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 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

Life Drawing (sort of) 12.12.17

Continuous line drawing

I've had a bit of a rough week so when Life Drawing came around it was somewhere near the bottom of the list of things I wanted to do (curl up and go to sleep being near the top!) However, as the organiser and person with access to the building I thought I probably ought to show up and I knew from experience that once I got there and got going I'd enjoy it.

Blind drawing

Blind drawing

Continuous line drawing

I was expecting it to be a quieter session than normal as several people had contacted me to let me know they couldn't make it, which I always expect at this time of year. Once I got to the venue and had got set up and a few people had arrived I realised we had a bit of a problem, due to unforeseen circumstances the model couldn't make it so I had a Life Drawing session but no model. After a quick debate with those who'd arrived we agreed that we might as well stay and draw. We took it in turns to sit (fully clothed) and be drawn by each other. 

Continuous line drawing

Continuous line drawing

Continuous line drawing

It ended up being quite an entertaining session and as it was different to the usual set up it was interesting and threw up some different challenges. One thing I found really interesting was that I was particularly drawn to people's faces. Usually when I'm Life Drawing I focus on the body, especially the hands and feet but it was interesting that when drawing a clothed model I was more interested in the faces. 

Continuous line drawing

Blind drawing

Continuous line drawing

I'm not good at sitting still at the best of times so for me it was really hard to hold still when it was my turn to pose. I also found it very weird everyone looking at me, I'm used to being in front of people and talking and demonstrating but just sitting and people watching me I found quite uncomfortable. I'm glad I had my sketchbook and could do a bit of sketching too as I modelled! I've always been impressed with my models ability to hold poses and their professionalism but I think this session gave all of us an extra level of appreciation for them. I'm looking forward to January's session when things will be back to more or less normal!

Layers of sketches