on February 15, 2019
LIFE ART DRAWING ADVENTURES
Recently I had a wonderful afternoon taking part in my second ever life art drawing experience . it was just a small group of us .Living in a small l town as I do I was sharing an art station with my local taxi driver Ray…..also a painter
Our model was a lady called Jade I would put in her mid to late fourties who was obviously very comfortable in her own lily white skin (She had been posing for 30 years )Her hair was piled on top of her head and adorned with red and white flowers and with the loveliest and most expressive of hands as she posed coquettishly for us .It all felt very French
Anyone familiar with the processes involved in a life art drawing class will be able to relate and testify to the both challenging and yet somehow serene and relaxing experiences the same encompasses .Firstly come the quick one minute poses where you get your hand and eye cordination into gear and quickly sketch the overall models shape and outline which I guess must be similar to warm ups in sporting activities and practising the scales on piano.
Personally I find these quick one and two minute routines a bit taxing on the old grey matter No sooner do you settle down to draw something you think looks half decent and the times up the model changes her pose and you have to start all over again .I much prefer the 20 minute and 25 minute routines where you can really relax into the sketching process and take your time to get it right and produce something satisfying and hopefully pleasing to the eye
I love the process when I am engaged in life drawing where you are not only looking at the subject or model objectively but are also tuning into their energy so that something of the persons essence and spirit is hopefully transmitted into your drawing .I found that I managed to do with this with sketching Jade.
I felt at times as I sketched her really graceful expressive hands resting in repose as she lounged serenely on a rug her eyes with long eyelashes cast downwards I moved between the impression that I was sketching both a demure country dairy maid and a dancer from the chorus in the Moulin Rouge ……being a firm believer in reincarnation as I am and believing we are born and reborn many time i t occurs to me I might possibly even have been picking up on Jades past life energies .