Thursday, September 15, 2011

Life Drawing 09152011


Tonight the short poses didn't work well for me, and the longer ones, drawn larger, did. I never know from one session to the next, and I have no idea how it works. I just show up and do my part and the muse does (or doesn't) do the rest. We had a lovely model - I also drew her months ago - in pencil. She has lovely lines in her limbs, like the edge of her thigh at the bottom of this drawing, as if her bones were gracefully curved.



These were both 25 minutes, with the method I've been using lately - wash on sketchpad (bad treatment for the paper, but these aren't meant to be framed or kept - and the rumples cause some accidental interest). China marker for the dark lines, and some of the same watercolor crayon that I used to make the wash. 14 x 17 inches - click for larger views (larger than usual).



In the second one of these I deliberately tried to use the wash more, and the lines less. I like it better. Probably over half of the time was spent looking, figuring out what would make the drawing work better and resisting doing things I shouldn't. Over half of the drawing time was spent with the brush, not the crayons. I particularly loved the line of the bottom of her leg, from her seat on the stool down under her thigh and to the back of her foot. And the way the far shoulder looked. The other nice thing about the longer poses is the time to put in just a little context.

2 comments:

susan said...

The ink washes make for a very harmonious composition. The legs and torso of the second illustration are very well rendered.

L'Adelaide said...

i am enjoying the washes in these new ones...and i love the way the light seems to bounce off her skin...i see so much more in your drawings now, what a difference practice makes...it has been a very long time since i subjected myself to this rigorous stuff! ;)

the first one~she is almost in the shape of a circle & so symbolic tho i suspect unconscious...i loved that as well as your comment on her bone "as if her bones were gracefully curved." beautifully said...she is my favorite one.... tho i do particularly like the second for the aforementioned reasons.
have a good weekend of painting i hope!