Artistic Explorations: Figurative study (1)

In October last year I signed up for my first ever figure drawing class at Grays School of Art in Aberdeen. Drawing human bodies was something I was never really interested in but I thought it would be good to develop my skills in this area. The first few weeks I was really struggling and not enjoying it all. I found it hard to get things in proportion (which is the most important part) and although I learned to use my pencil to measure every part of the body and translate that to my paper, I felt so constrained when I was doing that!

When my dad came to visit me for a couple of days to do a mixed media painting workshop with me in my new studio, I had a good chat with him about my progress in life drawing. He is a very skilled artist himself and I think his paintings and drawings of people are his best. Here are a few of his drawings which have been published in his book "G-Kunst" I received a few years ago. A wonderful source of inspiration.

Figure drawing sketches by Gerrit Wolters

Figure drawing sketches by Gerrit Wolters

Figure drawing sketches by Gerrit Wolters

Figure drawing sketches by Gerrit Wolters

He encouraged me not to focus too much on the details and try to capture the essence of the posture. Quick sketches are ideal exercises for that. The last few weeks I've had lots of practice with quick sketches and I feel I'm more in the flow. Actually, I think I'm starting to enjoy figure drawing! Instead of seeing the whole person I'm now observing various shapes and tones of the different parts of the body. I'm able to draw more freely and more in an abstract way. For the first time I'm quite pleased with the results. The teacher gave me positive feedback on my portfolio and she encouraged me to do more in pen and/or Indian ink and collage (more of that in my next post).

2 min sketches in coloured charcoal (Cretacolour Art Chunky) and pencil

2 min sketches in Indian ink

2 min sketches in Indian ink

2 min sketches in Indian ink

5 min sketch done with left (!) hand to really challenge myself