Life Drawing 24.1.13

30 minute pose. Water-soluble graphite, graphite and crayon on prepared paper.

Another really good session; a great turn-out and lovely to see both new and familiar faces. One of the great things about organising these sessions is that even when I really don't feel like it (and I really didn't this Thursday) I have to go. This is a good thing because I do always enjoy it and am glad that I've made the effort. I enjoy the drawing and find it inspiring and I also really like catching up with everyone. So, thank you everyone who comes along, you help make my Thursdays better!

5 minutes. Pen

5 minutes. Pen. I should have stopped after the arm, it all went a bit skew after that!

Our model this week was Martin who is always a pleasure to work with. We had quite a few standing poses which was good as usually I tend to go for more crouch-y poses so it was good to try something a bit different. I mostly worked in pen again this week except for the longer pose where I used a combination of water-soluble and 'normal' graphite and wax crayon on a prepared background. I tried to get in a bit of detail and am reasonably pleased with how this piece has turned out.

Two pens together

Red pen, continuous line

Red pen

I like this set of drawings from the final 10 minute pose. Although I've used the same media throughout I like that each drawing has a slightly different feel.

10 minute 'droopy' pose. Pen.

15 minute pose. Pen. Hand detail.

15 minute pose. Pen. Continuous line.

15 minute pose. Marker pen.

Hearts and Roses

Brooch detail

It's been another busy week; I've been painting backdrops and plywood ovens with the guys at Heathlands as well as making pieces of steak out of fabric and sewing up a severed princesses arm (fabric again, don't worry.) All in the name of theatre, but more of that in a later post. I have also been working at James Rennie School this week where I have been tie dyeing with KS4. I really enjoyed my day with them, they were eager to learn and really got stuck in. And I once again ended up with blue hands, it's becoming a recurring theme. I will be working with them again in a couple of weeks when we will be using our tie-dyed fabric to make the sea!

Crochet brooch with fabric rose

Today, as a bit of a diversion from the madness of the week, I have been making some pretty crochet brooches for my Folksy shop. I've been playing around making some crochet hearts and I've been combining them with crochet flowers and buttons to make these pretty brooches. I was aiming for a romantic, vintage feel but with a modern twist, hence the colours. I'm really pleased with how they've turned out.

Crochet brooch with rose button

Small crochet brooch with rose button

Life Drawing 10.1.13

15 minute 'slouch.' Water-soluble graphite on painted paper

The first Life Drawing session of the year went very well, I thought. It was great to see everyone again and I'm really pleased that some of the 'new' people have come back. When I got to the centre I was mildly concerned as it was all locked up but my key worked and I got set up so it was all good. I think I left the lights on when I left though so I emailed and apologised. Setting the alarm alarms me.

30 minute pose. Unfinished! Water-soluble graphite on prepared paper

Anyway, onto the drawing! I spent some time the day before preparing paper to draw on so it was good to have that ready. I worked in a mixture of my now favourite water soluble graphite and pen. Something very unusual occured in this session; I set a half hour pose and in that time I did not complete a drawing. A whole 30 minutes and yet I was unable to finish, this never happens! I usually have a whole portfolio of drawings in that time. Admittedly I was working on two sheets of A1 and was taking my time getiing shadows in, I think I will at some point work back into this drawing with water to finish it off as I do think it needs a bit more work (and adding water to the soluble graphite is my favourite bit!)

5 minute pose. Pen

10 minutes, random falling pose. Pen, continuous line

Random fall, pen.

 For the last couple of poses of the session I asked the model to do her 'random falling' trick. I always find it slightly alarming when she does this as she literally throws herself on the floor which looks very painful but she assures me it isn't. It also generally looks like she's been murdered but I assure you no models were harmed in the making of these drawings.

Random Fall #2. Pencil

Random Fall #2. Pen on painted paper

Whilst reading this post I'm sure you've been thinking how much better the photos are than in previous posts. Well, dear readers, they are. On account of the fact that I got a shiny new toy! The camera that I really want is about £400 which I simply cannot justify but I've been saving up my Boots points for some time now and decided I would use them to get a camera. So I did. It's not quite a DSLR but it's pretty impressive, my favourite thing about it is the super macro. The pictures below are details of the texture I put on my prepared papers.

Paper detail

Paper detail

Life Drawing 2013

The first of the new year's life drawing session begins tomorrow evening. Any questions please feel free to contact me or just turn up!

Postcard Art

Pencil drawing

Whilst avoiding doing any work by looking for work (thus bypassing the need to feel guilty, so the theory goes) I came across The International Postcard Show being run by Surface Gallery in Nottingham. The basic premise is you do a postcard sized piece of artwork, send it to them and they will display it in their exhibition. The postcards are for sale and any not sold are sent to another participating artist. It sounded like a fun idea and a good excuse to get myself working so I thought I'd have a go. The postcards have to be there by this Friday so I've been working on mine today, ready to post off on Monday.

The finished postcard

I started off by preparing some paper with paint, newspaper and lace (to make a pattern in the paint surface.) When the paint was dry I used pencil to draw hands stitching. The paint gives a really smooth surface so the graphite slides along really easily making nice smudgy effects. I used red pencil for the thread to add a bit of contrast and stitched around the edge of the postcard with blanket stitch. I then mounted my drawing onto a fabriano postcard to make it a bit stiffer and postcard like.

Detail

Detail

Small projects like this I think are great because they get the creative juices flowing and get me working without the fear of committing to a large piece of work or feeling overwhelmed. Also, it's a nice thought that people are going to see what I've done and someone else is going to end up with it.

Back of the postcard

So, if you find yourself in Nottingham between 16th January and February go along and see what people around the world have sent in.

No resolutions, just some crochet

Crochet Collar

Rather than bore everyone with a post about new beginnings, resolutions and so on I've decided my first post of 2013 shall bore you with pretty crochet instead. At least there are nice photos.

Back view

Front detail

Over the holidays I like to make more frivolous things, especially for myself. So, this holiday I've made myself a pretty crochet collar and a dress (potentially to be worn together.) Before Christmas I tend to spend a lot of time making stuff for other people which is great and I enjoy it but afterwards I like to be a little bit selfish!

Indigo dress

Dress sleeve detail

I really enjoyed making this collar. I got the pattern from Ravelry and it's simple and easy to follow and I'm really pleased with the results. I used a 4 ply cotton yarn in a plum purple colour and a 4mm hook. The dress was from a New Look pattern and was an interesting make as there were lots of darts and shaping bits involved. I used a denim type fabric in a dark indigo and as a consequence my hands looked like smurf hands afterwards!

Cool shadows

Pattern detail

More cool shadows

Crochet hearts

I've also been playing around with making some crochet hearts, ready for Valentines day maybe?

Happy New Year everyone!