Life Drawing

I had been thinking about taking a life drawing class one day at the beginning of the year, but thought I was far from ready for that. In spring, I went to a portrait drawing classes again, which I had taken two years ago. I really enjoyed exploring the human face and drawing real people rather than working from photographs. Drawing the hole figure was the logical next step further. I wasn't sure if I was ready for the class yet, and I was thinking about it and arguing with myself all summer. But then, one's never really ready and fully prepared, and just a few days before class started at the end of September, I went for it. And I'm so glad I did. Every Saturday morning we explore a new technique or concept - mass, contour, line, tonal values, chiaroscuro etc. I love the structure of the class, starting with a bit of theory first, followed by putting it into practice, and building up on the past lessons. And as we are a small group of only seven, our teacher has enough time for helping each of us in turn with practical advise and critique. While the models in the portrait class had been volunteers, who did not always sit completely still, the models here are paid professionals, who are able to hold a pose without moving. Drawing them is a very different experience, not easy, but so rewarding. Most of the time, anyway. There's always the one or other drawing that just doesn't work, and is just frustrating, of course. We've had a different model for every class so far, mostly young women - only one man so far. Below are some of the drawings I did in class so far (I'm sorry about the bad quality of the photographs, but the days are getting shorter and greyer). I still got lots to learn...

Last Saturday, we went to the Archaeological Museum at the University, to draw in their cast collection. After having spent a good hour listening to our teacher explaining about different epochs and development of representing the human body in carved stone, we all wandered off to find a cast to draw. I liked the expression of this cast of a Roman copy of a Hellenic original, representing a man sharpening a sickle. I decided to concentrate just on on that, drawing only the head, instead of the whole figure (which was rather complicated, I save that for another day). There were some in my class who weren't happy about drawing dead models instead of life ones, but I must say I quite enjoyed it. It was nice not having to worry about time and instead being able to take as long as you need without having to fear your model changing the pose. I think it's a good exercise to draw such casts from time to time, to really study the features, proportions, expressions, poses etc., to get a feel for the human face and figure, and I'm sure it will be very useful for drawing from life.

I have a long way to go still, but I'm so glad I'm taking this course now. And I want to go back to the Archaeological museum too, and there are weekly life drawing sessions (not classes) here in Zürich too, which I yet have to check out. After all, it's practise, practise, practise that makes you improve your skills.

Art Every Day Month: Day 30

The last day of November today, and with it the last day of Art Every Day Month. Time certainly flies by when you are creative! It was a great experience, and made me try out and get into some new things, techniques and supplies, which I really enjoyed. I also profited from the challenge of trying to do something small (almost) every day. It doesn't have to be a big painting on canvas every time. A little sketch, a drawing, watercolour pencils... it's such a good exercise to just do something, anything, no matter how small, every day. I actually didn't do something on each and every day. I had one or two days when I just didn't had the time, or simply wasn't inspired. It happens, and it's okay too. But I managed to do something on most of the day, which is actually a lot more than I expected. So I'm really happy. And the community of all the Art Every Day Month participants has been so inspiring and rewarding! The talent and creativity out there is really amazing!

A big thank you to Leah Piken Collidas of Creative Every Day, who hosted the challenge and who gave us a platform to share our work and connect with each other. Thank you!

And so here is my last contribution to Art Every Day Month. Two days ago, when I posted my unenthusiastic Saint Nichoals, Nigel asked for a reindeer, and how could I possibly ignore his request. So here is it, a little reindeer in the  snow just for you, Nigel :). (Click here for some music to go with it)

He looks a bit exhausted, poor chap. I first thought it was because of all the work he has to do this time of the year, but then I remembered that the present delivery service doesn't start until later next month. So my conclusion is that he's a little bit drunk, naughty little thing. But maybe a glass of red wine is just the right thing now, to celebrate a whole month of creating art (almost) every day. Cheers to all my fellow participants!

