Thursday, April 28, 2011

Life Drawing!



Wednesday evening I got to do something that is a great opportunity and privilege for an artist: life drawing from a real live model. This was provided by Falls Church Arts, and was something that I have wanted them to do for a long time. Falls Church Arts will have a figure drawing session for four Wednesdays, three of them in May next month.

I was glad that my old skills have not completely deserted me. I haven't drawn from the live model for a long time, at least a few years. Drawing from a photograph isn't the same, although it helps when you finally get to a real model. This model was an excellent, graceful professional, who moved beautifully and was steady in her poses. Life drawing sessions usually begin with fast one-minute poses and move on to longer poses. This drawing was the last pose of the night and lasted thirty minutes. Some life drawing groups select a single pose and work on it for an hour or more, but not this time.

There were about eight to ten people in the art group, and some of them brought whole kits of acrylic or watercolor paint. I kept to the minimal side and drew only with a pencil in one of my sketchbooks. I'm looking forward to the next session. Maybe I'll bring my colored pencils to draw with in the next round.

This drawing was pieced together in Photoshop from two scans. The original is pencil on sketchbook paper, 14" x 7", April 27, 2011.

1 comment:

Tristan Alexander said...

Glad you have this oportunity! Wish I had a chance to do that around here!