Three Short Poses Over Time

One of the really good things about life drawing sessions at Swansea Print Workshop is the variety of models who pose for us and I enjoy working with such a range of body types and ages. This older model is very experienced and he’s been posing for our group for many years. It’s a privilege to be able to follow how a body changes over time as well as really good practice. These three poses are the first in a session, very short so we can warm up and focus on the essence of each pose instead of the details.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left to see the complete image.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Crowd Surf My Coffin

Oh WOW! It was so good to be at a live gig this week, Skindred at The Tramshed in Cardiff, first gig in over 18 months. It was AWESOME! I was so energised and danced and bounced for hours (killed me for the next two days though). But I still found a bit of time to have a scribble. We were upstairs so I was looking down on the crowd in the dark and I could only see white shapes of heads, faces, arms, hands. So I scribbled them, in the dark …. why not, eh?

I added the blackness today, using a very soft charcoal pencil and a tortillon. I would have carried on scribbling but I dropped my pen over the edge of the balcony onto someone’s head – had to duck so I wasn’t spotted.

Anyway, I couldn’t scribble when Skindred was on stage because I was screaming and hollering and headbanging. There was loads of crowd surfing going on down below, and a lively mosh pit. That brought back memories. When I die I want my friends and family to crowd-surf my coffin to a Skindred track. Here’s Newport’s finest at The Tramshed. I’m in the middle at the back on the balcony. Can you see me? 😀

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left to see the complete image.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Weird Angles

Here’s a recent life drawing which is quite academic in the way I approached it. Our model was standing on a low table and I was sitting on a chair looking up slightly so I got to draw from an interesting but weird angle, and I needed to make sure I had the proportions and perspective accurate. In 30 minutes. No pressure then 😀

Here’s a 10 minute pose, one of the shorter ones at the start of the session, for us to warm up. Our model has been doing yoga for many years and held her pose comfortably. Another weird angle and it was quite difficult to draw.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the antique taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these vintage artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left to see the complete image.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Bruised, Sore And Hoarse. Marvellous!

Didn’t post here last night because I was AT A GIG – Skindred – for the first time since lockdown started. That’s 18 months without live music. It was BRILLIANT but I’m absolutely knackered today. My feet feel bruised, my neck is sore from headbanging and I can hardly speak because I screamed myself hoarse. Bloody marvellous. I didn’t realised how much I missed live music. I feel ALIVE!!!!!

I managed some scribbling during the set of the excellent first band, Saint Agnes. I was speed drawing in the dark – I like a challenge 😉 I often do technical drawing exercises, to practice, and the ones that helped most here are the one where you draw without looking at the paper at all, just the subject. And continuous line drawing.

The venue, The Tramshed in Cardiff, is proper old school with plenty of room for a mosh pit and carpets that your feet stick to 😀 I’m surprised I lasted the night, but two pints of Diet Coke and I was well away! But I’m suffering for it tonight so I made comfort food for me and Husb. Traditional rice pudding and a night in front of the telly. Lovely.

The main band was Skindred , Newport’s finest, and if you haven’t heard them, here’s a video of them at Download festival. They’re Welsh heavy metal / ragga fusion. I love them, one of my favourite bands.

Marks Of A Life Lived

Here’s the long pose from the most recent life drawing session. I had a good viewing position, with some great foreshortening on that right leg. I love foreshortening. It drives me nuts when I’m doing it but I enjoy a challenge! Our model bears the marks of a life lived on her body, with a voluptuousness that comes with age and the scar of cancer surgery. These make her more fascinating to draw as they challenge our society’s tiresome obsession about youth and alleged “perfection”, which gets boring to be honest.

Having an hour gave me the chance to do some work on the gorgeous quilt that our model brings with her. It’s nice to have that contrast to the colour and texture of her flesh, the natural and the manufactured. And I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for a paisley design.

A Chance To Own One Of My Artworks

I have some small screenprints for sale, inspired by my drawings of the taxidermy collection at Swansea Museum. I have given these antique artifacts a modern twist by combining them with images of rubbish – old fruit nets, bubble wrap and plastic – highlighting the problem of human pollution and how it affects wildlife.

To buy my work on the Swansea Print Workshop site please click the image to the left and to see the complete image.

20 percent of the cost of each screenprint sold goes to support Swansea Print Workshop, which receives no public funding.

Recycle and Draw

For this life drawing I recycled a drawing I’d done before that I wasn’t happy with, done with my home-made walnut ink and a dip pen. It just didn’t work out so, waste not, want not. Because I was working on top of existing lines, I relaxed and let myself go a bit, didn’t get too academic about it and I really like the result. I did this in about 30 minutes. The one below is a 20 minute pose and I used a more traditional approach to it.

Life Drawing And Home Cooking

This life model likes to hold an unusual pose and this one was great, but an upside down face is really hard to draw. And the foreshortening was wicked. I used Daler Rowney artist’s pastels onto a heavy textured vintage paper, size about A1 – quite big. There was a spotlight on over our model which gave some radical shadows which reminded me of Toulouse-Lautrec’s drawings and paintings at The Folies Bergere so I used quite a harsh purple and green palette. This was a couple of weeks ago at the Swansea Print Workshop weekly life drawing session.

And today I did some baking. Young nephew called over so I had an excuse. Jam tarts (home made jam natch), apricot tart and chorizo / butter bean / cheese pasties. Not much left now 😀

Normal Service Has Resumed …….

It’s October and it’s back to normal with life drawing, sketching, painting and printmaking. Through September I mostly blogged about my charity fundraiser, but now I’m going to be posting about my everyday arts practice so here goes with some of the life drawings that have been building up over the past month. I was trying something a bit different with the pastel drawing (above). It was the final pose of the session, a full hour, so I decided to do something other than my normal rather academic, representational style. And the one below is the first, a five minute pose.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to my fundraiser for LATCH: The Children’s Cancer Charity. We raised £850 from the paintings and I know there were people who donated directly to LATCH – THANK YOU! And big THANKS to those who shared all over social media and cheered from the side-lines. I would also like to thank Ed Sumner for his wonderful Cheese and Wine Painting Club. And most of all, my young nephew and I would like to say thank you to LATCH for all the great work they do. I’m glad I could use these paintings to help their mission so in future, children will benefit from their much needed service.

Thank you for contributing

My September painting fundraiser for LATCH, The Children’s Cancer Charity, is now officially over. Thank you to all those who bought paintings and donated. Also to those who shared and cheered from the side-lines. We raised £850 from the paintings and I know there were also people who donated directly to LATCH. It’s been a fantastic month. I would also like to thank Ed Sumner for his wonderful Cheese and Wine Painting Club. Most of all, my young nephew and I would like to say thank you to LATCH for all the great work they do. I’m glad I could use these paintings to help their mission so in future, children will benefit from their much needed service.

Three Short Poses

Just back from life drawing at Swansea Print Workshop – here are the first three poses from this evening, we always begin with quick ones to warm up. She’s a great model. I used conte crayons in black and sanguine and I drew onto some paper that I’d used for another drawing, in walnut ink, but I didn’t like it so ….. waste not want not. Anyway. It’s late so Nos Da, Good Night xxx