Life Drawing Thursday 1 November 2012

Belle by Sandra

 

Question: What do Tom Wood and Belle's curls have in common? Answer: We hope to see them both back again by 17th November at the latest.
Anyroad up, no more jokes for now, as Tony has asked me to be brief, using the attached images this Sunday afternoon to try and recall last Thursday's proceedings. Presumably Tom's are still making their way here via virtual rickshaw and cyber-pigeon.
To select a few that particularly struck me, first came Catherine's strong blue and white, almost sculptural image. David's injection of powerful colour into his primarily b/w drawing has the feeling of an illustration for a fantasy tale, and I liked it very much. It shows that small scale and economy of means can often prove stronger than elaborate juggernauts. By contrast, Patrick's drawing is an exercise in effective mark-making, eschewing narrative associations and focussing our attention on the presence of what confronted him, whilst also introducing limited colour to heighten the effect. Roger's unmistakeable style begs the question: Is the motif without supporting the mark-making, or is the mark-making enabling an image to emerge from within? Perhaps both? This, in a different way, applies to Sandra's approach. On this occasion, I think it has resulted in a remarkable success. Rather than the figure emerging from the lush tropical greens, it is silhouetted against them in an enrirely satisfactory stylistic marriage (Peter Doig-like) as the figure remains still sufficiently loose. Not only that, but Sandra has still absolutely caught a likeness and sense of presence of Belle. What could have proved contrived, is totally convincing, because the observational skills are functioning so well. Last, but by no means least, comes Teresa. Here is an artist who must carry an enviable spatial realm in her head. The use of space, as well as the delicacy of the drawing, has given a great result. (It merited better paper!).

by Chris Fallowfield

Images can be seen here        http://pinterest.com/pin/528750812470641812/