Life Drawings from last session

Life Drawings

The model from last session was very defined and his musculature was apparent in his poses that I decided to focus on certain aspects of him rather than capturing his pose in its entirety. It also was very challenging on my part because it required my knowledge of anatomy. Overall, I enjoyed the session and breaking from convention. These poses were 20 minutes. I used red conte on white bond paper at 19 by 24 size.

Free Association Sketches

Free Association Drawing

Many of my stories and character development begins from free association. Free association is the process whereby I sit and draw continuously whatever comes to mind. There is no planning or pre-thought on what I'm going to draw. I shut off all my self-editing and just go with whatever idea springs forward. This is a great process for establishing character development and possible story adaptation. Sometimes colour is added but mostly pencil is the medium of preference. 

There are no connections between the drawings. It's non-sequitor logic. It's strictly sub-conscious in nature. The wonderful thing about free-association is the ability to take one aspect of the drawing and further revise the drawing into something more lucid and tangible. In all of theses drawings lurks the potential for a character that tells a story either through the spontaneity of their expression or their aesthetic appeal.

Plein-Air Painting

WOODLAND BEACH, PLEIN-AIR

I had the opportunity to paint in Plein-Air early September. I chose to work in acrylic on 14 by 17 watercolour paper. I went to my favourite place on Georgian Bay. Woodland Beach is a beautiful place to paint, swim, and enjoy the sunsets. I brought along my easel and paints. It was mid-day when I began to paint. The difficulty I had, apart from the challenges inherent in plein-air, was contending with the 30KM/HR winds knocking my easel over several times and drying my paints in a hurry. I chose impasto technique where the colour was mixed on the canvas as time was constrained. I was happy with the result. I hope to get out and do more in the spring. 

Life drawings from last session

A photo of the materials I use. The conte sticks range in colour from black, browns, and reds. Most of my sticks start out full size and become tiny pieces by the end of the night. The conte pencils are used for poses ranging from 1-3 hours.

The series of drawings were done using a red Conte, drawn on newsprint pad at 19 by 24 inches. Our class was lucky enough to have a dynamic model. She is one of the most expressive models I've had.

Poses run from 1 minute - 15 minutes each. Most are gestural in form notwithstanding time for sustained study. These short poses force me to think on my feet. Time is essential and I'm often amazed at how much information I can gather in a short period of time.

These poses are 2 - 5 minutes each.

These poses were 20 minutes long. I'm amazed at how the expression and foreshortening was handled in a short period of time.