These are drawn on a lighter weight buff paper, media is charcoal - black, red and white (all compressed). The charcoal was a thick stick that was very black with pressure. The faces/heads do not look like the model - couldn't draw that with that chunky charcoal.
I get a lot of hits on this blog from people searching for life drawing poses. It's interesting how slight changes in the model's stance can make for a more interesting drawing. I like the hands to show and it is usually possible to change the pose a little to accommodate that. A slight twist in the torso, an arm lifted up, head angled up or down, all these things show in the body and make for a more interesting drawing. At times I've also looked through art books and found poses in paintings that have been useful.
I started life drawing with Wellington (New Zealand) art school,
The Learning Connexion. The tutors suggested many ways to approach the drawings from drawing the outline to blocking in the form (I still like to block in lightly with the side of a piece of charcoal or pastel then draw highlights, shadows and lines after that). We were encouraged to draw with the other hand (amazing good exercise I found) and to draw with different kinds of music playing (especially effective if using coloured pastels).
We were also given exercises such as drawing (with each hand) without looking at the paper for the entire drawing, then to draw with only quick glances at the paper. And to look for a while, then draw without looking back at the model. To draw just the shadows...to draw a moving model... There are so many different ways to approach life drawing.
The scribbled quick drawings (see last week's drawings) was an idea from high school art courses from many years ago.
I enjoy quick gestural drawings, they seem to convey the energy of the pose in a way that I often lose in a longer drawing.
Cropped drawings (drawing only part of the body during a pose) are a good idea ...one that I often forget about! These can provide useful resources for more abstract works (if using drawings as a resource for painting, collage, mixed media).
One can draw on black paper in colours or just with white and draw the highlights and light on the body. Buff or grey paper can be the mid tone and you can draw with black and white for the shadows and highlights.
And as for the media to use...there is so much to choose from. I seem to have settled on compressed charcoal - I love the look of willow but I would need to spray the drawings before taking them home to avoid damage. I admire pencil drawings but I'm not patient enough, thoug I have started enjoying using conte pencils.
