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| Pen, continuous line |
I didn't run a Life Drawing session in December last year (too many other things on) so it seemed like a very long time since the last one. As often happens I didn't really feel like heading out to run a session but as always I ended up really enjoying it once I got there. It was lovely to see everyone after the break and to catch up; I've got a really supportive and friendly group of artists now who regularly attend so it feels like a social event as much as an art session sometimes. Similarly some of the models, including tonight's model, have been with me for a long time so it's always good to see them and hear their news.
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| Pen, continuous line |
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| Pen, simple lines |
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| Pen, continuous line |
Nick has been modelling for my sessions since I first started running them four or five years ago and he's one of my favourites to draw. He has a very solid presence and creates some great monumental poses. I find my drawings of Nick often have a slightly 'Soviet Realism' feel to them; strong confident poses and clean lines.
I'm always trying to improve my drawing and try new things and one of the things I've been looking at in my daily drawing is working with shading a bit more. I love working with line but I want to push myself and try different ways of working so I used a graphite stick for some of my drawings in this session. Interestingly I still ended up with what was predominantly a line drawing, but there were some interesting variations in line quality that are difficult to achieve with a pen.
I started the session with a blue pen, I like the softer lines this produces but it doesn't photograph well! I also worked with my trusty black pen, I love the strong confident line of this pen and the feel of it as it glides over the paper. Drawing is a very sensory experience, the looking at what you're drawing, the feel of the paper and the pen's movement, the sound of the pen across the paper all impact on the experience. I think this is one of the reasons that drawing is so good for well being, it's easy to become absorbed and 'in the moment' with drawing because it engages so many physical senses as well as using more cerebral senses (thinking about colour, composition etc.)
I always come away form the life drawing sessions with more energy than I started with, the drawing and sharing with other artists is a really important aspect of the sessions as it can sometimes be a bit lonely and frustrating working in isolation. It helps to share experiences and ideas and the little achievements made each session; this time I managed to fit a whole body on one piece of paper! Roll on February!
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| Graphite stick |
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| Graphite stick |
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| Pen, continuous line |
I'm always trying to improve my drawing and try new things and one of the things I've been looking at in my daily drawing is working with shading a bit more. I love working with line but I want to push myself and try different ways of working so I used a graphite stick for some of my drawings in this session. Interestingly I still ended up with what was predominantly a line drawing, but there were some interesting variations in line quality that are difficult to achieve with a pen.
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| Pen, continuous line |
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| Pen, continuous line (and I got the whole body on one page!) |
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| Blind drawing |
I started the session with a blue pen, I like the softer lines this produces but it doesn't photograph well! I also worked with my trusty black pen, I love the strong confident line of this pen and the feel of it as it glides over the paper. Drawing is a very sensory experience, the looking at what you're drawing, the feel of the paper and the pen's movement, the sound of the pen across the paper all impact on the experience. I think this is one of the reasons that drawing is so good for well being, it's easy to become absorbed and 'in the moment' with drawing because it engages so many physical senses as well as using more cerebral senses (thinking about colour, composition etc.)
 |
| Pen, continuous line |
 |
| Pen, continuous line |
I always come away form the life drawing sessions with more energy than I started with, the drawing and sharing with other artists is a really important aspect of the sessions as it can sometimes be a bit lonely and frustrating working in isolation. It helps to share experiences and ideas and the little achievements made each session; this time I managed to fit a whole body on one piece of paper! Roll on February!
