Crealde – Saturday Figure Drawing

Every Sunday there is a figure drawing class at Crealde from 10:30am to 12:30pm. I usually have other events on my plate but this Sunday I decided to get back to figure drawing. It is so nice to have a model stand still for five minutes or longer. Amber is a young petite model who had a steely focus when posing. She would stare at a spot right above everyone’s head and remain totally still. She didn’t take the most dynamic poses but I was overjoyed to be able to relax and take my time with my drawings. I filled 2 spreads in my sketch book with tiny studies before I decided to expand my view to incorporate all the artists. There were some female artists as well, they just happened to be on the opposite side of the room. Paul McNear runs the class starting with 2 minute poses then 5 minues then finishing up with 20 minute poses. Paul is the artist with the checkered shirt, I love drawing his expressive face.
Once I started this sketch I didn’t take any breaks, while others chatted away, I was adding washes and adding background details. The devil is always in the details. I loved that there was a poster on the wall that said simply, “Hope.” Every drawing begins with a bit of hope and faith. With this sketch I didn’t do any preliminary pencil work. I attacked the drawing by going straight to ink and I feel the result is bolder with more chances being taken. If I do this more often I should be able to finish my sketches on location much faster.