Mixed Media drawing

A3 cream 180gsm, compressed charcoals/pastels, acrylic Payne's Grey wash, drawn from life.

nude

Is something that happens all over the world. Google it. Well I've discovered it even happens in New Zealand. I happened to be in Wellington for the last session of Dr Sketchy, at the Mighty Mighty bar in Cuba Street, big crowd, the models dressed in fluro leotards, animal prints, glitter & sequins, hair teased up big. Fabulous music, nice drinks, great atmosphere. Some rough sketches attached. Then I found there was one in Auckland & I went to the Cassette Number Nine bar in Vulcan Lane. Theme was early sixties, dresses, shoes, hair & makeup in theme. Last pose was one man in a suit & overcoat holding a paperbag, with two girls standing behind him, one about to choke him with something. I drew more of a cartoon style, won a "Buddy Christ" from the movie Dogma for that one, & gave the sketch to the main model. The person running it was fantastic, talked up a scene, even gave us a title for each drawing. Now I discover there is a Dr Sketchy in Hamilton, another nearby town.

Life drawing 30 June

I'm beginning further study in fine arts, particularly materiality, process and horizontality. This is going to be a real challenge, going back to a kind of beginning place again, and in a way slowing down the whole process of artmaking to look at the materials and what they can do and my process.

One of my favourite models at life drawing tonight, very disciplined and able to move through poses without direction, and hold them perfectly. He likes to devise challenging poses.. both for him to hold and us to draw, but for this session we had several 20 minute simple poses to work with so I used mixed media.

They're all large A2 size drawings, done on heavy grade cream paper. First with an old brush and thin acrylic paint I very roughly painted some lines, some are quite ugly in fact, but I tried not to worry about that! I blocked in some areas with watery acrylic. Then I worked over the paper with soft and medium pastels and compressed charcoal. I ran out of white so used light colours in highlighted areas. One of the pieces has some collage on it. The room we use is a drama room at a local high school and our lighting choices are limited.

The first sketch is the only warm up I did...running late I missed the others.

It would be best to gesso the paper first next time, and have it dry, in preparation. That adds a nice weight to the paper, and helps keep it flat.

Drawing in the dark

Again set up the model & our easels & turned the lights off. This time there was only 2 small candles lighting the model & it was quite difficult to draw just the lit areas ...These are a large pastel sketch on black sugar paper. After a while I moved & started another from the other side of the model.

Drawing with light only on the model

We put all the lights off, & had one light shining on the model. There was time for two drawings of about 10 minutes each. All these drawings are fairly large, A2 size paper, about 10 minutes each.

Drawings 12.6.10

Top pose, found it awkward to draw though I was picking the poses this evening. Pays to take a little time & walk around the model to choose a view. I then moved to start again, still wasn't happy, so drew parts of the figure.

The next pose was a quick drawing, a couple of minutes, using a piece of compressed charcoal on its side, closeup of the face & upper body. I often begin my sketches by blocking in the entire figure this way, then adding lines & then highlights & shadows if there is time.

Life drawing 12 May

After a quick warmup sketch I offered a few exercises to the group to try - these are a few of my sketches from the evening. The first is a series of 15 second gesture drawings, all same page. The next was my last sketch of the night, just couldn't catch that pose so quick sketches of some of the people there. The next one down was a 5-7 minute drawiing where you keep your eye on the model & don't look at the page at all AND not lift the charcoal from the page. I tried it twice, so one drawing on top of another. The next was 5-7 minutes not lifting charcoal from page but allowed to look at paper sometimes while drawing, looking at edges. The last sketch was using opposite hand from usual, 5-7 minutes.

Charcoal 29.4.10

Drawing on heavy cream paper, compressed charcoals, from life model.

Red dress

Arrived near the end of the first pose - got a super-quick soft pastel sketch done.

The other red dress drawing is in both soft pastel and compressed charcoal.

The kimono drawing is willow charcoal with some collage thrown on during the pose, at the top is a photo John took of the drawing in progress, before I added the torn paper.

All approx 18 x 24 inches.

'Red Nude'

10 x 14 inches mixed media background with charcoal & ink drawing, the charcoal drawn and brushed on. The initial drawing was sketched from a life model, and completed today at Alison Gordon's studio. Has been a while since I made it over to the monthly gathering of artists. Everyone brings some artwork to work on, we talk, eat a yummy lunch together, check out each other's work, and talk and talk.

