So this week was week two of “life drawing class” and after having had a week to think about it I decided that I had to go again for a few reasons, mainly to get out of the house and do some art and also to get past the shock and horror I felt the first week.. pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret.. I have anxiety issues. I rarely go out of the house on my own, I know when this started I know why it started and I’ve had counselling to help with it, but unless I am very firm with myself I can stay in the house for weeks and never leave. So I felt like I needed to push myself to go to draw naked people again.. PLUS as a side bonus I was emailing the class teacher and he gave me some great tips and hints and I felt like I wasn’t totally hopeless at figurative drawing..
So this week I went with a better attitude or maybe I was just more prepared…
We did the usual one minute sketches which were ordinary, then the five-minute ones our teacher Sean shuffled things up a bit..
One we had to draw without looking at the page… hard!
One we had to draw without looking OR lifting our tool (charcoal for me)
One we had to draw with our non dominant hand which I “thought” was going to be impossible and which was actually more fun than I imagined, and it happened to be the best piece of the night I did. That was a 10 minute piece.
Next we had a 15 minute sitting so I started off with my left hand and then swapped to my right and I still think the side with my left hand is better.. I think I am going to explore that option more.
We had a female model this week Bronwyn. Some how drawing her felt less intimidating than the male.. it’s just all in my head I’m sure.. or am I turning into a prude in my “old age” LOL
This is the piece I did with my left hand I felt that her torso was more in proportion than previous pieces which made me really happy. I still have to work on proportions A L O T! But Sean tells me that somewhere along the way about week 3 or so it should “click into place” in the meantime I can practice at home if I want to. It’s more like if I have time to!
So I started this one-off with my left hand and then switched to my right hand, this is my pin-up piece of the week, I know she’s still not in proportion but there’s something about her that I love! Her legs are not long enough and her heads too big, but she’s a bit like me cute and quirky!!
Sean tells us he has some more fun learning techniques coming up and so for now I will keep going to life class on Mondays
Almost as soon as I stand at the easel I can feel my shoulders start to relax and my mind goes blank and I am in a little bubble of seeing and drawing and getting filthy with charcoal and I realize I am in BLISS… there’s really no other word for it but BLISS… It’s like a shock when our teacher Sean tells us “that’s it ladies and gentlemen, see you next week” it’s a let down with a thump!
bliss (blĭs) n.
Phrasal Verb: bliss out Slang.. To go into a state of ecstasy.
YES!! See I did choose the right word.. its my spiritual joy to do this art class…it’s my freedom from the house, it’s my freedom from children and I am MISSING it so much. Having so much hands on contact with my grand babies is great but I really miss Me time which equals Art time!
Kim L Hine 