Essential elements

I’ve been getting behind with this part of the course due to a shortage of time and also because the need to have models lined up means that it is difficult to make progress without having put some good planning in place. I am trying to rectify that so I don’t fall too far behind.

This exercise requires drawing six different poses lasting 10 minutes each. In order to get on with this I waylaid David at 8am before he headed off to work (hence the shirt and tie) and photographed him in different positions on a chair in the kitchen and garden and then worked from the photographs.

This was a tiring exercise. I’ve only managed five poses… I found it difficult to get any shading into 10 minutes and also found it difficult in some instances to capture the outline figure in this time. In the end I did one 10 minute, two 15 minute and two half hour poses with varying degrees of success. With pose three I was getting tired and my concentration lapsed but then after a break and a strong coffee my focus returned.

I found that starting the drawing in the middle and using all possible reference points, chair, folds in clothing and trying to closely observe shapes and angles helped a lot. I’m getting better at this but more practice needed.

David 1, HB pencil (sketchbook)

David 1 (10 mins)
Ten minutes, HB pencil. No time to add shade. Proportions OK (I think) including the head which again looks a little small but my measurements say is correct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

David 2 with Phebe -HB pencil (sketchbook)

David 2 (half hour)
I like this pose… David absorbed in the book with Phebe looking at the artist wondering what on earth is going on. Well I can see she is looking but maybe others can’t! There are reasons why I haven’t drawn our dogs before… it’s hard to tell the head from the rear because their eyes aren’t visible and they have matt black dreads that hardly reflect any light. But scribbled dog or not I like the relationship between man and dog here and also the fact that David is facing away… it seems to work.

It was a very bright morning and the light was coming from the left leaving pure white glare on the shoulders and pages of the book.

 

David 3 – 2B and HB pencil

David 3 (half hour)
I was getting tired and it shows… the legs look wrong, the waist should be higher, the head smaller. The chair looks rickety… I kept rubbing out and redoing elements and things got progressively worse!

 

 

 

 

 

 

David 4 – drawing pen (sketchbook)

David 4 (15 minutes)
This started out as a bit of a disaster but I was able to retrieve it to some extent and it was good to try out drawing pen. The legs should tuck in more, the head is a little small and the trouser gusset is a little long. But overall it is quite David-like and he looks quite relaxed.

I quite like the pose incorporating the chair and the table even though they are not very well drawn.

 

 

 

 

David 5, 2B pencil (sketchbook)

David 5 (15 minutes)
David at the kitchen table reading a book. No time to put in any light or shadow. The overall shape is reasonable but the left hand looks a bit small.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall these have been really useful exercises in terms of practice at observation and getting those essential shapes and angles. It has also widened my thinking in terms of the kinds of poses that might work in a more detailed study.

However, I don’t think I’ve fulfilled the exercise brief fully because the exercise is building up tone quickly and with broad sweeps…

 

 

 

 

Project Form: Exercise essential shapes

David relaxing with glass of wine after work – 4b pencil

For this exercise I chose to draw my husband David sitting in a comfortable leather chair with a glass of wine. He is wearing his work clothes but has discarded the tie and jacket (they could have been ‘props’ in the picture).

My eye wasn’t tuned in for my first sketch – I should have done some quick warm up sketches. Drawing seems to be a bit like making pancakes … the first one always comes out messy but things improve later!

Unsuccessful first  sketch – proportions are all wrong. David looks too stocky.

In the second picture (above) I have done a much better job of capturing David’s long and lanky figure and I feel I have done a reasonable job of capturing his characteristics. The proportions are reasonable. There is something slightly uncomfortable about the left shoulder which did in fact line up exactly with the back of the chair… perhaps this wasn’t the ideal position.

He was holding a large wine glass… but not quite as large as the one I have drawn. The shirt was plain white and the suit trousers grey. This picture came to life much more when I added the light and shade.

There is plenty that could be improved but I think I’ve tackled the foreshortening with some success. Perhaps the head is a little small but I measured the number of head lengths to the knee several times and it seems to be roughly correct.

[On reflection I realise that I should have done several short poses for this exercise. Because the exercise was about recognising the simple basic shapes that make up the body it might have been better to have nude model or one wearing body hugging clothes.]