Mixed Media drawing

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

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.

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.

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.

Charcoal sketch

Just playing around on one of the mixed media backgrounds. Charcoal pencil and willow charcoal. 10 x 14 inches on heavy grade rag paper with ink and acrylic paint.

Sunday at John's

I have to take my camera next week and photograph the amazing etching presses John is building and engineering. Anyway, I actually remembered to go today (forgot last week - "Sunday School" in John's studio for local artists who care to get together and spend a few hours working in company). I worked on more backgrounds, not very exciting to view.. but am enjoying the layering up of the surfaces. Then I started drawing over a couple of them. Just getting started. I noticed some shapes in the colours so began to draw from those, so a lot more to do yet.

Mixed Media drawing

Acrylic and oil paints, and charcoal pencil on 50% cotton rag paper.
"Dark Legend". The oil paint was accidental. I thought I'd picked up watercolour. But it was a happy accident, though I had to deal with the brush straight away. Was aiming to put a black wash over part of the base, there are several layers of acrylic wash. Ended up brushing over the oil paint and using it to add texture.

Another character from my stories.

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.

Mixed Media Life Drawing 10 December 2008

Our group met for the last time this year and again I made some took some collaged printmaking paper along, A2 size. I spend so long picking out particular pieces of paper that I want to put on these, forgetting that much of it will be obscured with paint and then dry media.

I used compressed charcoal and conte mainly.

Life drawing 19 November 2008

All done on brown or buff paper in mostly compressed charcoal and pastel. I scribble over the paper first in colours then draw on top of that. Mostly I block in the form lightly with a short piece of compressed charcoal, using it on its side. I then begin to draw, aiming to get one line...to look, commit and draw.

The painted sketch is done in a new product I picked up yesterday...can't recall name (my materials are still out in the car)...its watercolour in a tube with a brush, you take the lid off, turn the collar to 'on' and paint/draw. The brush isn't the best (they're for children...) and if you squeeze the tube ink can run down the page - though that could be used to effect. It was interesting to try them out, but difficult to control, and a limited colour range of red, yellow, blue and green.

The scribbly sketch is five 1 minute poses drawn in Crayola Twistables on white cartridge paper. All drawings are on A2 size paper.

Life Drawing 12 November 2008

All done on buff paper. The centre picture is done in a red chalk pencil with some addition of pastel. The others are in compressed charcoal, conte and/or pastel. I used a very thick compressed charcoal stick which didn't allow for fine detail.

Life Drawing 5 November 2008

Some of the drawings from this evening - on lightweight buff/brown paper with pastel and compressed charcoals. I roughly ran pastel over the paper before drawing to add some colour. The orange and black drawings were quick warmups.

The group gathered in a music room at a local college as our usual room wasn't available ... hence the guitars.

Life drawing 24 August 2008

The coloured one is the Crayola large size Twistables, with some compressed charcoal. The others are drawn with some compressed, some willow and some white charcoals. The top picture isn't quite right, is it? The model, as you can see from the other drawings is slim; seems I've drawn more of a pregnant figure. I like the media that I used, compressed conte - umber. The thicker black lines of the other drawings are done with a huge piece of willow charcoal - about 1" thick - makes the most fantastic black marks - and the most intensely blackened fingers.

The size of the paper for my drawings is A2. Time for each was between 2minutes and 10minutes.

Life Drawing 17 August 2008

The warm up drawings are done on lightweight buff paper, compressed charcoal with white conte. The others are on white cartridge paper, compressed charcoal and soft pastel.

Lifedrawing 27.8.08

Some drawings from a recent class. The coloured drawings are Crayola large size twistables that glide over the paper, don't mix, don't smudge and are bright. The model was moving slowly from one pose to another. The other drawings are done on a lighter weight buff paper. The reclining coloured pose is a bit odd.

Life Drawing 20.8.08

I bought some Crayola crayons - these wind up and down. They're called twistables. The small twistables didn't have a great deal of pigment in them (purple drawing) but the large twistables (green and blue) were fabulous to draw with. They glide over the paper, don't catch at all, have a greasy feel and yet they don't smudge. Nice and bright but only a few in a package. I'll buy them again. The other drawings are compressed charcoal and conte. All done on white cartridge paper.