Sitting
Looking into the distance
Enclosed within four walls
Shades down for privacy
Of anyone passing by
A tack in the wall
The back of a pad
Mounted in on an easel
The bald head of the guy
Peaking for a moment
Then drawing like mad
Sitting
Contemplating her place
In the world
Or maybe
Just holding on
Waiting for the time
to pass
For her next break
I attended the drop in life drawing session
this morning to draw “S”. Above are from some of the poses “S” provided while
sitting on the stage and then on a stool on the stage. The top drawing is from
a thirty-minute pose. the others two were each fifteen minutes long.
Until fairly recently I would describe the
thoughts I have while drawing from a model. There used to be this interaction,
this conversation, completely with myself that I had when drawing them. I’m not
sure I have the same interaction now. I’m not sure when it went away. It
happened, I think, about the time
I started drawing from a model, almost every day.
Now the conversation I have is usually the
same with each of them. I think about where the shadows are, where I want to
show an edge or change a value. Before I was thinking more about who each of
these models were, what they were thinking, even if I was making up who they
might be, knowing I would probably not get to know them much more than what I
observed.
The sitting poses above each deserve a story
of some kind. There should be a better reason for the drawing, the time taken
to pose, than to just create a likeness, a representation of what I saw.
Maybe the drawings are enough? Maybe the
emotions, the drama, the story for each of them, should be left alone? Or maybe
as the artist, I shouldn’t interfere with how each drawing is seen and felt by
everyone else.
All drawings are 18”x 24” Sanguine on pretty
good paper.
That's interesting. Your process and how it changes. I can imagine myself totally absorbed in who they are, what they are thinking, and what prompted them to pose. But I image that after awhile, your craftsmanship takes over.
ReplyDeleteOnly you know...but between drawings and writings I'll cheer for the drawing :)
ReplyDeleteWine and Words, Annie: Maybe I’m less sensitive these days, concerned more about the drawing then I used to. Also, so many of the models, like “S” I have drawn many times before. I still get absorbed (though not as much) in thoughts about the models that I haven’t drawn before.
ReplyDeleteLorraine: Drawing comes much more naturally to me then writing. But it is the great writing, those who can create ideas and images with their words I admire more.