Course work: Three small heads of people seen in town. I think it is time to declare the “Moving Figure” exercise complete, while planning to continue similar work until I can do it adequately. Two sketchbook pages of ideas and details for the final drawing in Assignment Two. Tried graphite pencil, carbon pencil, Conte’ crayon, water-soluble pencil, and charcoal: decided on the latter, since use of tone is the major objective of this drawing. On this grey, rainy day, I used artificial lighting, which brought out the folds in the model’s clothing very nicely. After some thought, I decided that omitting the feet, and legs below mid-tibia, would improve the composition. The drawing moved along fairly well, and I’d estimate I’m about 2/3 done.
Reading:
Cathy Johnson The Sierra Club Guide to Sketching in Nature
Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1990
Pp 31-66
Ian Simpson, The Complete Drawing Course
Running Press, Philadelphia, PA 1993
Lesson 15 (pp 122-127)
Personal Sketchbook work: A sketch of part of the nighttime view from my armchair.
Summary Observations on the Moving Figure Exercise (Check and Log):
This was perhaps my most difficult exercise to date, and I don’t really think I’ve done it justice: I will continue to work on the moving figure in the future. In a few cases, I managed to capture the “gesture” of the moment; most of the little sketches I’ve done are fragments. The visual memory I’ve always prided myself for doesn’t seem to have done much for me here. I continue to seek the “…few descriptive lines to suggest the movement…”.
Weekly thoughts on learning experience: Portraiture and figure work still seem to be very challenging, but I have made a great deal of progress over the past several weeks. I still lack the ability to capture a truly convincing likeness, but it may take more years than I have left to achieve this.
Total time: About three hours (95)
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