Went to life drawing group for the first time in ages, last night. Our model came straight from work and was wearing workboots, jeans, safety vest, and she was tired. I arrived near the end of the first warm up pose so did a real quick sketch in soft pastel on buff paper.

The second model arrived soon after and we had two longer poses to draw, the one of the two facing each other was not easy, because both supported their bodies on their hands there was a certain stiffness in the pose. The top drawing is done in compressed synthetic charcoals, and the centre drawing in willow charcoal. Our male model had the most amazing tattoos that I did not have time to capture.

All 18 x 24 inches.

Mixed media drawing

Charcoal, acrylic paint, collage, indian ink on grey cartridge paper 24 x 16 inches.

Drawn from life then worked on in studio.

Life drawings

The sitting pose is exaggerated.. I often get asked that... These are approximately 18 x 24 inches, compressed charcoal on 180gsm cream paper.

Reappearance

Still having camera/Vista issues. Shall try and obtain a better photo taking the painting out into the daylight.

This painting is based on drawings done of the model turning and walking around. Its a wonderful exercise to try and detach yourself, use sense and intuition to absorb information from the moving figure and capture it on paper. Working from these drawings I tried the same exercise with paint on canvas, trying to focus more on a sense of form and weight rather than detail. Sense and intuition is a strange thing. It is no easier to apply it in artmaking then it is in any other area of one's life. One just has to trust.

80 x 100cm acrylic on canvas

Drawing in the dark

For these two drawings, the room was in darkness with light on the model. Yellow drawing was done first. When the lights went on I was surprised to see I'd picked up a piece of yellow pastel instead of white.

We focused on drawing the lit areas of the models body. It's not an easy thing to do. What you think you see, and what you actually see are two different things and you have to overcome what your brain is telling you.

That's why I love to draw or paint with music playing, finding it easier to slip into that 'zone', some would say its allowing the right brain to take over from the logical left brain.

Like to learn more about that? Look at Betty Edward's book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. And here's a link.

Life drawing

has been continuing again over the last couple of months... a couple of quick drawings... 18 x 24" compressed charcoal on heavy grade buff paper. I usually quickly cover the paper with some coloured pastel first which means even less time for the drawing - these are a couple of minutes long each.

Taking a drawing into paint

I've applied modelling paste to canvases, it takes ages to get it right, and to dry. Mine and Body (at the bottom of this page) is one of those where I've spent hours and hours on the surface texture of the canvas before painting onto it.

Another method is to use tissue paper and acrylic mediums to apply it to the surface. A little quicker and quite satisfying if I want a more regular appearance to the surface.

Canvas is still my favourite surface on which to paint, using brushes. I love the 'give' of canvas, and I'm quite hard on brushes.

I've been going to a life drawing group for about eighteen months now. John Mulvay organised it, through community education, and when the funding hasn't been there we've managed to keep it going on a private basis. He'll provide tutoring for those who want it, and I very much appreciate having live models available every week. This is a real achievement for John to have kept this group going and it seems to have settled in with a core of regulars, and new people coming and going.

Piled up in my studio, are hundreds of life drawings. I've sold a few. Others I'll offer to the models. One day I'll have to dispose of some, that will be painful. I'm now trying to be more experimental when I go to life drawing. Sometimes I'll draw directly onto the canvas and paint it later. There is a an energy in a drawing done from life that is lost when copying it later. The more prep I put into the surfaces that I take along, the more satisfying is the result.

This photo is a painting of one of the warmup drawings, where the model walks around, or holds a pose for only 30 seconds. My first attempt at this, and I'll continue working on this idea to see where it takes me.

Pear & Offering

"Pear", 18 x 20", acrylic on canvas.

"Offering" 18 x 20" acrylic on canvas

The top pose is one I've been using for about 3 years now and YES I have exaggerated the model's figure deliberately.

Changing Woman & Jealous Sisters

Named from a myth.. staying with the theme of woman and body as earth and life ... changing woman is from Navajo mythology, introduced in the creation story. The lifegiving and sustaining qualities of the earth being derived from Changing Woman. Seemed to fit with the image that grew from my original life drawing.

Acrylic on canvas (mixed media). 12 x 24"




Another painting created from two life drawings, placing them together on the canvas suggested the title.
Acrylic on canvas 12 x 15"