1st entry for May 17, 2009

On the Sunday day it was Z- , the apple of my eye, who was working at the TSA. I still didn't arrive on time (Sunday mornings are the hardest), but regretted that, as it was a very crowded morning in the studio. These range, top to bottom: 5 minutes, 10 minutes and two 15-minute poses. I'm very happy with the smiling face of Z- . I feel it records an aspect of her that I recognise.

1st entry for March 12, 2009

On Thursday, Z- came and joined me to visit the aerial drawing session at Diane Mcgrath's studio. We found P- working there. I had had the opportunity to draw her once before (check out the January archive for entries on Jan 15th.) For the first part of the evening she was working on a suspended hoop, which was where I had left off with her before.
The studies here are, bottom to top: 30-seconds, two 1-minute and two 2-minute studies.

At this session I usually get in on time, and always find I benefit from the very fast, scribbly gesture studies. You can see the transition from more loose and all-over marks to more focus on outlines and specific shapes as the time available increases.

While you don't see scribbly marks in longer studies, I find it invaluable to know whre they might go, and think it is useful to reconnect to that energy at the start of a drawing session. It informs the longer drawings.

2nd entry for February 10, 2009

These were 20-minute studies. I had arrived at this session late yet again. Missing out on most of the warmup time meant that the drawing was not flowing freely, and I was fussing over facial features. R- has a very interesting face, one that speaks of life experience and a certain gravity of self, coupled with a good sense of humour.
I don't think all of that is being reflected in my studies of her to date.
She also has excellent locks of hair, and that's something I really enjoy the challenge of drawing. But in 20 minutes there is barely enough time to set that down, and draw the rest of her as well.

Entry for February 3, 2009

Since scaling back my work obligations a bit, it dismays me slightly that I have remained incapable of turning up on time for drawing sessions. When I did arrive (late) to the session at Artists 25, I found S- working. These were the studies that worked out all right - one 10-minute one at the end, and three 20-minute poses. I do feel the lack of warm-up sketches, so I will have to try to arrive closer to the start time in the future...

When it's someone like S- working, it is a cause for regret having missed the opportunity to draw more.