A week in the life......!

Starting the week of life-drawing by drawing Su at Angela Palmer's class at Brockweir in the Wye Valley.
Yes, we too have our Rubensesque 'three graces'. 10 minutes each at the start of the day. Then on to the pose as last week. I wanted to have another attempt at this one and tried to be fairly selective with the marks I made. HB and 2B pencil with graphite powder applied with a brush for the tonal study. I also wanted to address the perspective issue as the breasts, knees and feet tumble away from the main part of the body.

For the following drawing I moved in close to the model and looked down upon her shoulder and enlarged the arm and hand neared to me.

The second day took me to Paul Fowler's 'Extreme Poses' at Pegasus Arts in Stroud with the same model as in the previous two weeks, and again she is suspended within the matrix of ropes from beams in the studio.

In this next drawing her foot is advancing forward and quite near to me. I started by drawing her right foot first. Then I added her left foot. The other parts of the body were then inserted. The idea for the drawing, particularly its composition with the advancing foot as the principal and dominant element, is far better than the actual draughting technique of its execution: I would prefer to have the more distant parts of the body more lightly drawn.

So that is exactly what I attempted here: there is a concentration of marks with an increased pressure on the pencil to those parts of the body nearest to me, with the distant head being lightly indicated with a few selectively minimal lines.

On the third day I drew Penny at Tony Tribe's class at Arts Alive in Crickhowel in Powys.

At the start two eight minute quickies.

Then a standing pose. This was a straightforward standing pose with a slight twist to the body and the weight supported on the left leg with the toes of the right foot giving her balance. This is the second drawing I did of this pose and again I was more interested in the marks I was making on the paper than the accuracy in the proportions of her body (but its not a bad effort).

This was my final drawing of the day, which I was pleased with. I believe I managed to capture the forward slump of her head and shoulders, with the weight from her right arm resting on her thigh. I made a special effort to bring her right leg forward and down and believe the slight exaggeration I introduced here helps the perspective of the composition.

'Extreme Poses' on 20.01.2011

One of the main issues which is unavoidable to address, by having the model suspended high up in the studio, is that of perspective. Depending on the pose itself then different parts of the body come advancing towards the artist, and I feel compelled to engage with this perspective challenge and thereby consider the degree to which I may exaggerate the perspective within the form. The first two drawings clearly engage this issue. Feet and legs are enlarged and the upper body is correspondingly reduced.

Again all drawings are in pencil (HB followed by 2B) and are on A1 cartridge paper.

Just a reminder: these poses are held for about 30 minutes.

The next drawing: I am very satisfied with. Perhaps it is one of my most successful pieces. And there are many criterion which it satisfies, which causes me to elevate it to this position. I will need time to reflect on this in order to explain my view. I am still on a high following today's session.

Finally, today, we did a 10 minute drawing. The model tensioned herself within the trapeze rope matrix. It was clear from the start that she was not going to hold the pose for long. We acted quickly.

Her right hand was the nearest part of her body to me; there was tension within the pull; her breasts bulged over her thighs; she was ready to catapult across the studio. We had such a short time to capture the pose!

Drawing Su on 18.01.2011

All drawings today are basically pencil on A1 cartridge paper.

This is my first drawing of the day. It is a ten minute pose and I wanted to employ a particular approach which had been emerging over the weeks prior to Christmas in which I am attempting to use a minimal amount of marks and lines. I am trying to be selective in the marks I make on the paper by slowing down the process of drawing, and thinking a bit more before I draw the pencil across the surface of the paper. Then on to the main pose which we will have for all of today and also next Tuesday. So I will have lots of time to really familiarise myself with the principal characteristics of the model, e.g. form, proportion, size and weight, and so hope to spend my time exploring drawing technique, e.g. line, texture and tone. However, I have drawn Su many times and therefore already am fairly familiar with her personality and characteristics.

HB and 2B pencil are used to start with, in varying combinations with a 6B pencil, charcoal, and graphite powder applied with a brush.

I was seated at my easel for the above pose but then moved across the studio, closer to the model, raised my easel and stood looking down upon the model. You will see that I am looking down upon her shoulders, and the challenge is to capture the cascade of the layers of her body within the perspective of the posse.

First drawings of the New Year 2011

What better way to start my New 'life-drawing' Year at Paul Fowler's challenging 'Extreme Poses' where the model is suspended from the beams in the studio within a matrix of trapeze ropes. For those new to this blog you will see that I do not include the ropes in my drawings. In fact, when drawing I am rarely aware of the ropes. So sometimes the pose may appear odd, with for example a hand appearing to be holding or resting on something. But this is compensated by a 'poetry of form' which is unlikely to be achieved in a more traditional or classic pose. I find the principal challenge to be in responding to the exaggerated perspective as an arm and hand or a leg and foot comes advancing towards me perhaps only half a metre from my easel.

In the first two drawings I took up some of the issues which had been emerging in my work in the few months towards the end of last year: pencil technique, tonal variation, 'lost edges', perspective, and aiming for a continuity or flow along the length of the pose.

