Tag Archives: Belgium figure drawing sessions

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Figuur tekenen, figure drawing, June 26

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Tonight was our lest session of the season. Here in Europe people really do take the summer off – and it pretty much follows the school year. So, end of June to the end of September.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Our model tonight was Dominique. She sat for us a few weeks ago. Since then we have become friends. Nice.

In terms of approach I  decided to keep with my new attempt to integrate the highlights quickly after laying in the figure. It’s often the case that I have about two minutes to do so, but if the figure is right the placement of the highlights takes no time and even less decision making.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Here are a few keepers of the evening. So for now, relax, enjoy and have a great summer!

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Figure Drawing, May 22, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

A different model tonight. A pear-shaped Venusian woman. She took good, challenging poses, though I confess I had difficulty reading the anatomical features which were so prominent last week in our tall, skinny, lightly ripped model. Tonight then was different.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

I was glad to find that at the end I did have a few keepers. In particular, one seated gem featured at the top of this webpage. All are fifteen minute studies.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

One change I made this week was reverting to the smooth instead of the rough side of the recycling pad of paper that I usually use. The Watts Atelier , where I have sometimes taken figure drawing classes, encourages using smooth newsprint – not rough. Thus, I have found that the smooth side makes it easier to rub away light marks, when you want to. Inevitably there are changes to be made in your drawing, but this can happen without using an eraser. Just a little finger rub, one more thoroughly tactile way to engage with the experience of drawing.

Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper.

Figure Drawing, Brugge, May 15, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

After a looong hiatus from Bruges but also from live figure drawing, I’m very happy to be back. During this particular interim I’ve been concentrating on studying the anatomy of the human figure: bones (skeletal), muscles, tendons, ligaments; but also differing schemes for abstracting figurative essentials in an accurate way. Mostly, these studies were done at the Watts Atelier in Encinitas, California – and most were done by using photo references from books. Tedious, perhaps. Uninspiring, well, yes; so you just had to supply your own. Which I did.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

My own inspiration then, my own questions, after drawing from the figure on and off for about forty years, were and are very specific. I have or have had no difficulty feeling the figure or expressing my feelings on paper but I certainly have noticed that I don’t always get the proportions right and, relative to anatomy, I have felt myself to be quite ignorant. In the world of Modern/Contemporary Art, neither of those things are a problem so long as you say something “personal” and that was what I was taught back in the day at my liberal-arts-college art department. Personal distortion is more or less expected. But there, for whatever reason, my temperament begs to differ: I feel awkward if things are off while my body tells me with a distinct sense of relaxation when I get it right.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Descending into these “left-brained” studies then has been deeply frustrating. I’ve had to retrain the dog so that, at least temporarily, I became ignorant and uncoordinated. My movements were slower and unsure, as analysis replaced intuition. My drawings were incoherent. Some instructors assured us that there was light at the end of the tunnel. I certainly hoped so. The good news was that I was instructed to use cheap and simple charcoal pencils. Nothing fancy or expensive, so any attempt was easy to throw away, but also no high-end crutch to rely upon. 😉

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

So here tonight, after returning to Brugge, I can feel and see some progress being made. My three minute gestures are currently trash (I am still moving too slowly) but all of the fifteen minute studies were “keepers”. Before I began my studies my batting average was maybe 50%? So my proportions are improving and I experienced great joy in discovering the various skeletal protrusions I had studied. Even the final pose of the night, a five minute energetically expansive one, fell into place quite quickly. Ha!

Five minute gesture study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm.

Five minute gesture study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm.

I can imagine that over time I will be able to return to the chiaroscuro I used to enjoy so much. That is, placing highlights and shadows quickly – but accurately. For now though, placement on the page with proportional and gestural accuracy is improving so I’m happy.

Figure Drawing, December 23, 2019

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The model tonight was a lady named Angie. I scrawled her name across one of my drawings so I would not forget it. She is a large, jolly lady who I enjoy drawing. She takes good poses and seems to know intuitively what would be interesting for those of us on the other side. Below, two pastels on tinted Canson pastel paper and five charcoals on tinted sketching paper.

These drawings are posted much later than usual. They were done just before we departed Bruges for a three month trip – which became five due to the travel restrictions of the covid virus.

