Life Drawing 4.2.19

Layered continuous line drawings

It's hard to believe but we're already in to the second month of the New Year. I wrote in my last post about Life Drawing that having changed the day to a Monday meant I had more energy for the sessions. That wasn't so true for this session as it had been a very long day at work but by the end of the session I definitely felt calmer, even though I was very tired.

Blind drawing

Continuous line drawing

Continuous line drawing

I find Life Drawing endlessly fascinating because it's so different every time; depending on the model, the artists who attend and so many other factors it's never quite the same. Each model has their own way of working and this is one of the biggest factors that affects the sessions. Our model for this session had lots of poses planned and sketched out and it was interesting watching him choose and adapt which poses to use throughout the session. There were also some impressive props, including a large sword (I bet no one argued with him on his way home!)

Layered blind drawings

Layered blind drawings

Layered blind and continuous line drawings

I wasn't particularly pleased with my drawings this evening but I enjoyed the actual drawing process. The poses were quite challenging, providing some really interesting shapes and I had to work hard to try capture them (with varying degrees of success.) I use blind drawing (not looking at my drawing at all, only at the model) to help me understand each pose and I find that the drawings that come after the blind drawings are generally more accurate as I've given myself chance to properly observe what's there.

Continuous line drawing

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

Life Drawing gives me the chance to just enjoy drawing; I don't think too much about what I'm doing or what it looks like. I spend much more time looking at the model than at my paper and letting the drawings emerge. Because it is so time limited I feel like I want to make the most of it and get as much information down as I can as in a couple of hours the model will be gone (home, not gone forever you understand.)

Continuous line drawing

Continuous line drawing

Continuous line drawings

It was good to have some new faces this evening as well, having run these sessions for so long now it's great having a mix of people that I now know quite well as well as new people who come in and give a fresh perspective on things. The next session is Monday 4th March, let me know if you want to join me!

Continuous line drawings

Continuous line drawing (pencil)

Continuous line drawing

Life Drawing 5.11.18

Pen, continuous line

Another month has raced past and it's time for Life Drawing again. I was really looking forward to this session as I enjoyed last month so much. I wasn't disappointed, it was a small group but most of the artists have been coming to my sessions for a while so we know each other quite well now and we do have a laugh. One of the reasons I continue to run these sessions is because of the group of people who attend, it's a good opportunity to learn from each other, share stories and gently critique our work.

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

I wrote last month that our model had lost a great deal of weight, changing her poses in interesting ways. Similarly this month's model,who has been modelling for me since I started running sessions seven years ago, has also lost a lot of weight and again there were some subtle changes in the poses he chose. I like this 'evolution' and seeing how the models change and pose differently according to how they physically look and how they feel. However, I am slightly concerned that all my models are wasting away...

Blind drawing

Continuous line drawing

I struggled with getting the proportions right in this session, I don't know whether that was anything to do with the fact that I've drawn this model a lot so there was maybe an element of drawing what I thought should be there rather than what was or because I was just struggling with proportion. I think probably a bit of both. I tend not to worry too much about proportion and to just try and work it out through 'blind' drawing and by repeatedly drawing the pose until I get it right. I draw quickly and I try really hard not to overthink my drawing and to let it flow. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't but it's interesting to look at afterwards and see the bits that went well and not so well and to try and work out why.

Multiple drawings

Layered blind drawings

Layered drawings

In this session I also looked at layering up my drawings a bit more, rather than move on to a new piece of paper for each new sketch I tried to work up multiple drawings of the same pose on one sheet of paper. I like the interesting compositions and strange juxtapositions working like this can create. It's not really planned so it does sometimes turn out to be a little odd. I also worked in more than one colour and again I like the way the drawings interact with each other, it adds a bit more definition rather than just becoming a jumble of lines.

Blind drawing

Multiple sketches

The next session is Monday 3rd December and I'm already looking forward to it!

