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

Mixer Trixer

MIXER TRIXER - Is the name my Sons give to a drink when they pour more than one flavour juice into a glass before diluting with water.







Friday day time involved many trips here and there, weekly grocery shop, lunch, three loads of washing, washing the floors, polishing and dinner preparation...amongst other things!
These are the kind of days where we can make excuses and say we never had time to do anything creative... but could we?
How about those coffee breaks?
Well I decided to make good use of my time Friday, regardless of what other chores the world threw my way.

These two portraits occurred while taking such coffee breaks. I set my mobile phone alarm for 25 mins, so I didn't get too distracted as I often do...Hours seem to pass by in the studio like some kind of time tunnel. Working quickly I set about the watercolour blocking in warms and cools, highlights and darks and then grabbed a charcoal pencil and defined a little after it was dry.
With the acrylic I went straight in with a mix of Payne's Grey and Titanium White, blocking values until some kind of likeness appeared.

Both unique, neither masterpieces but oh, so much better than nothing at all!

Oh, and at Robyn's request...

'Wonderful life in your eyes, Anita. Now you've planted the idea, I want to see one of your actually having a little chomp on your bottom lip.'

...I am biting my lip in the acrylic!



Self portrait - Acrylic on oil paper - 25 mins
Self portrait - Watercolour & charcoal on Arches HP - 25 mins

On The Side

Acrylic on canvas board - 40 mins

Made use of another old canvas board I had once practiced textures with tissue paper on. It had a lot of bright red and gold paint all over it which was a little distracting to work with.

Another frowner I'm afraid and I'm biting the inside of my lip again!

Oh well, all practice.

Below are three versions of the same sketch.

I spent approx. 25 mins on the first, took a break and then went back into the studio and worked another 10 mins on the same sketch to produce the second image posted below, where I totally destroyed my own nose but I think I managed a more convincing angle on the whole of the facial features!

The third image shows the second image after an alteration in 'paint' program. (I don't have any fancy graphics software) I took the lower part of the nose and lifted it up and to the left slightly.

I posted this image because I think it shows wonderfully just how much difference a few millimetres can make to a portrait.

More Of Me

Charcoal highlighted with white Conte

Another study looking into a mirror. Much better proportions on the eyes although they are slightly too close together, still have that concentrated, ageing frown.

When I create portraits of others I tend to flatter them slightly, when I draw myself it's a whole other story! My Mum said I should add a photo of myself here so you all know I'm not THAT old and THAT scary so I added a photograph to my profile.

Since starting these self-portrait studies I have noticed they all look very different and yet, I can see me in them. Obviously my mood on the day alters the work or my focal point and all of the images together looking back at me felt like being at a party where I am the only guest, I feel I am meeting parts of me for the first time. It bothered me that they all look so different to start with but now I am seeing the benefits of repeatedly studying myself, something other than charcoal, paint or led transfers over to the surface, something from deep within, making the results more dimensional, more interesting than any other work I have created to date.
I thought I would be getting to know my face but I think I may also be getting to know myself a little better too.

Perhaps soon I'll cut me a break and create something a little more flattering?

After Leonardo

'Head of a woman with tousled hair' - Charcoal highlighted with chalk

A quick study of one of Leonardo's great sketches on paper that resembles the stuff they wrap your chips up in at the fish 'n' chip shop.
Trust me to lower the tone!

You can view more Leonardo studies in my previous post dated February 2007 entitled : The Da Vinci Mode

Cheeky Charcoal

Charcoal - 30 mins

Another self portrait from life, slightly less of a frown this time.

Below are two shots, one before cheek adjustments taken at 25 mins and one after cheek adjustments taken at 30 mins. An improvement I think you'll agree!

Perhaps the eyes are a little too large, I have large eyes and I think when working on these self portraits I tend to emphasise features slightly, good or bad. E.G. I always draw the eyes a little large and I always make myself look gaunt and old but I am aware that I drink nothing but coffee and live on 4 hours sleep a night, so maybe I carry that knowledge, subconsciously, into my art?
Maybe I just focus on my 'bad bits' and emphasise them because I know they are there?