 

Conté crayon on tinted Canson paper, 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Conté crayon on tinted Canson paper, 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

 

Figure Drawing, October 14, 2019

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Last night our model was Soeren, one of our regulars. He’s really long and lanky. You can’t apply “normal” proportionalities to his figure, for he has a large and bony head, also big feet and hands, so he presents a particular kind of challenge. Last night I was lucky to snag a few keepers from the longer poses and also to find some of the gesture drawings interesting enough to keep.

Also, I had an interesting experience tonight of dropping my kneaded eraser in the middle of the sepia colored paper drawing. Couldn’t find it. Had to make a choice: continue without my trusted third hand or give up on completing the drawing? So I let go of my safety net and found my eraser afterwards. And the drawing worked out anyway. 🙂

Two fifteen minute figure drawings.

Soeren, folded. Conté crayon on tinted Canson paper, 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Soeren, Conté crayon on tinted Canson paper, 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Five four minute figure studies.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Charcoal on tinted sketching paper, 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Figure Drawing, July 22, 2019

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I participated in figure drawing the night before traveling: it was a great way to pack for a trip! But of course I had no time to process the drawings until our return, so here are a few. The model was a pretty young girl, whose features I find I am attracted to draw, only sometimes successfully (the spotlighted drawing here being one of them). Otherwise, her poses are fine, not exactly inspired but hey, no complaints.

Three fifteen minute poses. Conté pencil and crayon on Canson pastel paper. 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

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Three four minute poses. Left to right, the first two black charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in. then for the last (since I ran out of sketching paper), black charcoal on tinted Canson pastel paper 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Figure Drawing June 03, 2019

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The model tonight was a heavy set lady with lots of props. She came with a WWI gas mask (!), a black hat sporting a thin black veil, a pair of black wings, a pair of black, thigh length hose and some black, elbow length gloves. OK, we think, this will be fun. Thus whatever the poses may lacked for in terms of bodily inventiveness was made up for with her use of props. An interesting evening containing lots of laughter.

Here below two fifteen minute poses.Conté pencil and crayon on Canson pastel paper. 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in.

Four four minute poses. Black charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Figure Drawing, October 15, 2018

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The model tonight was a regular, but one I personally had not seen in awhile. In the interim a brunette became a blonde. She’s a good model, with lots of nice tattoos.

Anyway, a good night. I was reminded while drawing of footage I had seen recently of surfers attempting a 25 foot wave off the coast of Portugal. They insisted that the only way to attempt something so massive was to become one with the ocean: that when that sense of oneness slipped away, things tended to go wrong.

I would say that the same is true with figure drawing (only it’s much less dangerous). Feeling connected to the model, the chalk, the paper and what is happening on it, the music, the other people in the room: it’s all one experience which, most especially when I forget myself, tends to go well. So, for me, drawing is not about taking credit, rather its about getting the me out of the way and letting experience itself speak.

Here below five fifteen minute poses. 32.5 x 50 cm or 13 x 19.75 in. Conté crayon touched up with conté pencil on tinted Canson pastel drawing paper.

Three four minute poses. 35 x 50 cm. or 13.75 x 19.75 in. Black charcoal on tinted sketching paper.

Figure Drawing, October 2, 2018

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The model tonight was a large, overweight woman. I find these kinds of bodies really exciting to draw. There is a massive quality to the form, weighted, earthy, the groundedness stimulates the muladhara chakra. So here below, the evening’s catch.

On the fifteen minute poses, I think the most successful are those in which I had the time to add in a few touches of extreme highlight. These white highlights do not need to be many, but they function in important ways to set the dynamic range. But these extreme highlights can only be correctly placed after I have already set the figure and begun to suggest some of the chromatic values on the toned paper: there is not always enough time for all that in fifteen minutes.

Four fifteen minutes poses: Conté crayon on toned Canson pastel paper. 32.5 x 50 cm. Or 13 x 19.75 in.

Three four minute studies: Black charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm. or 13.75 x 19.75 in.

Figure Drawing, September 24, 2018

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Our model tonight, Lisa. She is one of our regulars. Turns out, she works as a nurse and the days that she models for us are long days since she has to get up at 4:30 to get to work(!). We had a nice chat at the break as she puffed on her electronic cigarette. Here below a few fifteen minute poses and some four minute ones, too.

Fifteen minute poses.Conte crayon on tinted Canson pastel paper. 32.5 x 50 cm. or 13 x 19.75 in.

Four minute poses. Black charcoal on tinted sketching paper. 35 x 50 cm. or 13.75 x 19.75 in.