Continuous line drawing

Life Drawing 20.6.17

Continuous line drawing

I think this session is the first time ever I've had to ask my model if they were cool enough, taking place as it did during our heatwave. The heat was certainly taking it's toll on me, I felt very lethargic and tired and not much like drawing at all. However, I also knew that as the session progressed I would relax and start to enjoy my drawing and I did end up with a few drawings I was quite happy with.

Blind drawing

Slowed down continuous line

Blind drawing

I've written a couple of times about how life drawing (both as an experience and the resulting drawings) is influenced by the mood of both the model and the artist. The poses a model chooses can be an expression of how they're feeling, sometimes this is quite obvious but usually it is quite subtle, equally the mood of the artist can affect their interpretation of a pose. I think this is one of the reasons life drawing is so interesting and so different to other types of drawing. It is very much about the relationship of one person to another.

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

As I mentioned before the heat and a busy week made me quite lethargic and not especially motivated so I found it difficult to really get into my drawing. However, another of the things I like about life drawing is that it can be a good opportunity to let my mind wander but in quite a controlled way; I have to make sure I keep the timing for the poses and there's always a part of my brain concentrating on the drawing but other parts of my brain are free to go off at a tangent. This session I was thinking a lot about line and how various artist have used it which gave me some interesting ideas to explore at a later date.

Slowing down to look at lines

Continuous line

Face studies

Our model gave us a great range of poses, including some very challenging foreshortening. I used a lot of 'blind' drawing to understand the poses so I could then go on to make more controlled drawings. I also tried to really slow my drawing down, rather than whizzing across the page I tried going more slowly. I still worked with simple lines but by slowing everything down I tried to change the feel of the drawings and to really study what was in front of me. I'm not sure it really shows in the drawings but it was an interesting experiment.

Blind drawing

Blind drawings, over the top of each other

Foreshortening in red pen

Sadly at the moment I can't book any further sessions but I'm hoping to restart in September and I think a break over the summer will give me a chance to miss it a bit and come back with renewed enthusiasm.

Life Drawing 16th May 2017

Blind Drawing

For this session we had a model who used to pose quite regularly for us when I started running the sessions but since we swapped days (2 or 3 years ago) hasn't been able to model as frequently. I was really pleased she could make this session as she is one of my favourites to draw with lots of interesting curves. As a former rugby player she can also hold some unusual poses which is always interesting and a challenge.

Pen, continuous line

Pen, continuous line. Layered drawings

Pen, continuous line

I've not been doing much drawing at all recently, I've been focusing on other things (mostly dyeing) and I've also been a bit 'at sea' creatively, lacking focus and direction. Life drawing is really helpful when I'm creatively stuck as it gets me drawing and thinking. I've written a lot about the benefits of drawing and one of the key benefits for me is that helps stimulate my creative thought process.

Graphite

Pencil

This evening I had another go at a shaded pencil drawing but even as I was working on the drawing I was thinking about why I don't normally draw like this! I'd sketched the basic pose out before I started shading and I found that what I actually really liked about my drawing was the delicacy and insubstantial nature of the sketch rather than the form of the shaded sections. Once I start adding form the drawing becomes heavier and more real with less room for the imagination, which is (in my opinion) the appeal of the sketchy line drawing.

Blind Drawing

Pen, continuous line

Pen, continuous line

One of the other benefits of life drawing when I'm a bit stuck is that it's good to work with other artists and see how they approach things. I love seeing everyone's work at the end of a session and how we all have totally different styles and approaches. I'm often inspired by this part of the session to try something different and it's also interesting (and reassuring) to hear about what other artists struggle with and what excites them about drawing.

Blind Drawing

Blind Drawing

Blind Drawing

One aspect of my drawing that I'm really happy with at the moment is how my 'blind' drawings are developing (drawing without looking at the page at all.) I find it a great way to help me understand and map out a pose, especially if it is a pose I'm struggling with. I'm finding now that my blind drawings are starting to become quite accurate, sometimes more so than my other drawings. It can also produce some quite comical results!