I also started to employ a key technique which ensures I get the whole body on the paper: I outline a rectangle on the paper corresponding to the rectangle which contains the pose. I start by drawing the figure within that rectangle but with the full knowledge that I can extend an arm or a leg or the head into this border and slightly exaggerate the form but not need to go beyond the edge of the paper. This is clearly illustrated in this first drawing where the lower part of the left leg has been extended well beyond the initial pencilled rectangle into the corner of the paper. I truly believe that what I have ended up drawing is exactly what I should be seeing, as the foot comes advancing towards me. However, if I judged the actual proportions of the leg in relation to the rest of the body, by holding a pencil at arms length, the leg would end up being drawn far shorter [I hope this explains what I am attempting and what I am achieving]. These drawings are on A1 cartridge paper.

These poses last about 30 minutes. After these first two drawings I just felt I wanted to do something different, so on A1 beige newsprint I introduced a white conte crayon for the highlights.

The final two drawings are quickies at the end of the morning. Both use HB pencil with the second being finalised with a graphite stick.

Firstly a five minute A1 drawing.

Secondly a ten minute A1 drawing.

For the first two poses I was 2.5 metres from the model but for the last three drawings the nearest part of the model was within 50 cms of my easel.

At 'Extreme Poses' on 16/12/2010

Hoisted up in the studio by the network of trapeze ropes the resultant figure appears to float in air. In these poses which last for about 30 minutes one of the main issues is that of capturing the perspective of the pose as elements e.g. hands, and particularly the feet, come advancing towards one, and the torso , shoulders and head recede into the distance.

In this first drawing I used layers of graphite powder applied with a brush for the dark tones.
In this next drawing I became aware of the desirability of applying heavier lines and marks to those parts of the body nearest to me.

In these final two drawings of the morning I again tackled this issue of perspective, and deliberately exaggerated the drawing of the legs and feet in relation to the rest of the body beyond. I gave them some further emphasis with tonal hatching.

In these final two drawings, with the encouragement of my tutor Paul Fowler, I worked hard to also introduce a 'continuity of flow' up through the composition; a kind of journey through the drawing before one's eyes. The aim here is to unite the closer and somewhat exaggerated elements with the more distant parts of the body, and so produce a more coherent, consistent and complete composition.

All four drawings are on A1 cartridge paper and I am standing at my easel less than one metre from the nearest part of the model. Yes, she is really close!

Drawing a new model at 'Extreme Poses' on 09/12/2010

I spent the morning at Paul Fowler's 'Extreme Poses' life-drawing class where the model positions herself within a network of trapeze ropes hung from the ceiling and tensioned to a fixing in the floor (but as explained in previous postings I do not include the ropes in my drawing and, in fact, become quite oblivious to their existence). I continued with my exploration of pencil, charcoal and graphite powder on A1 cartridge paper. Here are the four drawings from the morning, and a change from Natalie who has been with us for the past ten or twelve weeks but who is now in India for the next year or so.

Drawing Penny on 07/12/2010

As most of the usual courses have ended for the Christmas break a few of us gathered for life-drawing at Alex Brown's studio, over in England near Lydney on the banks of the Severn Estuary. Alex had asked Penny to model before she set off with her son to visit Nepal.
It was a good day for everyone who joined the group. Alex did not intend to do any teaching (he normally runs life-drawing classes, and in my view is a great teacher), however he could not resist offering really helpful advice but spent most of the time doing his own work. Which was inspiring!

We started with two 10 minute poses. I used a medium charcoal pencil on A1 cartridge paper. I lightly explored the basic form and then added pressure to emphasise the key elements of the composition. The frontal view of the model was my first drawing. It is then something of a gamble to do a second drawing on the same piece of paper. But it worked. And I love the way I have captured the model's curvaceous form and the turn of her body.

The main pose for the day I did two drawings at two different positions in the studio. In each case the imperfections, principally in the aspects of 'proportion' and 'perspective', I attempted to correct in the second drawing at each location.

In these I am pursuing my recently adopted technique of using an HB pencil to explore the basic form, followed by a 3b pencil to emphasise selected aspects of the drawing. Either charcoal which is then vigorously brushed down or graphite powder which today I applied with my finger, is then used to suggest areas of darker tone. All these are on A1 cartridge paper.

I then turned to a 'landscape' format for the second location.

Having spent most of the day viewing the perspective from the feet end of the pose I decided on a change and so for the last 30 minutes or so I set my easel close to her head and embarked upon a very quick and spontaneous response to the view before me.

Issues of: foreshortening (the right arm); lost edges (the right thigh); heavier/darker treatment of the foreground (the hair) and lighter treatment of distant elements in the perspective (the right thigh and knee), became highlighted in this piece of work. Also, strongly in evidence is the record of the history of the the making of the drawing, and this 'history' becomes an integral and important element in the character of the final presentation. The initial early lines of the HB pencil are allowed to show through the transparency of the applied graphite powder.