Life Studies

Drawing from the life model has been very helpful for me. In that process there is an ongoing influx of lots of new information. The model's pose may accidentally change slightly over the course of the session. I see, and sympathize with, a living person getting into, holding, and getting out of a pose. And as I work on the drawing I usually see errors in my initial judgements, but since I like to draw in pen, I have to adjust, rather than erase, my drawing, to respond to new information.

Drawing from life, a lot, helps to get the forms and rhythms of the body into memory. Since we all operate from bodies I think it helps to have something of an intuitive sense of how forms are going to develop, interrelate, express themselves, and move. So the resultant artwork can describe a fuller experience. If I can draw more freely, worrying less about making the forms, more of what I am thinking about can be expressed unimpeded in the drawing. This can happen through practice.

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