Drawing two life models

Today I had the pleasure of drawing from two life models: Sue and Pete. We do this periodically and each time I enjoy it more. I find that with two models, more than with one, there is a story to capture.  The drawing at the top was one of the shorter poses and is a smaller, roughly 6X6 drawing on a yellow pastel 'ground'.  The one below is 10x10 on a thin lavender pastel ground.

The Hellebore Palette

I love the acid green of euphorbia and the dusky pink of early spring hellebores.  The garden limited my palette and the other items I assembled were chosen to develop the mood from the little bouquet.  I found the new vase at the Needham Market car boot sale for 50 p and that's where it all began.  The card spilling out of my bag is a note from my friend and framer Jo Hollis, who bought a little pastel I am showing at Stowhealth. I wanted to include a trace from the previous painting so the blue above the cannister is one of those quick painting sketch afterthoughts from before. This painting is another 50 X 60 cm canvas!

Returning to still life

I've been reading a Matisse book on and off since January and on Monday I picked it up again. It's a fascinating book based on a show I never saw, which apparently was in London about ten years ago. The book focuses on the versions of paintings that Matisse carried out - canvases of the same size  but in each canvas Matisse would address a different interest.  I suppose if you're Matisse you can do that.  

On Monday Sue brought  a new decorative cloth to life drawing - it was great to have new pattern to consider next to the model. By the afternoon I had set up a still life in the studio to paint from full of colour and pattern.  It is one of my new 50x60cm canvases.  

As an after thought I used the painted paper from the first session's left over palette paint to do little (3 x 3 inch) quick colour studies imagining objects moving and colours being different.  

Recent life drawings

Drawing on the road

We went to Cornwall last weekend and this time I took my pastels. While H and P watched the rugby at a pub, I sat outside at a picnic table in the wind and drew. The beach was bursting with activity as it was the start of some nice weather.  Lyra even dipped her toes in the water. I limited myself to using some new Conté à Paris colourful but hard pastels and some rembrant grey tones. These are 6 1/4 x 5 1/2 ins.  

Again, while H, P, Steph and Ben watched the rugby and some revised for their AMK, I looked for something to draw. The boys keep their glasses in the window that overlooks the neighbour's house.  The Conté à Paris were in the car so this time I had my big box of assorted very soft pastels and no eraser.

Orlando Still Life

These daily drawings are small.  5 1/2 x 6.  I am trawling through photos I have taken, looking for inspiration.  I change them from RGB to grayscale so that local colour won't distract me and project them on the wall so that it feels as if I am looking at the scene.  I try to forget anything I know. This time I opened a page of Matisse, Le peintre et son modèle: Interier d'atelier to find the first few colours, then I diverged. 

Once I was finished I was suddenly uncertain. Was it childish and naïve, or successful? It was fun to draw and as I look again it keeps my interest. I'm falling in love with this way of working, as the rain falls and I have little desire to go anywhere else.

Yesterday I reworked an earlier drawing of the barn table, that was trapped in local colour.  I painted over colours with surgical spirit and then began again, trying to find colours that would evoke the scene instead of colours that were correct. 

Applying what I've learnt in life drawing

Earlier in the week I heard that I will be showing some work at Stowhealth, a local health centre that has rotating arts events. http://www.stowhealth.com/artist.php

I showed in their innaugural show, quite a few years ago.  It's fascinating to look at your work in the context of 'what will I show?' 

What I noticed as I looked over my more recent work was that because my monotypes aren't a feature of what I'll call my 'finished work', I haven't been drawing interiors or stilllife much, both of which are pretty central to my work. Once I made that connection, I wanted to begin, applying what I've been doing in life drawing with those other motifs.  

When I went to see Jo, my wonderful artist friend, framer, we chose one of these new interiors with figure.  I didn't scan it but this is today's little drawing.  When I got stuck I looked at Dorothy Eisner.