life drawing

I was invited by Susie hunt to go to her studio to try life drawing (it's been approx 15 years since I last really executed a life drawing...)

anyway, It was quite an amazing experience, my heart was actually racing. Susie had set the "rules" to get warmed up, we'd (4 of us) do several 5 minute drawings. It's amazing how short 5 mins is, when holding a stick of messy charcoal. I'd actually drawn 2 lines in 5 mins...good lines, expressive lines, but I was very surprised at the quickness.

We'd worked on about four 5 min poses, and my hand got used to drawing again, some lines and drawings were ok, but most were rusty, I was battling with the need to get specific, to put down bold, finalised lines, regardless of proportion etc...

at one point, I started to doubt my ability, scrubbing and rubbing out lines that just didn't belong on the page, making a scrubby rubby mess, which furthered my mood...(like a black smudge itself!)

we then embarked upon some 20-40 min poses, and this is where I started to relax, and take my time, I tried varying techniques, pencil, charcoal, white pencil on black paper etc, and my hand started to flow in a way I was happy.

My last drawing (posted) I felt was a success, some areas are well executed, the "whole" doesn't quite work, technically incorrect around the left shoulder, but not bad for not doing it after 15 years.

One great aspect of the evening was the focus on looking, the pleasure of following my eye / brain / hand. I'd commented it was a pleasure to watch a line trace round a page, guided by my hand to reveal a drawing that "worked". It did become natural, like I understood the rules of what to do, like riding a bike I guess. (much like me starting skateboarding again, I might not be the best in the world, but I can still rattle out the skills when needed), a confidence boost in all departments.