Multiple Models

10/17/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi ink, Caran d'Ache
Museum water-soluble colored pencil, Canson Mixed
Media sketchbook

I hadn’t been to life drawing practice in nearly six months, so I was feeling rusty this morning as I drove over to Gage Academy in the drizzle. My preference is to attend short-pose sessions, but the session scheduled for today was an “Artist’s Choice” long pose, which means a painter has reserved the model and determines the pose, and the rest of us can sketch alongside that artist.

A couple of other surprises awaited me: The model was clothed (wearing a wedding gown), and the room was somewhat larger than the previous Gage life drawing sessions I’ve attended, so I had more space to choose a variety of positions. It brought to mind Thomas Thorspecken’s suggestion in his book, Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques: Use life-drawing sessions as an on-location sketch opportunity by drawing the other participants or the whole room, not just the model.

I spent most of the three-hour session sitting in the back sketching the other artists. They all stayed in the same positions, and the model stayed in the same (boring) pose, but I moved to a different location at every break. For my last sketch, I decided it was time to focus on the “bride,” so I sketched her with India ink and a twig. 

10/17/14 India ink, twig

10/17/14 Diamine Chocolate Brown ink, Museum pencil