Drawings: OCA Part 4: Proportions II - The Longer Pose

 The Longer Pose

Oil Pastel on Green Paper

 

Thank you to my mother for once again offering (involuntarily) to be my model for this exercise. I ended up doing two drawings instead of the intended one as I wanted to experiment further with a different medium after finishing the pencil and wash piece and produced the oil pastel piece above as well. I employed the time tested artists method of holding a pencil at arm’s length to judge the right measurements and learned a valuable lesson – always ensure you’re using the same pencil for this.

The Longer Pose

Pencil and Wash

 

Learning Log

 

Have you managed to make a complete statement in this time? What were your main problems?

In the majority of my drawings there is a compete statement but I have to admit not necessarily a totally accurate one.

I find that the main problem that I am encountering is with the details of the face and hands. Working with larger mediums like pastels of thick charcoal this is not so noticeable; there is less room for details so fewer marks. However I really struggle when using finer utensils such as pencil or ink pen to record the details of faces and hands smoothly and succinctly. I know his is all down to a matter of practicing it so practice it I shall do.

How well have you captured the characteristics of the pose?

When I stayed focused and concentrated on each mark that I made the character of the pose definitely came through much stronger and produced a more satisfying drawing. However sometimes I would get bogged down in certain areas and loose some of that individual personality.

Do the proportions look right? If not, how will you try to improve this?

Surprisingly I think the proportions of my figures are generally quite good, at times the faces and hands are a bit off as mentioned before, so I shall practice to hopefully improve in the future. Otherwise I don’t think they are at all that bad I found that using objects in the background to relate to really helped to get the scale right.

Preparatory Sketch

Biro and Marker Pen

Drawings: OCA Part 4: Proportions I - Quick Poses

Marker Pen on Scrap Paper

 

Now onto the fourth part of my drawing course and it is time for some figure drawing, a subject that always seems to be very hit and miss with me. I know I can produce some very good figure drawings but at the same time I’m prone to some awful ones too, shall just have to see how it goes.

 

Producing these quick drawings in a few minutes was quite refreshing after spending hours on the same drawing of a tree and such like. Although it was challenging to capture the character of the subjects in such a short time, sometimes it started to come through surprisingly quickly with just a few well chosen lines.

 



Biro Pen on A4 Cartridge Paper

 



Marker Pen and Biro (L) - Soft Pastel (R)

Biro Pen (L) - Pencil (R)

Exhibition: Becoming Picasso - Paris 1901

- The Blue Room -

I visited this exhibition quite a while ago, and blogging about it has been a task long overdue for completion. So I thought just before I began my project on figure drawing would be an excellent time for finally tackling it.

First of all I have to say that this was my first trip to the Courtauld Gallery, the Picasso exhibition may no longer be running but it is an excellent place anyway and with their new Gauguin exhibition I shall definitely be returning very soon.

The exhibition was, in a word, brilliant! As pretentious as it sounds, you can really see the beginnings of one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists in this collection of the nineteen year old Picasso’s paintings.

- Dwarf Dancer & Bibi-la-Puree -

I found it really interesting how different each one of these paintings were, Picasso’s constant experimentation shines through with so many pieces in close proximity to compare against each other. Influences from Degas, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec seem to appear as artistic ideas mutated to Picasso’s own will.

The first room is a perturbing group of grotesques; dwarves and clowns glare at you, violently out of focus (‘Bibi-la-Purée’ and ‘Dwarf Dancer’). ‘Seen through the bottom of an absinthe bottle’ is an apt description from the exhibitions curator. The pieces have that bad sickly taste of too much alcohol and yet they are morbidly fascinating studies.

- Child with a Dove & Harlequin and Companion -

Escaping into the second and final room Picasso’s work has transformed, hitting you with intensity like sunlight, piercing the absinthe hangover from the first room. This intensity, much like sunlight and hangovers, starts to mellow and cool as you head towards Picasso’s famed blue period, there’s more emotion but less rush. The mania turns towards the melancholy.

- Casagemas in his Coffin -

 

His self portrait ‘Yo – Picasso’ (I- Picasso) doesn’t just grab your attention it smacks your round the face until its sure your paying full attention, There is undeniably something cocksure about the frenzied brushstrokes and the orange eruption of his cravat. He confidently stares out at you and surveys his work as if to challenge any doubts of genius, he says ‘I did all this, I - Picasso.’

- Yo - Picasso -