This is not the first time that I have done life drawing.
Life drawing 2011 week 1 2minutes 1 Drawing and photograph: Janet E Davis
I started life drawing many years ago, aged 18, as a student on an art and design pre-degree foundation course. I continued to do life drawing quite regularly whilst doing my degree, even after I switched from the fine art degree course to the history of modern art, design and film degree course.
After a gap of around 5 years, I found occasional evening life classes that I attended when I could afford to do so. These involved painting as well as drawing. Then those classes stopped when the building was shut for refurbishment and I was unable to find other life classes, and the years passed.
When I saw a place advertising courses of tutored and untutored life drawing, I was a little uncertain as to which I should choose. It had been years since I had done any concentrated drawing, and I also thought that it could be useful to go back to the most basic of basics in the tutored sessions.
Life drawing 2011 week 2 2 minute pose 4 10 minute pose 1. Drawing and photograph: Janet E Davis
I was too ill to go out to any evening activities for a while. The next opportunity was for the untutored so I decided to try those. When searching for paper to take to the first session, I realised that it could be around 10 years since I last did life drawing. It was rather nerve-wracking before the first session. The smells reminded me of the distant days of college studios, however, so I very rapidly began to feel the place and situation was familiar. I was able to relax a bit, despite having forgotten to take any kind of eraser (so I was unable to delete a single line).
I asked the question on Twitter (admittedly when I thought that virtually nobody was taking any notice of me): should I upload photographs of my drawings (even the totally failed scraps of drawings) so that people could see how I progress (or not) over the weeks. A couple of people responded very rapidly that I should.
Life drawing 2011 week 1 2minutes 2 Drawing and photograph: Janet E Davis
So. Do have a look. They are not exemplars of what life drawing should be. I am not publishing them to try to sell them. They will be out of proportion, quite clumsy and messy drawings. I just thought that I would share them with any who might be interested.
My style has tended towards… well, ‘prissy’ is the best word to describe it, perhaps. My old life drawings tend to be tight, highly controlled. I wanted to produce quite perfect drawings.
During this course, I am attempting to keep my drawing a bit looser, to use graphite, charcoal or whatever in a sufficiently free manner as to get my hands quite black by the tea break. I will try not to worry obsessively about have drawn some parts out of proportion or about getting the perspective wrong. I am trying to focus on using the materials to explore my thoughts and feelings about mortality, the transience and fragility of humanity. Maybe I will fail to get somewhere. I am giving myself the chance to do something less than perfect, and to endeavour not to be disappointed by the product but to learn from the exploration.
Life drawing 2011 week 2 2minute pose 3. Drawing and photograph: Janet E Davis
Even the first two weeks have started to stimulate my thinking. Seedlings of ideas that germinated some years ago are beginning to grow…
Life drawing 2011 week 1 drawings
Life drawing 2011 week 2 drawings
Life drawing 2011 week 3 drawings
Life drawing 2011 week 4 drawings
Life drawing 2011 week 5 drawings
Life drawing 2011 week 6 drawings
Tags: drawing, life model
