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 Penny on 04/03/10

Two of the 10 to 15 minute poses from the day. The upper one is on white cartridge and uses conte crayon, which when lightly drawn across the paper allows a transparency in the colour, but when pressure is applied a denser colour results. The second uses soft pastels and a heavily textured white paper, which again results in a transparency as the paper's texture shows through. (I must find out what this paper it is called as I am really enjoying the quality).

A longer drawing in which the pose from last week was continued so I moved across the studio to deal with the issue of perspective from the head end. I firstly completed a drawing of the whole body (not shown) but during its execution became fascinated by the issue of the relative sizes of the head, breasts and stomach in the perspective, so I then focussed on these. As on 02/03/10 the strength and colour of the background was important to help lift the figure from the paper. As with most of my drawings done in life classes this one is far from complete, and I have only laid the foundations of the colours to the body in what I believe is referred to as 'the underpainting'.

An interesting point is illustrated by today's studies. Drawings can have different functions. The first two above are basically gesture drawings which aim to capture the 'attitude' of the figure, and in my case also deal with my continuing exploration of the relationship between colour and tone (or value as it is called in North America). However, I am now convinced, that when working on a longer pose, of the importance of working on the backgound in parallel with the figure. There are lots of reasons why this should be done which I may reflect upon in a future posting.

Drawing Penny 25/02/2010

A morning of black and white (above) with an afternoon of colour (below).

Firstly, 3x10 minute charcoal drawings on A2 cartridge. I started with my usual 'rounded' form, with some smoothing with the finger. I then employed a technique which you will see I have been developing in my hard pastel/conte work. The charcoal stick is used on its length in an up-and-down movement. I very much like the mark this technique creates.

For the main pose of the day Penny reclined on rugs on the floor with her left foot drawn towards her so raising up her left knee. In the morning I did a quick 10 minute charcoal drawing to familiarise myself with the principal form issues and particularly the perspective issue. Then the first of the three A1 drawings which evolved around a number of issues. The first deals with, (i) the character and quality of marks on the paper;

(ii) perspective;

(iii) the respective and relative sizes of different parts of the body;

(iv) tonal values; and

(v) composition. [these five issues are not placed in any particular order]

After lunch we again did 3x10 minute 'warm-up' drawings. Here I again place emphasis on tonal issues by selecting only reds/browns. This is related to the use of 'analogous colours', i.e. utilizing the tonal differences between colours which are adjacent each other on the colour wheel. I use a red-orange, a red and a light and darker brown (before anyone corrects me I know there is no brown on a colour wheel). But I hope you can see what I am trying to do. This experimentation with 'analogous colours' was then taken into the final two drawings of the day.

For the final drawing (below) I introduced an even lighter tone to start with by outlining the basic form with a yellow pastel. I then introduced into the build-up an orange, a red, a light brown and then a darker brown. Finally I punctuated the darkest points with a black. It is interesting to note that the first yellow marks dealt with about 85% of the figure with each darker tone addressing a lesser percentage of the body, until the final black perhaps focussed on only 1% or 2% of the drawing. The white paper, of course, is utilised as the areas of lightest tone (the highlight areas).

If we bring the three main drawings together we can summerise the learning, and development, that has emerged in the process:

(i) the figure is transformed from an angular, muscular, masculine and a rather uncomfortably stiff body, to one that is appropriately softer, more rounded and feminine, and is very relaxed upon the rugs.

(ii) the thighs are given prominance against the reduced torso, and the right arm is lengthened, which gives an enhanced (and more correct) perspective to the form.

(iii) the hand is better understood and the drawing of the hand consequentely improves at each stage.