After warming up with two-minute, 5-minute, and 20 minute drawings, I spent the last hour of the figure drawing session drawing the model clothed, in her blue jeans and her brightly colored shawl. I had noticed her shawl when she first arrived. I was the only artist this week, braving the rainy weather, so I had my choice of pose and costume. I worked with watercolor pencils, which brighten and get runny when wet with clear water spray or brush wash. I used the watercolor pencils without water while drawing there at Studio b., waiting until I got back to my home studio to do the wet work.
There is a lot to be said for making a commitment. My commitment, a couple years ago, was to myself, to participate in the weekly sessions at Studio b., making them my highest priority for Wednesday nights. It has paid off, in that I learn another new aspect of figure drawing every week. I rarely use color in my figure drawings, so this week when I did, I was very uncomfortable, several times making the decision not to tear it up and start over with my usual white nupastel and graphite, which I very much wanted to do. I achieved the delicious color-texture of the shawl, and managed to show the slightly worn character of the jeans, but I need to return to her face and try to refine her features.
Below are a few of the warm-up sketches from earlier in the session.
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Most of my images are available for purchase. Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot
Joan, that color drawing came out fabulously! Love it! And you really captured the model, as well.
Thank you, Heather!