Sketches in the field

Blind contour drawing at station

Blind contour drawing at Bingo entrance

Blind contour drawing at station

Today I got started on my quick drawings of people.  Off to local town on a Sunday afternoon with a small sketchbook and ink pen for about 45 minutes 

Observations:

• difficult to find somewhere to draw without embarassing anyone including myself
• people VERY quickly sense that they are being drawn
• I am so used to working with a camera that this feels new
• People usually move quickly, eventually I settled for fast blind contour drawing as the best technique and also as practice for this approach  
• This worked and I enjoyed it
• These sketches can be reviewed and reworked afterwards and the anatomy thought through, most important is to get the energy and meaning in.-
• Very different drawing people from horses, I suppose their body language is obscured by the fact that we have a complex language and technology as well, also I am a human so I am part of the situation.
• people not used to being drawn, it feels invasive and more obvious than photography
• privacy an issue which is not the case with animals.
• also people wear clothes 
• there is no "framework" such as life class situation or a formal studio where the rules have been agreed upon. 
• weather showery and blustery, so returned home, decided to create a blog so that I would have a framework to practice

Getting started

For the past few years I have been drawing horses.  I have been around horses, handling them and riding them, a lot and I have a natural ability to be able to draw them, usually from memory. Sometimes the anatomy is not spot on, but the energy of the drawing usually is.  

When I try to draw humans, I am less sure of myself.  I get fogged up with memories of academic life drawing study in which the emphasis was on learning accuracy rather than expressing movement.
The books I mentioned in the previous post suggest a different starting point, either quick gestural drawings to capture the "lines of force" or blind contour drawing.  The latter means drawing without looking at the paper.  Essentially it is "drawing by touch", as the artist imagines his or her pencil is touching the subject and slowly following the outline.

Both these approaches mean that the artist is using other senses besides sight to look at and make the drawing.  This makes complete sense to me.  This is how I do my horse drawing, and I am helped by the knowledge in myself resulting from years of daily contact with horses.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

I want a fresh look at drawing.  I also need to learn more about humans and how to draw them.
Maybe I will write another book. Maybe I will do some teaching workshops.  So  I am exploring, and as usual I will find the blog the best medium to record my work and ideas.

I am using two books:
Human Figure Drawing by Daniela Brambilla
The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicholaides

The Brambilla is essentially an updated version of the second book, and the author acknowledges it as such. I like the approach because it is dynamic and feelings-based.  That is how I like to approach my art work, feel first, think later, feel again.

I am also going to drop in life drawing classes when I have time.  Not sure how best to use these sessions yet.