Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Life Drawing Masterclass

Yesterday, I was off early in the day to attend a Life Drawing Masterclass.  It was a full day - from 10am until 2:30pm - of learning the basics of Life Drawing; with a model there as well.  
I arrived there about half and hour early because my bus was either going to make me early or late - depending on with one I caught.  This gave me a chance to walk around the 'Artwaves' exhibition and to vote on the one I loved the most (which was Identity by Chanel Tanent in Gallery 3).  By the time we all signed in and had picked our places, the teacher was ready and the model had arrived.
Kay Kane works at Griffith University teaching students how to draw with pencil and charcoal and she also teaches animators drawing as well.  The model we had was somebody known to me as I had drawn him before at Southbank last year.  The funny thing was that I didn't really know him until he disrobed and posed that his name popped into my head; just before the teacher told us his name.
We learned how to use the cloud technique with drawing peopleThis is when you use the side of your charcoal to shade what you see of the model; starting at the centre of him, then going up and filling in where the arms are and legs.  It was a great exercise for us to do.  By the end of it, we had to draw a fixed line around the cloud with the pointed end of our charcoal and then fill out where the arms and legs would have been.  And believe me!  Mine didn't look anything like what he didIt was a mess.  We had a break and I went and said hi to the model - seeing I knew him - and caught up with him.  Then, the teacher worked through until around midday - lunch time - and we worked for another hour or so and we had a few more exercises to do before going back to clouding again; but we found we had all improved on that morning.
Kay Kane then talked about her doctorate and what her main piece of work was and how long her current works took her to do, where there's other Life Drawing classes and asked if we'd like to attend another class like this one at the Logan Art Gallery.  Most of us wanted to know faces and heads - portraits - and she was pleased to see we wanted to get into the nitty-gritty of all; and said she'd love to do another workshop in the future.  This is something I will definitely be looking out for!  
I got home at around 3:30pm - when Dad picked me up - and as soon as I walked through the door, all I wanted to do was go to bed and sleep until this morning.  My feet hurt from standing in front of that easel for 5 hours.  My knees hurt from not being able to sit once in a while; and I was so very tired from looking at the model, then looking at my work, then looking back at the model again.  But you know?  I'd do it all again because it's the passion of working with the human body that keeps me wanting to learn more about how to paint it and draw it.  Until my next post, keep creating!  

Life Drawing Workshop 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

It's Finished!

After 7 months of working on it, my self-portrait is finally finished and signed.  I sat down yesterday and did up the finishing touches on it within about an hour and a half and I'm pleased with it all!  

However, it hasn't all been plain sailing with this complex works.  I have never done a nude before and I've never painted a self-portrait of myself where I'm a full-sized figure.  So, these were the main things that threw me; and why it took so long for me to complete it.  I also enjoyed the learning experience so much I almost didn't want to finish it.  But I had other things that were on my mind, so I had to complete it.

There were other faults with it, but if I didn't sign it, I would've been picking at it until Christmas.  So, I thought to keep it the way it is now and sign it - faults and all.  Besides, it's the faults that make a painting, if nothing else.  Well, I'm happy it's finished and signed now; and I can work on something else.  Until my next post, keep creating.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

I'm Being Interviewed!

I've got a big interview coming up next Wednesday and it's going to be with the editor of the South City Bulletin which covers Logan City.  The editor, Wendy Johnson, has asked me to write a piece about what other hobbies I do besides writing and I thought to tell her about my painting and interests in the arts.  Well, writing the article took about two days and half a day of editing.
Today, she read it and asked if I had any photos of myself and my art.  I didn't think I'd make the cut for the Bulletin; so I didn't put in any photos initially.  So, this afternoon, I spent about an hour looking for photos of my works that I had spent the last year on; then looked for my first painting I had done when I was 24 and photographed that and sent that along with the others.  
Well!  Wendy e-mailed me back and said we should get together for a coffee and she wants to see my other pieces I've been working on too.  This will be a good boost to my portfolio and profile online too.  I can't wait!  I'll keep you all posted about what happens.