Sara's Experimental Corner

Back from a lovely holiday in Turkey, I managed to win the battle against jet lag for long enough to attend life drawing class again. I certainly did miss it! Here’s the best from tonight’s efforts. One of my neighbors said he thought I had really captured her likeness, which is such a fabulous compliment: but I don’t quite see it in this one; maybe the mouth.

I am very much enjoying portraiture with a Copperplate nib. I think I’ll continue this way for a while and see where it leads me. I need quite a bit more practice with them, because the point is so fine and pressure exerted so miniscule that it’s very hard to keep my hand steady. I’m still doing the Emotion of the Day and I got quite a few hats in during our trip to Turkey. Maybe I’ll keep on them and see what comes of it.

I haven’t had much time for much art lately due to work & other obligations, but I found a tiny sketch book hidden in the bookcase that works great for quick <30 min sketches before heading off to sleep. Here are two of my favorites:

I must admit that I worked on the man for about 5 minutes the next day too, just to enhance the tonal contrast. I quite like both of these folks. Definitely added to the favourites, especially the man.

I’ve managed to attend life drawing class for the last few weeks too. The nice thing about having something consistent, even if it’s not as often as I would like, is that I am starting to be able to see a bit of improvement – slowly. Interestingly, I was looking at the Heston & Gordon sketches the other day while waiting for my husband to pack up (they’re hanging in his office), and I can now critique the works, instead of just marveling that I was able to do it. My eyes are getting better at “looking”, I suppose.

Here are two of the portraits from last night’s life drawing. The one on the left was 10 min; on the right, 20 min. When it turned out that I would have a perfect profile view, I nearly moved my bench seat – but decided instead rather to stick with it because it’s quite rare that it happens and maybe something good will come of it, or at least it’ll be good practice. Hence the inferred nose

While I was processing these photos, I stumbled on a sketch from life drawing class nearly two years ago. I always liked this one – the pillow in particular, but also the exaggerated perspective. Not sure why I never got around to posting it before, but here it is.

… i present to you heston blumenthal, a present for my fiance, to match gordon.  now sweetpea you can hang them side by side in your office.

heston has a really cool face.  nothing is symmetric, not only is nothing symmetric, his nose is totally off centre and lips are crooked.  so much fun to draw!  the hardest part for me was the reflected light on the left side of his face.

i also had a hard time at first because i didn’t know his personality at all.  i’ve been reading all these portraiture books lately and there is quite a bit of discussion about whether or not the artist needs to know the personality of the sitter in order to create an ‘accurate likeness’.  well, theoretically i think you shouldn’t need to know your sitter (at least at this point in my life i believe that), but in practice i found it extremely difficult to draw his expression until i watched the first 35 seconds of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvAJeJ5B5Ms , and then i got it.  the quirky science chef.  his personality reminds me of a bizarre article i read once about a restaurant chef who made everything using edible ink in an inkjet printer – super strange and i can’t believe that printed paper would taste as good as peking duck.  but then again, i suppose if i had a money tree in my back yard, i’d like to see what it tastes like, and so i would book a table for an evening meal.  ‘nuf said.

this portrait of heston was certainly done for the patron.  my adventure with gordon ramsay (below) was fun and i did it for me, but this style isn’t quite what i am looking for.  i’m much more drawn to the loose wispy broad stroke style like my “after picasso” or the “after van dyck” (both below).  but, if i could make a living doing commissioned portraits in the style of heston and gordon, would i ??  definitely.