LIFE DRAWING CATCH-UP: LOUISE

Here are some drawings of Louise.

Louise Seated
Charcoal on Fabriano paper
Copyright Susie Jefferson




I still have some more drawings lurking in a huge folder under the bed, so I promise to defy the dust bunnies, dig them out and photo them too.


Louise Full Frontal
Charcoal and Conte crayon on Fabriano paper. This one was a difficult pose - I finally managed to get the foreshortening of the legs right.
Copyright Susie Jefferson



I think I can see progress here, and I loved the class situation and the critiques. One thing I did find out: I find it very difficult to draw "small" (ie: normal sketch pad size) and kept losing the feet! I seem to need those huge parent sized sheets of paper (A1 and A2) which then needs a huge drawing board and a sturdy easel. Not easy to accommodate in an average-size living room.

Never mind "back to the drawing board" I need to go back to the classroom!

LIFE DRAWING CATCH-UP: KEVIN

I thought it was about time I posted up the rest of those drawings I did at my figure drawing class (before Christmas).


Kevin
Quick studies (max 10 minutes)
on brown parcel wrap with chalks
Copyright Susie Jefferson



It's taken a while to get around to it, as I have to stick these huge sheets of paper to the back of the bedroom door to photograph them, then crop them down a bit, as I doubt anyone is very excited about masking tape!



Kevin
15 minute study
on brown parcel wrap
with fuchsia crayon
Copyright Susie Jefferson




I would have loved to continue with the course - but the new term is a long one, and as it was painting rather than drawing, more than double the price (although why I don't know... same hours, and we'd be bringing our own art supplies). So unfortunately I wasn't able to continue. Ah well. Still, at least it restored my confidence in my drawing abilities again, and I wasn't as rusty as I had feared.


Kevin
Pastel & crayon on charcoal grey paper
Copyright Susie Jefferson






Truth to tell, I'm putting so much time into the BladeRubber Blog and trying to rewrite my website, plus thinking up new classes and doing samples and writing notes, that I have kept pretty busy anyway.











Kevin
Two more studies on pastel paper with Conte crayon (which photographs very shiny, unfortunately)
Copyright Susie Jefferson

Anyhow, enough rambling, and here you are with all of the drawings featuring Kevin (these are 3 weeks' worth - unfortunately, I got them mixed out of order, so here are all of them). More to follow!


Kevin
2 studies, one on butcher paper & the other on a prepared background

copyright Susie Jefferson



In the next post, I will feature all the drawings of Louise.

LIFE DRAWING CLASS: WEEK 2

WARNING: IF YOU FIND THAT NUDE IMAGES OFFEND, DON'T LOOK!

As promised, here are the last sketches for Week 2 of my life drawing class. These are both of Suzanne, on A1 size paper with a soft, dark brown chalk pastel. Fixative was cheap hair spray! (I bought Tesco's Own unscented, the theory being that if it's cheap it is also unscented, won't have conditioners etc, so will basically just be a coating.)

Both poses were completed in the one 40-minute session - I think around 25 minutes for the first one, which is more "finished".












This pose took around 10 minutes - I didn't get to finish in the time, which I am sorry about! You can see I had started with the shoulders set too high, and managed to adjust this before the session ended - but I would have liked to flesh the sketch out a little more.












Watch this space next week - it's another male model!

Each week, we leave the afternoon's work for the teacher to critique, so I have to wait until the next Tuesday before I get the previous week's work to take home. I think this is a ploy to stop us all either:
a) fiddling with it and perhaps spoiling it, OR
b) thinking it's totally awful and then binning it!

Actually, when I look at the previous week, I don't think it's as bad as my initial impressions - which gives me the courage and impetus to keep on. And post the work for you to see, unretouched and Warts & All, which I think is the best. I noticed in the course print-out that we are listed to do a complete painting... should be very interesting! I think I have a spot earmarked - a fairly large patch of bedroom wall - but it all depends on the model and the pose of course. And whether I could stand looking at it first thing of a morning (I am so NOT a morning person...)

LIFE DRAWING CLASS: WEEKS 1 & 2

WARNING - BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE SLIDE SHOW, THIS CONTAINS NUDE IMAGES.

Maybe some of you remember my mentioning I wanted to sharpen up my drawing skills, as I haven't "drawn properly" for quite a few years! So I signed up for a short course at our local Adult Education Centre: one 3-hour session once a week for 10 weeks, and I have to say I am enjoying it hugely.

It was pretty scary, as I hadn't drawn for so long... but it soon came back! I started off drawing A3, then A2 and am now on full parent-sized A1 size sheets. It looks like I can't draw small! Each week, we have to leave the drawings for the teacher to critique, so I only just got these back otherwise I would have loaded them up earlier!

All the sketches are entirely unretouched, so you are seeing them exactly as I drew them, mistakes and all.

WEEK 1:

Studies 1 - 4 are of Ken, a 70-year old man, who was stooped, balding, with an endearingly squashy tummy. The first two sketches (001) are warm-up studies, each pose taking 5 minutes. The next two (002 & 003) show Ken sitting in a chair. Each pose took 15-20 minutes, and were drawn with black crayon. The next (004) is a back view using watercolour crayon, dampened down with a wet paintbrush, 10 minutes.

WEEK 2:

The model was Suzanne. The first pose (005) was a 5-minute warm-up study in pencil, and the next one (006) was drawn with dark brown chalk pastel. This one took around 15 minutes. Both these were on A2 paper.

I will load some more (the light was too bad to photograph the drawings properly - they are so huge, I had to stick them up on the back of the bedroom door). I think I can definitely see some progress!

Until tomorrow...