The first two sets of three drawings were supposed to be 10 minute gesture drawings to get us warmed up at the start of the morning and the afternoon sessions, but I recall they tended to last for a bit longer. I like the marks made by the conte stick in the red drawing. With the other three I've individually posted I particularly like the wider range of colours employed. In the crouching figure I am using a much quicker and bolder technique than is usual in my work (using both conte stick and soft pastel) and I would like to follow this up. Although the marks seem crude it suggests to me a growing confidence, as I am not proposing an outline of the figure to start with before applying colour, I am simply throwing blocks of colour at the paper. Any outlining comes later to enforce certain parts of the figure.
For the main pose of the day Jane propped herself up by her arms and it was important to capture the underlying structure of this support given to the rest of her body. The purple drawing (conte on white cartridge paper) was the first, carried out speedily in order to familiarise myself with the basic form/geometry and to establish the correct body proportions. Perspective is also an issue. The blue and orange drawing (again conte on white cartridge) engaged with tonal issues, and slightly corrected the overall proportioning. The figure seems slightly more relaxed in this second drawing, less angular and less upright (perhaps she was by this time). The final drawing (pastel on a toned pastel paper) and was just beginning to fulfill its promise when the day came to an end.
