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

Inventive Sketchbooks at Cloud 9

Set up ready for the workshop

If you've read this blog before you'll know that I love running workshops, I love that each time I run a workshop it's different and I learn something new, even when I've run the session many times before. Yesterday I ran my 'Inventive Books' workshop at the lovely Cloud 9 Studio Gallery in the centre of Dumfries. I had three great participants and we all had a productive, creative and enjoyable time. The gallery is a lovely place to visit, there are lots of lovely things to look at (and buy!) and Julie, the owner is really friendly.

Making pages for our folded books

Making pages for our folded books

Making pages for our folded books

It's unusual for me to have such a small group, hosting workshops can be expensive so generally places need a higher number of participants to make it work financially. It's a very different dynamic working with a small group and it was a nice change. The participants were all very creative people as well so that also changed the dynamic, throughout the day I had to remind myself that I was working as it was such a relaxed atmosphere it was more like a creative conversation than teaching.

Folding our books

Folding our books

Folding our books

I shared my processes for making my favourite folded sketchbook and envelope sketchbook and everyone had a chance to make one of each using a selection of papers that they felt inspired by or drawn to. One of the reasons I love making my own sketchbooks is that I can select the papers I use and make it personal to me. I like to draw on a range of different papers so making my own books means that I can pick out the papers I like and use them to create a sketchbook I know I'll want to work in.

Making covers

Making covers

Beautifully finished folding book

We also discussed ways of working in sketchbooks. Like many things, I think that for most people getting started is often the hardest part. As a starting exercise I gave everyone a word or phrase to get them going, I kept these deliberately vague so that lots of different ideas could be generated, it doesn't matter if these ideas don't lead to a final piece the important thing is to get going and start the creative process both in terms of thinking and making. Over the years I've backed myself into a corner (creatively speaking) so many times by getting overly focused on finding the 'right' idea to work on. Over time I've learnt that it's better just to do something, anything as the thoughts and ideas will flow much more easily.

Starting to work in our sketchbooks

Starting to work in our sketchbooks

Starting to work in our sketchbooks

Sketchbooks are very personal things and I love that each one made on this workshop is so different and reflects the personality of its maker. I finished the workshop feeling inspired by the conversations we'd had and happy that I was able to share some of my favourite techniques and hopefully inspire my participants to carry on their creative journey.

Finished books

Finished book

Finished book

Life Drawing 20.2.18

Continuous line

Usually it seems like no time at all between sessions but I did feel like we'd had quite a big break this time as it was 6 weeks rather than the usual 4 as I'd had to shift the dates around. As usual I was tired from a busy day at work but I was also looking forward to drawing.

Hand

Hand

Feet

It always interests me how the atmosphere changes depending on who turns up. For this session I was the only female which was unusual as normally there is a mix. I found that the atmosphere was more intense than normal, but that could have been the personalities present as much as anything else. This change in dynamic is one of the reasons I like the Life Drawing sessions, it alters each time and so changes my drawings too.

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

Blind drawing: faces

Although I have mostly been keeping up with my daily drawing practice I felt really rusty for this session and wasn't particularly happy with any of my drawings. However, I enjoyed the discipline of being there and drawing and working through the disappointment with my sketches. I really enjoyed 'blind' drawing too, I've found this really helps me when I'm struggling with a pose as it makes me really focus on the pose rather than the drawing and I notice things I might otherwise miss.

Blind drawing

Drawing with my non dominant hand

Continuous line

Interestingly, looking back on the drawings after a week or so when I came to photograph them I was a lot happier with them and there are some that I think are actually quite good. One of the poses meant that I had some extreme foreshortening to contend with but I'm pleased with how some of the sketches from this pose have worked out.

Extreme foreshortening 

Extreme foreshortening 

Extreme foreshortening 

I was very impressed with some of the charcoal studies some of the other artists had done and I think that next session I might have a go with charcoal, it's been a while but it might be good to break out of my pen habit and try something different.

Hands

Continuous line

Continuous line

Life Drawing 9.1.18

Black felt tip pen, continuous line

A New Year and some new Life Drawing sessions! I was looking back over my pictures from last year and realised that we had the same model in January 2017 as we did this evening. This is no bad thing as I always enjoy drawing this evenings model and am generally quite pleased with how my work turns out. He's very confident and solid and somehow I find that translates into my drawings, I want to use strong bold lines and just go for it.

Felt tip pen, blind drawing

Felt tip pen, continuous line

Felt tip pen, continuous line

I did have a minor tragedy, I only had one of my favourite drawing pens (where on earth have they all gone? I had loads) and this ran out before the end of the session. However, I did have a lot of fun drawing with felt tips, I really like the way it glides across the page and the strong bold lines it creates. I'm not sure I'd like to draw all of my models with these pens but they were perfect for this evening and I felt like it got me out of a bit of a rut.

Blind drawing

Very fine fine liner

Blind drawing

I also went back to my sticking multiple sheets of paper together approach as I seem to be incapable of fitting a body on one piece of paper. I really enjoyed the expanding drawing and actually spent over twenty minutes on one drawing, which for me is a long time. I think for the first time ever I wanted slightly longer poses as I was really focused and intent on my drawings. Maybe that's what I'll do next session, which I suspect will please the other artists who say that five minutes is not long enough for a drawing!

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

It was also good to see the other artists after the Christmas break. As usual I was tired from work and could quite happily have gone home and gone to sleep but seeing everyone and getting into my drawing really energised me and I felt very positive at the end of the session.

Felt tip pen, continuous line

Continuous line

Continuous line

Blind drawing

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Continuous line