Actually, Art Every Day Month is not the only challenge Leah hosts. In the past three years, she has also hosted the Creative Every Day Challenge, and I've been so inspired this month, that I'm seriously thinking about joining this challenge, if she will host it again next year. There's a theme for each month, and I really like this idea. (I have been doing a similar thing with Picture Inspiration, where we are given a prompt each week for a photograph. It is a great challenge and inspiration to come up with something for a theme I wouldn't necessarily have thought about myself.) Even though it is called an "every day challenge", it doesn't actually mean that you have to  post something every day, which really would be absolutely impossible. Also, "creativity" is meant in a very broad sense.

Well, I'm definitely going to miss Art Every Day Month, but to be honest, I'm also quite looking forward to taking a bit slower again. These past few days especially, where I tried to do and post something every day, have been exhausting (I feel a little bit like my litte reindeer), and I definitely need to catch up on some sleep! But if there's going to be a Creative Every Day Challenge for 2012, I'm almost certainly in!

Art Every Day Month: Days 21 - 27

Week four of Art Every Day Month is already over, and its only a few days left. I can't believe how quickly the time went! This week wasn't quite as productive as I had wished. But sometimes, one just has too many other things on one's mind that keep distracting one's thoughts and concentration. I managed to get something done, or at least began something, almost every day, although some of it was rather frustrating.

Monday, 21 November: My mind had been running wild since the early hours of the day, and it needed some sorting out. So instead of painting, drawing, sketching etc. I spent the entire evening jotting down my thoughts into my journal.

Tuesday, 22 November: My thoughts kept wandering off, and I found it hard to focus on what I was doing, so my drawing attempts resulted in only half a dog. He doesn't look too happy about it, the poor thing...

Wednesday, 23 November: I spent the afternoon going through a pile of antiquarians' and auctions catalogues, and I found a lovely 1920s image of what must have been a champagne ad. I copied it into my sketchbook in the train on my way to Swedish class. I don't really know why I always feel like drawing in that particular train, it's always crowded and constantly swaying and jouncing. It's not really a very comfortable train.

Thursday, 24 November: I met up with a friend after work so got home later. I did continue working on my watercolour techniques reference book, though.

Friday, 25 November: I had the day off, and so much to do that I kept running around all day. The biggest achievement was that I finally, finally decided on a fabric for my new old sofa. It  actually took me  an embarrasing 15 months to decide... Luckily, I found a very patient upholsterer. No idea how long it will take now until it will be ready and in the living room. I didn't dare to ask... It'll be ready when it's ready. I just hope I made the right decision about the fabric...!! I tried to do some kind of watercolour landscape scene in the evening. I want to practise as much as possible with watercolours to be ready for the workshop in mid December, but it just didn't work at all. So I decided to give up and call it a day. I'll finish it later. Or maybe I'll just leave it and start something new.

Saturday, 26 November: At last, I started working on the new picture for the living room, now that the sofa fabric is sorted out, and I spent all morning working on it. The bubble theme is still going on. So many things on my mind, so many bubbles in my head. Not quite sure yet how exaxtly I want it to be, but I want lots of texture.

Sunday, 27 November: From bad to worse. This week really wasn't a good week, creatively speeking. I really should have just forgotten about that watercolour sketch I started on Friday, as it got from bad to much worse. Isn't there a saying, that you need to make bad art first in order to start making good art, or something like that? Well, this is certainly as bad as it can get. Only good for cutting up and re-using for some collage or something. Ah well, the week's over, and hopefully, with it my creative low.

Art Every Day Month: Days 18 & 19

One of the many things I want to practise drawing and sketching are humans. So I tried to do some small portraits last night for day 18 of Art Every Day Month. The one on the left right was the first one I did, drawn from memory of a sketch I did a few weeks ago. For the others, I used the theatre programme of a play I saw in London last months. While I at least  manage to get them to look like humas, I'm still far away from achieving a real life-like likenenss, so the actors are not really recognisable at all. Of course I used my newly discovered, and already much beloved Sanguine pencil again.

