A day with Penny

 

Drawing Shelley at Extreme Poses on January 27th

 

January 20th at Extreme Poses

 

Drawing as a story, a narrative.

 'Bits and pieces put together to present a semblance of a whole', perhaps this can be description of my process. But my 'whole' is HOW I have engaged with the parts thro' the time of the pose. A drawing may appear as a collection of parts, thrown together, but I believe my drawing is descriptive enough to be illustrative of the pose/body/form as a whole. My 'whole' is the sequence of events as I move thro' time, and the whole has a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

Yet I also see my drawings as continuing expansions and characterised by evolutionary developments. I focus on, and engage with, the intimate spaces of the body. My process then becomes a meditation on a human form. Drawing is a meditation.

Drawing is also a kind of hypnotism: one looks in such a way at the model, and she comes and takes a seat on your paper. But she has to pass through you, and it is this that makes what appears on the paper so special, so particular, so individual, so personal to the artist, and tells the story of the making of the drawing, saying much about your perceptual and selective processes.

An attention to 'spatiality': the addition of a line.

 'Spatiality', and here is my current definition. Two aspects:

1. 

'Overlap' and 'Superimposition' results/leads to a 'Transparency'.

'Transparency' is enhanced with linear drawing/mark-making technique (although I have achieved it, but differently, with 3D/sculptural and tonal work.

2.

'Architectural Form'.

This is where straight lines (often representing part of a plinth) suggest planes.

These planes can be given perspective, thereby suggesting depth.

In this drawing (see previous posting) the full edge of the plinth was incomplete at the time of completing the drawing (see first image). Returning to the drawing after a few days it was clear to me that the line of the edge of the plinth could be seen and therefor extended to the left of the tummy (see second image). As a result of this addition the whole depth of space to the left of the central figure is opened up, and the central figure becomes more prominent and its form so much more clearer and more challenging to the beholder.

Different again?

I feel pleased that I, and others, can detect a continuing evolution within my art.

I am with Shelley who increasingly initiates a particular response from within me. More than any other model I feel that when I am drawing her I am building upon earlier dialogues. Any change is only realised after the event. In the studio, at the time, I am just responding to the moment. After a few days pass, and I get the drawings out, it is only then that the change can be observed. When I talk of 'building upon earlier dialogues' I am referring to this extraordinary deeply felt, sub-conscious memory, never rationalised, experience of the interaction of the two of us, model and artist. 

These drawings from last Thursday strongly indicate to me further movement from the characteristics and qualities which Paul and I talked about a week or so ago. Some very subtle. Others more obvious.

• confident single-line drawing once the basic form had been lightly suggested with both hands holding a line-liner pen
• cluster of two hands holding two feet all supported by a strap
• breast bulged as it is pressed against the upper thigh
• as I arrived late due to traffic congestion time was limited to 15 minutes and hence only a partial response to this first pose, so my intention was to add part or all of a second pose to this drawing. However, I hesitated, as perhaps it held something in its present form. With each of the other 4 poses of the session I moved into other responses and never did return to this drawing.

• I have challenged the strong perspective of the pose which is created by the advancing feet with the body leaning back into the distance, by dividing the pose into three and superimposing them all at the same scale
• I first drew the feet up to the knees
• I then was attracted by the clasped hands which went in with the arms resting just below the breasts
• I wanted to include the head and employed a key criterion of mine which is never to include 'two eyes, a nose and a mouth' as a full face always attracts the eye of the beholder away from the rest of the composition
• two opposing strong diagonals create a powerful composition
• there is a range of weight of line

• parts of two poses, different scales

• as with drawing nos2 the pose is divided into three parts
• the hands dangling from arms resting on straps
• the feet taking the weight of the standing pose down on to the plinth
• superimposed over the drawing of the hands and feet are her waist, buttocks and upper legs
• a series of straight lines in the upper and lower parts of the composition suggest a space within and beyond

• again three parts of the pose are focused on and moved to overlap and superimpose
• kneeling on the plinth bottom sitting on feet
• arms supported by straps
• beautiful line of the breast and tummy
• also in this composition one outline of the torso (the breast and tummy) is moved to meet closely with the other outline (of her back and bottom) to create a tall vertical space within which other things can happen: in this case the head has been brought in from the far right and placed here

Another line experiment.

It's the last two hour Monday evening session before Christmas with tall long lean muscly sinuous John as our model. These are both two-handed fine-liner pen drawings but here I have now gone over all the marks with a 3B graphite pencil. This eliminates the diversity in weight of mark-making and transforms the drawing into something completely different. In applying this one weight of line I was making no reference to what the original line was actually making a reference to or representing. I simply wanted to see what the result would be if all lines were brought to the same plane and perhaps a challenge introduced to my 'spatiality'. A reversal, perhaps, of my usual journey which starts with a two-dimensional beginning and enters a process which unfolds into the fourth-dimension. 

I showed these to Paul Fowler hoping for an observation that would place them in a context. His immediate comment was "These are like prints". We talked of 'blocks' of space and parts put together, resembling a woodcut or linocut. I asked if he agreed that by applying one weight of line to all marks irrespective of their original lightness or heaviness that the drawing had become a two-dimensional work. He felt they still maintained a three-dimensional and spatial quality. Interesting!.