More Thinking Out Loud

 

Paul with Bones

Ball Point Pen on Paper, 8.5x5"

www.davida-art.com

lifeartist-davidablog.blogspot.com

I always talk or, in this case write, about whatever project I might be working on. When I was in graduate school and had a paper to write, I'd talk about it. I drove everyone crazy with the obsession of the moment. But I knew if I could talk about my topic in a coherent way, then I could write about it in a coherent way. This post and the previous post are exercises of a similar nature. I'm working out my next semester life drawing class on my blog. That's what blogs are for aren't they?

So what comes after a quick gesture drawing? More of the same but with the addition of a wider context. That means developing a pictorial space. Give the person or objects drawn a space in which they can reside. If you are skilled in drawing quickly that can happen in a very short interval. This drawing was done in about 20 minutes. 

When in class,  I have the model gradually take longer poses. Over a fifteen minute time period the pose will last 15 seconds and be extended to 30 seconds. The next fifteen minute period might have the poses begin with 30 seconds and end with 1 minute. You get the picture. So this was done late in the class session and we had graduated to a full 20 minutes. By that time, the surroundings can be included with some detail. The surroundings, especially on what the model is resting, should be included in a single gesture at the very beginning of the drawing. I  draw with my students to keep myself from hovering. I remember having teachers hover over me while I was trying to draw and how unnerving that was. 

This was done from the classroom desk in a position to the extreme right of the model. I included my best classroom assistant—Bones. Not only is the skeleton evocative but he is a reminder to all that people have bones and joints.