Life Drawing 7.1.19

Pen, continuous line
7.1.19

I didn't get around to blogging about last months life drawing session but it's a new year so I thought I'd start again! A few months ago I changed my sessions from a Tuesday evening to a Monday evening as it fitted in better with my work schedule and I'm so pleased I did. I find I'm less tired as it's the beginning of the week and I've been working in the same place all day so haven't had the stress of having to get to a different venue. All this means that I can settle into my drawing much faster and enjoy the sessions more.

Left handed drawing
7.1.19

Left handed drawing
7.1.19

Blind drawing
7.1.19

As often happens during the winter it was quite a quiet session with several of my regular artists unable to make it due to illness (get well soon all of you!) However, sometimes it's nice to have a quieter session and it gave us the opportunity to move around a bit more. We all tend to have our 'place' that we go to each session so sometimes when it's quieter people feel a bit more confident to move and try a different spot.

Pen, continuous line
7.1.19

Pen, continuous line
7.1.19

Pen, continuous line
7.1.19

I really enjoyed my drawing this session, in all aspects of my work and life I've been trying to be more mindful and focus on what I'm doing rather than trying to think of a hundred things at once. I think drawing is a very good mindful activity anyway, as I've written about before. I very much value my drawing time, it gives me an opportunity to focus solely on looking and drawing, keeping other thoughts at bay. It is also a multi sensory experience, the feel of the paper and the flow of the ink, the sound of the pen as well as the obvious visual information. I always feel much calmer after drawing, it's a chance to slow down and escape even if only for a short time.

Pen
7.1.19

Pen, continuous line, layered drawings
7.1.19

Pen, continuous line
7.1.19

Currently I have two lots of cartridge paper that I use for drawing; a perfectly serviceable mid weight paper and a much heavier and better quality one. By chance I picked up a stack of the heavyweight paper for this session and I was surprised by how much of a difference it made to my enjoyment of the drawing process. I've always strongly believed in using quality materials and working on this paper really is a much nicer experience than using the lighter stuff. I don't know that it made a great deal of difference to the quality of my drawings but in some ways the finished drawings are almost incidental; it's the process that I find most important.

Pen, continuous line
7.1.19

Blind drawing
7.1.19

Pen, continuous line, layered drawings
7.1.19

I'm continuing to enjoy layering up my sketches, creating some odd compositions but also some interesting shapes. I worked all in pen this session but last session I played about a bit with charcoal and maybe I'll have another go at that next time...

Pen, continuous line
3.12.18

Pen, continuous line
3.12.18

Pen, continuous line
3.12.18