Life Drawing

I started going to life drawing classes a few weeks ago. It's been good for me to work on a bigger scale and try out different materials. The class is nearby and is run by a lady called Bobby who was at the Royal College of Art and actually gives tuition in the class, instead of just leaving us to get on with it. The class is quite challenging as we are encouraged to really question the way we look at what's in front of us in the studio. The act of drawing and painting is a fascinating mind-game as you gaze at what is in front of you and try and make a connection with the marks you are putting down on the paper.

This week we had an exercise that totally confused me at first. Bobby asked us to forget about drawing the figure but look at what surrounds the figure as well. Start by drawing a small part of the figure and see where it leads you on the page, tracing the line to furniture, other figures in the studio... I found this very difficult at first and kept wanting to draw figuratively but eventually after several goes I got it. You start to look at the figure as a three dimensional object and in relation to what's around it. It helps you to place the figure on the page and really understand the shapes. Anyway I was quite pleased with myself that I could take a step in a new direction and, after a few crossed wires, I felt that I made some progress in my drawing.

Life drawing in general can help you to make little shifts in the way you think. I feel that it's similar to yoga practice as it depends entirely on your attitude to the pose and how you approach the exercise. Allowing yourself to make little changes and relax into the drawing process is what makes it work for me.

I am particularly enjoying going to this class as it is nearby and helps to make me feel more connected to what's going on around me. I discovered that my neighbour also goes to the same class so we have begun to have neighbourly suppers after class too! All very positive.