4th entry for February 5, 2010

These were 20-minute poses, which finished up the evening. These studies fall within the range of post-worthy in my estimation, but aren't my strongest by far. In the last stretch of the evening was distracted by some information unrelated to drawing that a friend had shared earlier. So rather than getting lost in the drawing I was getting caught up in an internal dialogue, weighing responses and formulating an internal debate.

All of which was probably more an index that my focus was lagging as I got tired at the end of the evening's drawing. There are always thoughts to get occupied with if one wants to let them. In hindsight, I was a few days away from succumding to a nasty cold, so the first blush of that may have been manifesting in moodiness and diminished focus - that's usually how things go for me.

(when I'm in focus I like to try to `hear' snippets of music internally, or try to mentally replay a song that fits my mood. I far prefer that to an actual music player, as I find earphones or earbuds are intrusive and too direct. I think the process of summoning up some music works as a bit of a meditative device for me - it is something other than linear reasoning or concept formulation to fill my consciousness with.)

I think the feet are the redeeming feature in the reclining study. Because I usually work top-down drawing people, I often end up rushing through the feet. These I made a point of taking some time to focus on.

2nd entry for July 31, 2009

These images are all in the 15-minute and 20-minute range. As with other occasions drawing M- , I struggle with his likeness. This paerticular night I was feeling at one point that there was a tug-of-war, between my desire to set down an absolute image of him, and his willingness to be so represented. It was like some interior battle of wills, going on no doubt entirely in my head. I didn't quite succeed, but a few studies were okay, just the same.
I was also cognizant of the tendency to want to turn models into `characters' - to create a simplified sense of who they are, and draw that. I was aware of wanting to get deeper - to draw M- honestly, rather than just do `M- drawings'.
It's always interesting how psychological considerations enter into the process of representing someone.

3rd entry for February 8, 2009

There was, as usual, a 3-hour pose in the afternoon at TSA on the Sunday.
I was a bit surprised to find that Z- was working with I- , on a 2-figure pose. It was interesting, though, and once again the dynamics of two people, one undressed, one partially dressed was striking. This was the inverse of B- and his partner G- a couple of weeks back.

I- was stationed at one end of the couch, and Z- was my main focus, and I decided letting I- run out of the frame would have some drama to it. it was tricky drawing half of him. The drawing was done with 20 minutes to spare, so I used the remaining time to start a study of I- 's head, as I was feeling a little badly about marginalising him in the composition. Some of I - 's art and photography can be found on his website - check it out.