meldrum artToday I did some portrait painting at Folkkulturcentrum, in Ropsten, Stockholm. There were four, half hour poses. I was very happy with two of my sketches. It was the first time I was at Folkkulturcentrum, I enjoyed the atmosphere so I’m sure I’ll be back some time soon.
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| 30 minute portrait |
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| 30 minute portrait |
My favourite life drawing books are the following:
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| Charles Reid and Henry Yan |
Here are a few quick sketches from my Saturday session at Basis, Stockholm. A five minute watercolour and two, two minute pencil and synthetic charcoal sketches.
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| Five minute watercolour sketch |
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| Two minute sketch |
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| Two minute sketch |
This was originally a two minute pencil sketch (20121204) on 200 gram watercolour paper. I painted it last Friday, 20130125. I was really happy with it when I did the first wash, then it became muddy as I put on further layers. I want to create a three dimensional quality without losing the vibrancy of a single wash. Live and learn!
A figure drawing tutorial by Bill Buchman. I had to login to my Google account in order to see this video which was a bit annoying. I had to prove I was over eighteen, it was worth the effort, I like his approach to life drawing. He has a Vimeo video channel which is worth visiting. Click here.
At last, I found time to go to life drawing. I’ve been very busy since Christmas so it was a great pleasure to sketch tonight. The session was a two hour pose, the model was a real pro, stood still as a statue. The venue was, The Swedish Academy of Realistic Art in Stockholm.
I’m happy enough with the painting, I have to get used to spending two hours on a figure, for the last two years I’ve been drawing quick poses. Now I want to slow down and capture more detail, the biggest problem I have is the stiffness of the pose, I need to relax. I can see from my 5 and 10 minute poses from two years ago that they were also stiff. All I need to do is lots of these two hour sessions and I should eventually find a fluid line to my art.
Click on the image if you would like to see it in a larger format.
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| Watercolour Nude 2013.01.24 |
Steve Hanks can certainly paint a nude. I admire his work, the detail is amazing, I guess he paints from photographs, it would be impossible to capture so much detail otherwise.
Steve Hanks – Female portrait nude from Art Center on Vimeo.
I discovered the figurative watercolour artist, Ted Nuttall has a Facebook page. His latest work is published there. Visit Ted Nuttall on Facebook here. Please note that for this link to work you need to be already logged into your Facebook account.
I am not 100% happy with this effort, I got the model’s back all muddy, too many strokes! The leg should also have softer edges to suggest depth. Another learning experience that caused frustration but at the same time satifaction. Nothing is straight forward and simple for long when one watercolours.
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| Watercolour nude study from photograph |
