I don’t draw in pencil all that much. For sketches I like the determinism of ink, and for large drawings i like rough mediums like charcoal and soluble coloured pencils. But when I get bogged down in repetitive dead work, I go back to pencil. Just drawing with a continuous line to build up surface and edge. I unclogs me until I get bored with pencil, again.
This is one such “return to pencil” drawing. The model was curled up in a network of ropes suspended from the ceiling. It allows outlandish poses, but Ihate the ropes, so never draw them. Here the tutor said “That works. You can unfold him and he would be right”. I like scrunched up poses, and this idea of “unfolding the model” is an important one. Thinking of the model unfolding and standing up straight really focuses the mind.
I drew this many years ago. I was at a conference on the Osiachersee near Villach in Austria. I had a few days in Vienna and Steirmark, revisiting old haunts. I went up the Dachstein on a beautiful day and actually did this sketch standing in the snow. I didn’t colour it there. Often I sketch in ink and then colour later, when I cna lay out equipment and think what I am doing. This often works better than trying to add colour in situ. Are the colours accurate? who knows and who cares. They look right and they bring back the memory. There are little scribbled notes here and there, and they add to the image I believe.
This drawing, done in Nov. 2014 has good points and bad. The model was lovely and held this “Christine Keeler” pose for nearly two hours (with breaks) She could hardly stand straight afterwards. I love back views, as the back defines the whole body structure. Here the back is OK, but the curve of the edge of her rib cage is just too curved. Its outline is much more complex than I have shown. Her belly is just lost in the shadow. I failed to really show it against the black cloth draped over the chair.
Drawn in Charcoal, with some coloured pencil aiming to bring out the surface. I blocked in the background in purple chalk as I felt that the figure did not stand out enough from the paper, and I think that has worked.
JEGS ART 