Exuberance

4/29/19 25-min. pose

Gage Academy is adjacent to the Bright Water Waldorf School. Whenever I attend life drawing sessions at Gage, at some point, the adjacent playground will suddenly explode with the screams, shouts and other noises of a gazillion kids released for recess. In the otherwise quiet studio, we are suddenly shaken from whatever thoughts we were having about our current drawing, and most of us can’t help but laugh at the children’s exuberance.

I can’t say that drawing makes me scream and shout; it requires too much thinking for that. I don’t experience it as uncorking hours of pent-up energy as kids escaping a classroom probably do. But focusing all my observational skills on the model and trying my best to turn a line into a form as accurately as possible, I can’t think of many activities that make me as happy. For me, drawing is a silent exuberance.

5/8/19 20-min. pose

4/29/19 15-min. pose

5/8/19 1-min. poses

5/20/19 20-min. pose

5/20/19 2-min. poses

Strong, Vulnerable

3/14/19 Shannon (5-min. pose)

3/14/19 5-min. pose

I’ve been attending Gage Academy’s life-drawing sessions for nearly seven years now. Some models I have drawn only once; others I sketch time and time again. A few I have drawn so regularly that I have gotten to know them, and we follow each other on social media. But regardless of the model, I am always awed by his or her courage and willingness to stand before us for three hours, naked. It’s a job that requires a certain combination of both strength and vulnerability.

With each pose, an unspoken dialog occurs between the artist and the model that involves trust and sensitivity. While my main objective in attending figure sessions is to improve my people-drawing skills, I also feel compelled to try to express whatever I sense of this person who is willing to take off his or her clothes for our scrutiny.

3/14/19 20-min. pose

3/14/19 10-min. pose

3/14/19 10-min. pose

3/14/19 This final 7-minute pose was my favorite of the afternoon -- what an awesome foreshortening challenge!

Unpaid Model

3/13/19 graphite, Yupo

While studying portraiture for a full intensive weekend with Gary Faigin, I heard repeatedly the value of learning to draw from life (rather than photos). If we can’t practice from professional models in a studio, he encouraged us to sketch unwitting models in public every chance we get. Short of that, he reminded us that we always have at least one head at our disposal – our own.

Suddenly the self-portraits I had been doing as part of selfie Sunday, a casual social media challenge, took on greater significance. Faigin said that most students in his full-term (10-week) classes studying his portraiture methods are able to draw with a strong likeness after practicing about 20 to 30 portraits. I don’t know when I’ll get to No. 30, but let’s call this one No. 1.

One part of his method that I’m ignoring (surprise, surprise) is the material – charcoal. Using a tortillon to smudge soft graphite (here, I used an 8B) and the same kind of kneadable eraser we used in the workshop, I think I can still apply his principles and techniques for the purpose of learning. And like the smooth paper we used in class, I’m using Yupo, which I’ve already discovered to be a fun support during life drawing sessions. The result is different from charcoal, of course, but also much cleaner.

Half Mojo

2/21/19 20-min. pose

After the previous week’s missing mojo, I went to life drawing last Thursday wondering if I’d feel it this time. Although it wasn’t quite as bad as last time, I was still a bit sluggish. By the end of the session, I felt like my hand and arm were finally fully connected to my brain. I had maybe half a mojo.

It always helps to have a strong, experienced model, and Randy is one of the best. A Gage Academy model for more than 15 years, he is certainly one of the most experienced models I’ve drawn. To honor his years of service to Gage (he’s possibly the most-often drawn, painted and sculpted person in Seattle!), the school is going to host a “Randy show” next month. The entire exhibit will consist of works that he has posed for – even sketches from life drawing sessions – by instructors and students of the past 15 years.

 

2/21/19 5-min. poses

2/21/19 5-min. pose

2/21/19 5-min. pose

2/21/19 2-min. poses

Adventures in Yupoland

1/24/19 Conte on Derwent sketch paper (5-min. poses)

Adventurous watercolor and acrylic painters know about Yupo – it’s a strange “synthetic” waterproof, tear-resistant paper that’s made of plastic. Its completely toothless, nonabsorbent surface makes liquid media behave in surprising and often striking ways. Years ago when I was dabbling in abstract mixed-media collages, I messed around with Yupo, but it was a novelty more than anything else.

Fast-forward to a couple of years ago when I was preparing to participate in the Women’s March. Rain was a distinct possibility, so I brought along a pocket-size Field Notes Expedition notebook, which is made entirely of Yupo. I didn’t need it that day, but a short time later in Cannon Beach, I happened to have the book in my pocket and discovered what a joy the paper is with soft graphite. It seems counter-intuitive – pencils seem to need some kind of tooth to grab onto. Yet the experience is like gliding soundlessly on ice, and soft graphite leaves behind a rich, dark line that looks almost like liquid.

After that, I sort of forgot about Yupo again – until a couple of weeks ago at life drawing. Thinking it was a colored pencil, I inadvertently picked up a traditional sanguine Conte pencil that happened to be in my case. Using nothing but one fingertip to do the smudging on toothy sketching paper, I had great fun expressing Shawna’s form even on relatively short poses (the ones shown above were five minutes each). I tried soft graphite and colored pencil on the same paper, but it was more difficult to get good smudged effects compared to the chalky Conte (which is a bit messy, though not nearly as bad as charcoal).

1/27/19 graphite in Field Notes Expedition notebook

Something about that delightful experience made me wonder what kind of paper would be best for making graphite smudge as nicely – and the Yupo light bulb went on over my head! I pulled out the same Expedition notebook I had taken to the Women’s March and the beach and sketched a quick garlic with a 10B pencil. Using one finger, it was easy to smudge the graphite, and the darkest shadows came out looking almost like a marker. It turns out that Yupo makes all media behave surprisingly – not just liquids.

I dug out the 11-by-14-inch Yupo pad I still had from my mixed media days and brought it to the next life drawing session. Typically I use an ink-filled brush pen on the one- and two-minute poses because I need fluid to move that quickly. But instead of having a liquid medium, my 10B pencil skated frictionlessly on Yupo as if the support had turned to liquid!

On the five- and 10-minute poses when I had more time to develop Bob’s form, I again used a single finger to smudge the graphite. It was the most charcoal-like experience I’ve ever had – but without the mess, of course! (One black fingertip I can handle.)

1/31/19 2-min. poses

5-min. poses

10-min. pose

10-min. poses

20-min. pose