Many Rivers To Cross

Conte - 20 mins

Another quick self portrait, this time in Conte.

Self portraits have to be the most demanding subject, especially from life!
While I realise it's only 20 minutes and it is recognisable as me, I see lots wrong and it is far from where I'd like it to be.

How does that make me feel?

Well perhaps it should dent my confidence, create a deep sigh from within, lure me back to my 'safe' zone working portraits from photographs or avoid this area completely...I mean there are heaps of subjects right? Perhaps I should hide my efforts from public eyes, show only my best, it may after all appear that I am reversing rather than plummeting full speed ahead.

No.

It makes me so excited!
I want to share this amazing time in my life, the good, the bad...and in this case...the ugly! There is no shame in learning, at any age, at any stage.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

- Chinese Proverb.

No sooner I feel I have achieved another step in my journey...Up pops a river I have to find a way to cross. Art never becomes boring, always a challenge, always something to learn, something to push for. She hands out small rafts from time to time, enough to gently pull us around the river's bend, small acknowledgements for our dedication and then BAM, her current speeds up and we are neck high in white water, spinning, reeling, adrenalin pumping.
What a ride!

I think I may become my new studio challenge. Models are not cheap and, here in the Fens, they are hard to find ...I know...I've been looking for what feels like years!!!
I'm here, I'm free and I'm available when I need me...What more could I ask?

..A bigger mirror perhaps?

Yes, get ready for more of my ugly mug. Who knows, I may even learn to pose without frowning like a 90 year old!

Reflecting

Charcoal sketch- 15 mins

I was disturbed and had to put this self portrait down but I am thrilled with how far I got in the time I had.
I could never have done this much, with decent accuracy, in 15 mins last year...Sketching regularly has proved so beneficial and I am so pleased I set it as my goal this summer and ignored everything else. I feel more confident too, able to change or add elements and experiment. The fact that 99% of my sketching has been 'from life' rather than image references has enriched my knowledge and understanding enormously and I can now draw with my eyes, putting onto paper what they really see and having the courage to persist even when it looks a little odd at first, which it often does which is why we usually 'correct it' to meet with the image in our memory bank and get it so wrong! I find the correct lines much quicker now and the fear of failure has long gone.

I look forward to my time in the studio this winter, taking with me all I have learned and achieved through my sketchbooks will no doubt be an exciting time for me.

I am full to the brim and ready to explode...Just saying that makes me giggle and gives me butterflies!
God I love what I do!!!

30 Day Foot Study

More feet!

Charcoal pencil was my chosen weapon for this group of sketches, quick and loose was the mood.
I love to use charcoal in any form, it some how enables me to be so free with my motion and I easily become lost in it's spell.

#9, #10, #11/30 - Charcoal pencil

30 Day Eye Study

Charcoal - 10 mins

Below is the perfect example of laziness. My new Derwent coloured charcoal pencils needed sharpening and I do not get good results with any of my sharpeners so I guess they'll need a knife...Trouble is, my knife was in my studio and I couldn't be bothered to get up, pause 'The Impressionists' DVD I was watching and get it so I worked with blunt pencils and the results are not crisp.
Serve me right!


Derwent coloured charcoal pencils - 5 mins

30 Day Foot Study

#8/30 Charcoal pencil - 15 mins

Two more foot studies for the current Wet Canvas challenge.

I've been feeling the need to use charcoal recently so tonight I popped into the studio and grabbed a charcoal pencil from a tin of 12 that cost me just 99pence and set about using them on a cheap sketchbook I picked up today that cost just £1...Bargain sketching!

#7/30 Lamy Pen & Noodler's Ink - 5 mins

Life Class - Week 3

20 mins - Charcoal.

Week three and loving every moment!!!

10 mins - Blue ink, fountain pen.

3 mins - 0.1 pigment liner





8 mins - 0.1 pigment liner





5 mins - 0.1 pigment liner


30 mins - Charcoal and chalk

Life Class - Week 2

30 mins - Faber Castell crayons on coloured paper

Tuesday afternoon I attended the second of my life sessions. The two hours went by so fast but we managed to get some very interesting and difficult angles into the five poses we sketched and I tried out a variety of media.

