Rusty start tonight, everything felt clumsy. But I do seem to be adding new mark making to my drawings.
I normally avoid smudging the charcoal as I like its raw textures, and I can’t help but feel the image melts a little when blending. Tonight however it seemed to work. Eyes half-shut, to observe the block areas of shadows, these were marked in to establish the rough angles of the pose. This was smudged in to give a flat, light mid-tone that could be drawn over again with charcoal, or highlights drawn in with the rubber.
This achieved two things, I mapped out the whole drawing more quickly, something I always seem to stall on. And lightened the tone of my drawing.
So there you have it, even when you experience one of those nights that you are not happy with what you produce, you can still find something new to add to how you create your drawings.
Our model tonight was called Anders.
Giving me guidance, my class tutor is Frank Gambino, trained as a graphic designer, however in recent years his main practise is in portraiture and figure studies. Frank’s studio is in Belsize Park, London, where he works on commissions and runs popular life drawing classes. However, conveniently for me, he is also running classes in East London, at the Tokarska Gallery.
The Tokarska Gallery, a contemporary art gallery run by emerging artist Nadiya Pavliv-Tokarska.