Long Pose Fun

Here's one that is unlikely to sell - but it was fun to do. Last Friday we had a "long pose" session and had Ginny dress up as a bag lady. In fact, I think I'll call my piece "It's in the Bag"! I was working again with mixed media. On watercolour paper, I drew in black conte' crayon and then did a wash - using red, yellow and blue - Pyrole Red, Hansa Yellow and Ultramarine Blue, to be precise. Then I used a blow-dryer to dry it (we keep one in out cupboard at the art centre)  and then I  put acrylic gel for pastels over it. This is a gritty gel that dries to a surface that will hold the pastels. Then, after another session with the blow-dryer,  I worked in pastels to finish it. I think Ginny was a bit amused by the various results of her pose. We've told her that next time we should have her come as a society lady for an opposite effect. At any rate, it made for a fun session.

Latest Life Drawing

This was done in about two hours last night at Life Drawing

The pastel paper is a sort of smokey mauve colour - I think it is called "Twilight" or something like that. I drew lightly with a white Conte' crayon to work out proportions. This is actually the second drawing as the other - on the other side, I didn't like the results. Then I couldn't locate an eraser so  I just turned it over. Shortly after, I found *four* erasers - they had become so grubby from the pastels that they weren't recognizable. So now I have cleaned them up a bit - threw one out - and have them in their own little plastic "snack pack" to keep them cleaner. Of course, kneaded erases don't last forever anyway. Then I worked mostly with soft pastels - a little pan pastel in the lower left- and pastel pencils in a linear way- especially on the face. We do a "long pose" every two months and they are  mostly draped figures. Nice to have a longer time to get into it - and to work in colour.