A new Model

2 min

2 min

2 min

2 min

2 X 2 min

2 min

10 min

10 min

10 min

10 min

 I remembered to bring my smaller pad with under-painted pages and attempted to apply my summer drawing approach to the model.  Looking at Vuillard before the session evident.

A few drawings

Life drawing every monday.  I've been going to the same group since I moved to England 13 years ago. When I was teaching full time it was impossible to get to Sudbury, but mostly I go now. There is the occasional new model, but Blue has been modeling for the group all along.  I missed it  but apparently she modeled when nine months pregnant, years ago. The sessions have a loose structure.  Sue, a model herself, started the group 20 something years ago and is in charge.  Usually I am in a rush in the morning and it's lucky if I remember everything but yesterday I decided to prepare something different for the session.  I rubbed pastel into paper that I'd outlined with masking tape.  I treated the pastel in three ways: I brushed mineral spirit on two rectangles, clear gesso over another and brushed fixative over the final one.  Each was a different colour.  There were two on a page.  I had no idea what would happen at drawing or even if I would feel like using them.  In the previous session I only used charcoal.  I never really know which tool I'll grab when Sue says, 'this will be a three minute pose,' or whatever.

Sue strucutred things in a way she never has before.  She asked Blue to pose three different ways and to hold each pose (in rotation) for 1 min, 5 minutes and 10 minutes.  So, we would have three opportunities to draw Blue in each pose. The top drawing is one of the three ten minute poses.  The other two are 20 minute poses (which is the routine) after our break.  

Remembering an inspiring teacher

I was sorry to hear that Vita Petersen had died.  Vita was my first life drawing teacher.  I was 12 and remember Vita covering the window to the art room door with paper to keep prying eyes out.  With Vita I looked carefully at Matisse's Odalisque with Raised Arms and today when I go to my life drawing group, I hear Vita's voice in my head as I follow a contour.   #45/365 http://mailart365.blogspot.com/