As I did last year, I wanted to give an update on my life drawing this semester. This would be a good way to put my research journal to a close for this module. In person life drawing was finally back this semester, and this was actually my first time regularly attending life drawing classes. Like portraiture, I’ve noticed it’s definitely harder in real life, since you have to deal with your eyes’ perception of depth as well width and height. Though I think that has also allowed me to trust my intuition a bit more.
I’ve been exploring a sense of softness in portraiture, inspired by the work of Gwen John. As such, I came into life drawing with that in mind.
In some cases, I think I was quite successful. In the following drawings. The softness of line conveys a delicacy I really appreciate.
In others, this was rather done through tone; I find that there’s something quite elusive about them.
Many were not so successful though. I think I definitely still have an anxiousness when it comes to life drawing that comes out through in the line quality. I really want to work on escaping that stiffness in my future work.
Lastly, I really enjoyed experimenting with colour. The softness of these pieces has inspired my oil work as well.
Overall, I feel satisfied with this semester. I struggled a lot to get past a slow start but I managed to build a rhythm in the second half. I found that attending life drawing, as well as workshops, allowed me to keep a regular practice throughout it.
I think I’ve done a good job at taking my work from last year further and I’m feeling really hopeful for next semester, now that I’ve found a better studio rhythm. I also like how I’ve been able to explore some of my other interests through my work (terrariums, pottery…).