Life Drawing
Since my first class at 16, life drawing captivated me. It’s a fascinating challenge to try capture the figure and mood in such a short amount of time. And it’s a wonderful way to regularly practice and hone your drawing skills in a supportive space, with like-minded people. It sharpens hand-eye coordination and observational skills, and I find the process rather meditative.
Each session is unique; the diversity of human bodies and the distinct energy of each model profoundly influence the poses and, consequently, the drawings. With short poses, fully capturing the figure is challenging. I often focus on an intriguing detail or crop, finding these partial or incomplete drawings to be very engaging. They invite viewers to interact, completing the image with their imagination.
Here are a selection of Life Drawings over the last few years. The length of time for the poses range from quick, gestural poses (1 and 2 minutes), short poses (5 or 10 minutes), and longer poses (20 or 30 minutes). I like to work on sheets of 18 x 24” (newsprint, white, cream or brown paper) and use a mix of conté sticks, compressed charcoal, and chalks.
These life drawings often become studies, inspiring new works and explorations in other media. If you’re curious to see them, please take a look at my ‘Figures’ Gallery.
And some of these are still available for sale, or can be made into prints. If you are interested in any of them, please contact me.
