Light & Shadow

I have one more life drawing class for the summer term but today was the last one with the main teacher.  Next week we'll have the other teacher from earlier this summer who taught us to start drawings with 10-15 lines.  Today we began with gestures of random length.  As usual we were meant to get everything down in the first few seconds and then expand if there was time.  I've included two pages of samples below.

Then we did 5 minute drawings that I found really useful.  We built up the drawing layer by layer in different colours adding more and more "accurate" information as we went.  The first minute was a light gesture drawing as "extravagant" as possible capturing the spirit or movement of the pose.  Next was a minute for "landmarks" either skeletal or on the surface.  These include elbow bones and belly buttons.  Next was a minute for drawing mass with large and then smaller elliptical lines.  The last 2 minutes were for "informed contour lines."  Informed because of the information gathered during the 3 previous minutes.  There are two of these below.

Then we did one pose for 45 minutes beginning with the constructed lines, then some light contour lines and then only light and shadow.  The idea was to end up with a drawing with no lines but everything built up only by light and shadow.  This teacher has been interesting giving another unique method for life drawing.

Extra assignment

I went to open drawing this afternoon to the session with one long pose.  Actually I arrived early enough to get the last two poses of the morning.  I wanted to use the long pose to make a drawing for the intensive life drawing class I took last week.  I have to submit two drawings and I hope this will be one of them.

Flight

Life Drawing class

This week we used ink for gestures and then a long pose.  It's not easy!  Especially since for the pose we had to pre-mix 5 values (or 4, 1 being the blank page).  I find it less difficult to layer the ink but in any case it's hard to control.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day 5 -- Afternoon -- Longer studies, personal exploration.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day 5 -- Morning -- Experimenting with colour.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day 4 -- Afternoon -- Heads and selective drawing (i.e. choosing what to put in and what to leave out).

 

Life Drawing Intensive

Day 4 -- Morning -- Distortion and stylisation.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day 3 -- Afternoon -- Long study, compositional exploration.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day 3 -- Morning -- Movement and layering.

I am now officially exhausted.  I've done a 3 day course but never 5 and never with a dog!

Life Drawing Intensive

Day Two -- Afternoon -- Value (Light & shadow) using ink.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day Two -- Morning -- Proportion.

Life Drawing Intensive

Day One -- Afternoon -- Contour studies.

(Blind contour)

(Blind contour)

Life Drawing Intensive

Day one -- Morning -- Gestures and mass studies.

I'll post only a few from each session.