Wordslye

Just back from Figure Drawing (now, how often have I started a blog post like that in the past years?).

Some models will only have 2 or 3 poses available and on the surface an evening with such a model can only promise to be boring at most. However! … if you can trick yourself into making the evening exciting yourself or even get help from the “pose caller” … then you can have a really lovely, relaxing and entertaining evening.

The “pose caller” actually had some very classic ideas tonight:

• the model poses for 2 minutes w/o you drawing, then draw him from memory for 10 minutes (sound very “Kimon Nicoleides”)
• the model poses for 2 minutes w/o you drawing, then draw another model you know, in this previously seen pose
• additionally, get the model to lie down, if he usually sits or stands … that’s increased the number of poses of this model to 3 now!

Anyhow, I have a number of sketchbooks to fill, so I took along my Strathmore A5 500 Series Mixed Media. And with the help of my Micron pens (0.2, 0.4, 0.05(!)), my Koi water brush and Winsor&Newton Colman’s traveler kit, I came up with a really lovely last double spread to the sketchbook.

And something I really wanted to say here is … whether the model only has one, two or three poses for use … it doesn’t matter … there is a living breathing human being infront of you … 1 or 2 metres from you and nobody can tell me they have already mastered figure drawing so well that there is nothing to gain from those few thrilling minutes of study …