3 mins - Pigment liner - W&N sketchbook

5 mins - Ink - W&N sketchbook



10 mins - Charcoal pencil - W&N sketchbook

I'm quite happy with a number of things I have managed to accomplish during these two classes; my proportions, weight distribution, lack of fear and openness to experimentation, stepping out of the comfort zone.
I enjoyed all of the media I used in today's class but the sticks of Faber Castell crayons, much like willow charcoal, felt most comfortable to me. I enjoy a medium I can push and pull around and I believe the security of knowing I am able to do this allows me to approach the piece in a much looser, more confident fashion.

30 mins - Ink on watercolour paper

Life Class - Week 1

Yes, finally I got to a life class!

Lots of firsts happening today: First public life class since I was 18, when I took six, two hour sessions at college - First male model EVER! - First time model had posed - First time I have seen any hope of me being able to attend a life class on a regular basis.
It has been a great day!

The class is self-help/model only, which is exactly what I was after. I want to make my own mistakes, work through them and learn from them.

We worked our way through five poses overall, each with varied time limits. I tried a couple of different mediums and surfaces but my favourite for figures has to be charcoal, I feel I can work so freely with it, like an extension of my hand; it feels like part of me.

I'm pretty chuffed with my results, I feel I got a good likeness of the model as well as a decent sense of weight and perspective. I went in with no expectations other than to learn and left my fear of failure where it belongs...In the past!

I'm going again next week and there is even talk of extending the proposed six sessions to a regular, maybe even weekly class, I can't tell you how much that pleases me!
5 minutes

8 minutes

30 minutes

30 minutes

3 minutes

The Da Vinci Mode

The greatest gifts are often seen, in the course of nature, rained by celestial influences on human creatures; and sometimes, in supernatural fashion, beauty, grace, and talent are united beyond measure in one single person, in a manner that to whatever such an one turns his attention, his every action is so divine, that, surpassing all other men, it makes itself clearly known as a thing bestowed by God (as it is), and not acquired by human art. This was seen by all mankind in Leonardo da Vinci...
Giorgio Vasari

Over the weekend I spent some time looking through 'Leonardo Da Vinci' by D M Field. While I can appreciate the beauty of such works as the 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Last Supper', for me, the magic of Leonardo lies in his many masterful sketches.

I have always had a passion for artists sketches, the unfinished workings of the creators mind sprawled across the page, the bones of their thoughts caught on paper and paused at a moment that leaves the viewer wishing for more. An unfinished piece captures my attention and tugs at my heart in a way a finished piece never could, leaving me momentarily disappointed with each of my own works as I lay the final stroke upon the surface even now.
Finished says complete, done, over...closed! A sketch says, 'here's my thinking, the x-ray of my creative self...my soul! Sketches make time stand still, allowing the viewer to always feel an idea is in creation…happening… NOW!

Engulfed in the many pages filled with red, white and black chalk, silverpoint, gouache, lines, markings, motion, skill, expression ...my eyes rested upon the Virgin and St Anne sketch and the quote “Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art” - by Leonardo himself, stuck firmly in my mind.
From this I drew the inspiration that drove me to create these pieces. The first, an acrylic sketch, was based upon the sketch of St Anne, and used as a loosening up exercise. To break the fear of failure I first slopped and flicked watered acrylic all over the surface - You can't mess up a mess, right?

The aim was not one of anatomical perfection but to unlock my passion, unleash my creativity and open the doors to my 'soul'.

The second, a charcoal and chalk study was created on the ’idea’ of St Anne. This time Leonardo’s words, "No one should ever imitate the style of another because he will be called a nephew and not a child of nature with regard to art." drove me as I considered how he himself would have had to create St Anne, there being no real historical evidence that she even existed let alone photographic or written descriptions. Many artists have created St Anne over the years, each portraying her as a young figure, similar in age to her Daughter.

My aim was to create my own St Anne, full of character, warmth and love.

My third rendition was of the virgin herself. Inspiration and creativity still roaring, not able to let go, I studied her in my sketchbook in HB pencil back in the house later Sunday evening.

My aim here was to create a likeness to Leonardo's work and expression...a Nephew mimicking the skills of his Uncle!