On Monday evening I did some life drawing. It's something I've always wanted to do so I was pretty excited. Rumours of an old man posing with a cane were, thankfully, just rumours. We drew a woman instead. It's strange - even though you're concentrating so hard on the body in front of you, and looking at it so closely, you sort of forget about the nakedness. I like drawing the female form, but I did feel bad for the one guy in the class. I think he coped alright though.
We did a series of drawings in different amounts of time. Weirdly I found the quick sketches (2-5 mins) a lot easier than the longer ones (25 mins), maybe because there's less pressure to draw perfectly when you've only got a few minutes. Some of my work was absolute rubbish, but I keep reminding myself that a) it was my first time, b) I haven't done intense drawing in years so I'm a bit rusty, and c) I was working with charcoal, which I hate using (it's so dry!). It was difficult, but I wasn't as terrible as I thought I was going to be.
I'd recommend life drawing to anyone - even if you aren't working in the art field/don't think you're arty/don't know what a pencil is. It's great for practising hand-eye coordination, a valuable skill in lots of situations. It also makes you look at things with more care, noticing what you haven't noticed before, seeing things in a different way.
I'm typing this whilst enjoying the smell of roasting butternut squash waft through the rooms - tonight I'm planning to make butternut squash and lentil soup. With a bit of spice. Nice.
I can hardly believe it's Guy Fawkes Night tomorrow! I love bonfires but hate fireworks, which is a tad awkward, but I will be partaking in a sparkler or two. I might even have my first gingerbread latte of the season!
Enjoy your weekends everyone!
I did this kind of exercise with my old teacher, I stopped with art when I came to high school. I was never a big talent but I still miss it :( You are really good xx
ReplyDeleteOh lovely drawings, I did some life drawing classes in college and found them really useful, wish I could have done more actually! I absolutely hate working with charcoal too, its so messy and easy to smudge. Your dinner sounds perfect, I am jealous xxx
ReplyDeleteI love the last picture - the shapes all just seem so *real*, j'adore. That soup sounds yummy! xxox
ReplyDeleteGreat drawings! I wish I had some drawing skills but think it is just one of those things I will need to admire in other people. Enjoy the butternut soup.
ReplyDeleteThese are great considering you say you've not done life drawing before! I've never liked working in charcoal either, always ended up with more on myself than the paper!
ReplyDeleteMy first life class was about *ahem* years ago and we had a man who was made to wear a firemans helmet and hold a sweeping brush???? What can I say other than my art tutor was very eccentric!!! :D xx