30 minute pose
This was my best effort from this morning's life drawing, and unusually for me it's not a bad facial likeness - I usually come back to the face as an after thought if there's time at the end of the pose... (which there rarely is!)
I think I'm actually quite pleased with the legs in this one - I find legs really difficult to get right (and hands, feet, faces, knees...!) There seemed to be a lot of tricky forshortened legs in the poses today, good practice for me!
Here are some of the quick poses...
5 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes again
2 minutes
5 minutes
and finally a bit of a scruffy 25 minutes...I was sitting next to a sculptor today and I could tell before I even asked him that he was a sculptor from his drawings - such a wonderful weight of line and sense of form. His drawings were so dynamic and full of energy too.
When I try to draw freely it usually just looks messy rather than dynamic! I think maybe I should get a bit braver and try some different mediums - I quite fancy trying the 2 minute poses with a dip pen and ink, or even brush and ink...
There's even a lady in the group who sometimes tears different coloured papers, some with printed text, and collages the model - fascinatingly good!
I guess I could learn a lot from moving beyond my 'safety zones' though I am enjoying the charcoal pencils!
Maybe next time.....?
(Any other life drawers out there - what mediums do you like to use?)
Hi Carrie- love the idea of trying brush and ink... something lyrical... I love fluid mediums myself, I guess 'cause I'm a painter, favorite medium watercolor. But I also loved figure drawing with big, compressed charcoal - my professor in college made me do 15 finished drawings a week! THAT was great practice. I think I was doing still-life at that point. I loved using the compressed charcoal on its side, as well as the point. Also, I loved drawing the whole paper black and using an eraser to draw. That worked best with a direct light source. My other favorite medium for drawing - and one I used for that semester of 15 drawings a week- was paper with a bit of tooth and black conte crayon....
ReplyDeleteExperimentation is great... good luck with finding another medium you like!
You have done very well to capture so much in such a short space of time. Life drawing can be very unforgiving.
ReplyDeleteHi Valerianna,
ReplyDelete15 finished drawings a week sounds intense!I would love to have the time for that...
I did that reverse drawing with a rubber onto charcoal years ago and it was great, must try it again some time.
I deliberately take thick charcoal pencils instead of graphite to life drawing to free me up a bit so I don't get all fiddly and tight!
My last tutor suggested cutting back a lot of the wood to leave a long stick of charcoal and then rubbing it on a 45 degree angle on sandpaper. This leaves a long flat side for quick, even shading and a sharp edge at the tip for drawing line depending on which way round you hold it. Works very well...
Hi Acornmoon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! I really love warming up with the very quick poses, 1 or 2 minutes...
There's no time to get fiddly and it gets the eye and hand working together before settling on longer poses...
Gesture drawing often has so much more energy and life to it, although with me it is very hit and miss!! You're right, life drawing certainly is unforgiving! :)
That's a great idea- cutting the wood on the pencil to give you both options... Yes, its daunting to think that I had the time to do 15 drawings a week AND the work of my other 3 or 4 subjects! How DID I do that... Oh yes, well, I do remember spending most of Sunday drawing ALL 15 at once! I got very loose and was able to finish for class Monday. Phew!
ReplyDeleteWould love to have time for my studio soon, right now I'm knee deep in implementing a new business plan which requires much time on marketing and computer work and such. I'm looking forward to June where I believe I'll at least have time for a few drawings a week again!
Happy drawing....
I'm more of a ceramicist--tile-maker--than anything but when I used to study drawing I loved to do fast life sketches in charcoal and then later, copy them over onto a clay surface using a sharp potter's needle and a quick line, and then bring them out by rubbing stain into them. I guess I understand clay better than paper, but always liked the results. And, by the way, am very impressed by the model who managed that face-down pose for a whole two minutes!
ReplyDeleteit is wonderful to try new things, who knows what a new medium will bring out of us. I am just beginning to learn and take lessons and feel entirely enthralled with art. Lovely to find you, I enjoyed your drawings very much.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne and Tammie,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for visiting my blog!
Anne that technique onto clay sounds fascinating - I have a picture in my mind's eye of how I imagine that to look - very dynamic and simple with lots of energy... I wonder if it would work to score directly onto the clay with the model in front of you as well?
Tammie I'm pleased you liked my drawings, I will pop over and check out both your blogs as soon as I get chance! :)
These are great! I like good old fashioned B pencil.. but am also enjoying doing some big messy charcoal life drawings too - getting my hands and fingers all over it, smudging parts and getting messy! Liberating after a day of little pencil and watercolour illustrations :)
ReplyDeleteHi Paula,
ReplyDeleteYes, charcoal is so versatile isn't it... It's funny that the techniques I use for life drawing are totally different from the way I approach my illustration, so is it the same for you too? It's good to exercise a bit of spontanaeity and get freed up though I find...
I have some soft Wolff's Carbon Pencils which I love for having the creaminess of great charcoals, but leaving my fingers clean enough to run off and pick up the baby if I need to - otherwise she looks like we've put her up the chimney!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking for a book helping me set up still lifes, etc. and giving me different exercises/ drawing styles / tips to try, for drawing at home, in the absence of a class like yours. Any ideas, anyone?