posting these on this blog, identifying what has taken place, then researching for parallels in order to place my art in a wider context, and then writing about this. Through carrying out these activities my actual 'images' on my paper get absorbed into my sub-conscious and so they become components of a deep structure within my mind which I then believe form an un-conscious guide to future actions.

On the other hand, I sometimes take an earlier drawing and superimpose upon it another one. This happened last evening at Claudia's life-drawing session in Monmouth. I had with me some drawings from last Thursday intending to use the backs of them. But in this case, because of the pose presented by Kate, I just felt it appropriate to place her over the drawing of Shelly from a few days ago (the poses were sort of similar) so I went for it.

The next drawing is from within my 'Picabian transparency' theme. This is something which has been gradually becoming more refined over recent months. Its characteristics are: a number of selected parts of a pose, individually isolated within the composition (not necessarily related to each other when introduced into the composition); different scales; a range of mark-making, i.e. fine-liner pens, graphite pencils, charcoal tonal work. I do not have a goal in this process. I have no concept of what the final outcome will be. That which emerges is often a surprise to me.

And finally on to the other two drawings from this evening. Just as in so many life-drawing classes the 'tutor' introduces a series of very short poses, perhaps one minute or so, in order to 'get people warmed up'. I could do without these. But occasionally an interesting outcome results. Not tonight:

And finally here is the result of two 10 minute poses brought together in one drawing. I have in the past produced a very similar relationship between the two poses, and recall that Egon Schiele did something similar.