Draw This

 

More of the wonderful Mara Cole, sketched from the replay of the live session on Draw This!

 

These are 1, 2 and 10 minute studies

I used one of the DR Ebony books I was given to test by DR for this set of studies

#FEFDRAW

Draw This!

#FEFDRAW

 

I recently found a page on facebook that offers FREE life drawing sessions in LIVE time!

I am thrilled!

It's called Draw This

It's really difficult to get life classes here in the Fens so this, for me, is a dream come true.

 

 

The sessions include a series of 1, 2 5, 10 and 15 minute poses.

I sketched the model Mara Cole who was fantastic. I only got a little way through the 1 and 2 minute poses as I discovered it very late at night but the site leaves the LIVE video up so I will be going back to it along with others that I missed.

This was sketched in my current daily journal; an S&B softback Zelta but I think I will be allocating a separate sketchbook for these sessions as I filled two pages pretty quickly. I still have a bundle of those FREE DR books they sent me to test the paper in, they failed for a daily journal for me but would suit this project well which means I can finally make use of them!

Bonus!!!

Night Time Nudes

 

Been a LONG time since I sketched nudes...years in fact...Rather pleased with these quick studies

 

 

A Creative Breakthrough

Artistic Afternoon - Acrylic on canvas 20x24" - Stage 1

I arrived at my good friend Joannie's house on Wednesday evening, desperate for a good 'friendly' kick up the artistic backside!
I've found it very difficult to get back in touch with the creative side of myself; the yearning to create has been there recently but I can't seem to turn that need into something physical.
I came to the right place!
Joannie had me playing with acrylic inks; printing, dribbling and slopping around in her studio like two children at playschool - Great fun!
On Friday we continued playing with inks but with more of an idea as to what we wished to achieve with them, both working on a floral, square piece.
Today I decided to grab a large canvas out of the car and tackle a life painting in acrylics. Joannie seemed like the perfect subject to tackle as she worked away on her inked floral.

So, my trip has been just what I needed, Joannie has been marvellous and I am back!!!

Life Drawing At Gainsborough House

Acrylic on stretched canvas - Pose:1 hour

My six hour day at Gainsborough House on Saturday with a life model and an hour break for lunch. 5 full hours of life drawing!
I took everything but the kitchen sink and I used most of it, I even set up my easel and painted.

Noodlers ink in A4 sketchbook - Pose: Unknown/Models discretion

Inktense on watercolour paper - Pose: 15 mins

Conte on sugar paper - Pose:Moving sequence

Ink on watercolour paper and watercolour wash - Pose:Moving sequence

Inktense on watercolour paper - Pose:2x15mins

Inktense on watercolour paper -Pose:20 mins

Acrylic on canvas board - Pose:45 mins

Inktense on watercolour paper - Pose: 50mins

Life Class - Week 12

I decided to approach this week's life class in ink, and set my own time limitations for the poses. This resulted in lots of sketches based on poses with 3-10 minute allocations, where the model posed for longer intervals I simply changed my position and started another sketch.

I also took my sketchbook into the kitchen for our coffee break, where I made a couple of quick sketches of group members sipping hot drinks and washing up.

I enjoyed this casual approach to life class and felt I learned alot from being able to move about freely changing angles and perspective, focusing on difficult view points.

There was another reason for behind my cunning plan though. Do you remember back in October I started a new Seawhite sketchbook? It is almost six inches square and has 95 pages. I started this book on October 13th and today, just four weeks later, I finished it!
PHEW!

This was supposed to be the last of our sessions for this batch but because last week was cancelled the organiser is going to try and arrange a session for next Tuesday.

Fingers crossed!

Life Class - Week 11 - CANCELLED

Posemaniacs Pose of the Day - Ballpoint pen - 10 minute page

All revved up, bag packed the night before, I prepared to take my youngest into school before heading off for the favourite part of my week - Life class!

Then I received a text cancelling class due to the organiser being poorly.
GUTTED!

By way of consolation, I visited the Posemaniacs website and took advantage of the 'Today's Pose', creating three quick sketches that totalled ten minutes in my Seawhite sketchbook.

I then took my youngest off to school and treated myself to a full English breakfast at Tesco Cafe where I managed to grab another figure sketch before heading home to spend some time in the studio working on that illusive canvas piece I mentioned in my last post.

Not so bad after all then!

Life Class - Week 10

Acrylic on 20x16" canvas

I approached life class a little differently this week, usually I tackle the short 3-5 minute poses in ink and then move onto something else for the 25-30 minute poses. This week I did all 6 poses on the same surface, a 20x16" canvas, using a limited palette in acrylic.

Most of the first pose was sketched onto some masking tape I had placed over the canvas, only the values show now in the small squares left behind after the tape was removed. I like the effect, it adds a modern, geometric twist to an sensual and otherwise curvaceous subject.

It felt really good working on canvas again, especially in such a loose and free style!

Life Class - Week 9

Inktense pencil on cream paper - 8 mins

I took my small, square Seawhite sketchbook along to life class with me today, I thought it's 6x6 inch size would present some challenges of it's own and it allowed me to fill a few more pages for my challenge.

I started with some lead-free sketches using my Lamy fountain pen and, keen as mustard, I even managed to capture a couple of 10 second sketches of the model in her gown talking with the organiser before she took pose. The remaining ink sketches range between 3-10 minutes.

After our last short pose The organiser set us the challenge of repeating the pose using a different media and creating a sketch without using an outline. I broke open a new tin of Derwent pastels for this challenge and really enjoyed the process.

Derwent pastels - 20 mins

Lastly, our wonderful model repeated the pose we finished with last week and I worked on my gouache painting, with the acrylic ink background, a little more.

After about 15 mins I lost interest and found myself itching to capture our dancer's beautiful eyes, so I packed up my gouache and grabbed some cream paper and an inktense pencil before moving a chair up close to produce the short sketch at the top of this post.

Week 8 - After 25 mins

Week 9 - After 40 mins total

Will I continue with the gouache painting above?...Probably not. I learned from it but my heart is no longer craving to play with it and unless that emotion changes by next week, I see no point.

I hope to use the pose for something entirely different next week.

Life Class - Week 8

Gouache on Bockingford watercolour block - 25 min pose

Week 8, the second session of this batch of life classes. I guess I should call them 'sessions' as they are model only with no tuition but class just rolls off the tongue so much easier doesn't it?

Anyway, this week I took my brand new gouache set along, it travelled well and behaved wonderfully. I experimented with it on white watercolour paper (above) and was very happy with the results.


Ink in W&N heavyweight sketchbook - 3 min poses

Ink in W&N heavyweight sketchbook - 10 min pose

There were two back view poses this week. I love back view poses, they look so elegant and sensual with all those wonderful curves, I think because, even when naked, they leave so much to the imagination and silently encourage an amount of respect and innocence.

Ink and water brush in W&N heavyweight sketchbook - 10 min pose

I also experimented with the gouache on a coloured background on watercolour paper I created by mixing two acrylic inks liberally onto the surface and then covering with a scrunched bin liner. Luckily it dried in time for the final pose, a tricky little number with some challenging foreshortening in the leg area. I spent most of the 25 mins positioning the figure on the page and then concentrating on those legs. We are going to have this same pose for 25 mins each week at the end of our sessions to enable us to build a work through. I wish I had remembered my canvas for this but the acrylic background presented new challenges in itself and allowed me to get more acquainted with my new medium.

Acrylic ink and gouache - 25 min pose

Life Class - View All Sessions