Today, day 19, I finally got out my calligraphy things again. It's something I've neglected far too long. Two, three years ago, I could rarely spend an evening without getting my nibs, pens and inks out. But with all the other things happening since then, they somehow got a bit neglected, though not completely forgotten. It wasn't only me that had become rusty, my poor nibs seem to have suffered too. I definitely have to get them out more often again!

I'm afraid my proportions are, as usual, all wrong. It's because I'm always too lazy to prepare and rule my paper correctly. I just want to write. Also, I never manage to write something without making mistakes. I'm concentrating so much on the shape of the letters when I'm writing, that I completely forget the words, and so sooner or later, make a mistake.

Colourless green ideas sleep furiously (Noam Chomsky)

Art Every Day Month: Days 16 & 17

I've discovered a new medium yesterday, and I have a feeling that it might well become my favourite drawing/sketching medium: Rötel, or Sanguine. The English Sanguine refers to the "true" colour of blood (a reddish brown), while the German Rötel simply refers to the colour red (Rot). Rötel/Sanguine is made of clay and hematite, and has been used for drawing and sketching since the Renaissance. It usually needs to be fixed with a fixative, although the one I have is not a dry one, but an oil one, which means that doesn't smudge, and therefore needs no fixing. Which is perfect, as I always end up making a big mess when I use something like charcoal, and the only effect my fixative seems to have is to give me a headache.

I printed out an image of a typical Venetian scene from the internet yesterday, and did this Venice sketch on the train on my way to Swedish class. I really love sketching with this Sanguine pencil, it's so smooth and soft, and I simply adore the warm, earthy, reddish colour.

Today's sketch I did on the train again, after work. Two weeks ago, in my painting class, we talked about a painting we had made at least 10 years ago. It was based on a day in our life, with simple images or symbols of the things we had done that day. I have it in a sketchbook, and everytime I look at it, I still remember every detail of that day. So I decided to do a similar thing. I thought a double page of my sketchbook would be more than enough, but at the end, I needed two - it's because of my long commute everyday... So here's a typcial, ordinary day in my life, with me having to get up far too early, running to the train station to catch my train, commuting, working, and trying to sqeeze in far too many things in the evening once I'm finally home, and always ending up going to bed too late as a result. That strange image on top of the last page is me trying to take decent pictures to post on my blog without natural light, as it's already dark by the time I finally get home. I'm forever struggling to get the colours right, usually not very successfully. I've tried to scan the images, too, but our scanner at work does not seem to be very impressed by my creative outlet, and simply refuses to produce an acurate reproduction.

This one's my favourite of them all: it's when I arrive at the office at last, 2 1/2 hours after having got up, and finally getting my first cup of tea of the day.

I've done a lot of sketching these past 2 1/2 weeks, thanks to Art Every Day Month, and it's great, because really that is what I've wanted to do: draw and sketch more. I've always felt bad about my inadequate drawing/sketching skills, and it has influenced my creative confidence enormously. But today, I read something very comforting, in Victoria Finlay's wonderful book Colour. She tells the story, about Michelangelo visiting, according to his biographer Georgio Vasari, Titian in his studio, and although he liked Titian's way with colours, he commented afterwards that it was a pity that Titian had never learnt to draw well. It is, basically, about different approaches, about careful planning versus spontaneity. But to me, it is a reminder that we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and if we aren't so good at one thing, it doesn't mean that everything else we do is worthless because of that. Yes, I would love to be really, really good at drawing, but I probably just have to face the fact that it's not really my strength. And that is okay. There are very few who are real masters of all arts (and that includes not only amateurs). For the rest of us, well, we just have to focus on what we're good at, and keep practising what we're not so good at. Me, I'll definitely continue practise drawing and sketching. Especially now, that I discovered that wonderful Sanguine.