NEW WORKSHOP - 'SELF'

Saturday 24th November, Monmouth Boys School 10am-2pm £30
Wednesday 23rd January, Hereford Courtyard 10am-2pm £30

Join Sarah Shilton and Marianne Seabright for a double tutored session on the 'Self' - portraiture and its observation.

The day will begin with quick studies to exercise the idea of using mark making skills as an expressive aid to capturing a likeness in human form.
You will be tutored on the 'rules' and technical approaches of the head and proprtions which will give you guidance towards drawing accurately.
Concepts of portraiture and 'Self' will be discussed and will be put into practice within a final piece.

You will need to bring:
A mirror and a photograph of yourself
An example of an Artist's self portrait
Symbolic personal objects (optional)

To book, please email Sarah drawingfromnude@gmail.com

Claudia Peake - New Ways of Seeing

As a regular attendee of Sarah's life drawing sessions, I am always up for a new challenge.

Robert Joyner

Our task on certain weeks was to explore a given artist, in my case Ursula O'Farrell and Robert Joyner -and attempt to work in a similar style or take aspects of the artists work that appeal.


Ursula O'Farrell, Seated Figure

Claudia Peake working in the style of Ursula O'Farrell

Ursual O'Farrell is a California based artist, with a wonderful dense rich palatte of colour which I attempted to emulate...



Claudia Peake, working in the style of Robert Joyner

With Robert's work, I was drawn to the speed of the marks, rich colours against stark white and the use of inks with pastel.

We all have an individual style whether we're starting out as an artist or have been drawing for some time - we're not always aware of out uniqueness. Looking at other artists, for me, is a wonderful way to confirm my interests, preferred ways of working and to question what I do. I really enjoy a new and exploratory journey!

Thanks, Sarah - a lot of fun!

The Straight and The Curve

Go back to the most simple use of drawing - the line. There are contrasts between long and short, the broad and narrow, but the greatest contrast in line is the difference between the straight and the curve.
A line has no character by itself. Draw one line on a piece of paper. Is it short? Or long? You cannot say until you put another line of a different length beside it. Similarily, a line can seem curved in comparison with one line and straight in comparison with another.

As a matter of pure exercise, draw a straight line to represent some contour on one side of the model. Then, attached to that, make a curved line. Continue up or down that side of the figure, alternating straight and curved lines and attaching each line to the one before it and the one after it. Proceed in the same way all the way around the figure but wherever there is a straight line opposite, try and put a curve on the other side. These should be done in five minute studies. They will probably look like charts.

As a natural result of practicing this exercise, you will begin to search the model in order to discover which contours may be best expressed by straight lines and which by curved lines. Now, you do not have to follow the straight with the curve, you will use each when it seems most suitable.

Reach in your drawing for movements that are biggest, simplest and most connected, thinking of them as either straight or curved; that goes through the entire figure.

The use of straight and curved lines does not follow contour as it exists - but heightens the meaning of the contour in relation to gesture and design; it seeks to heighten the meaning of the form.

An Interview with Sophia Wagstaff

A Goldsmiths graduate in Visual Arts, born in Marlborough 1979 and now working in Ross on Wye, Sophia tells me about her new found love in drawing, particularly in the Nude.
I understand from your time studying at Goldsmiths that life drawing classes where not a compulsory subject or even an option. Why do you think this was the case?
I think a lot of what Goldsmiths was trying to put across at the time, it was a lot more of the critical theory. It had conceptual ideas which were more apparent and pushed forward a lot more than the actual practice of art itself. It was a place where the student became more questioning and challenging rather than just sitting in a space painting or drawing. In some ways I learnt a lot of what interests me at Goldsmiths from going through the 'bullshit' to come out with more clarity the other side!
Your most important tool within the Life sessions is the pencil. What is it about this medium that you are most comfortable with?
I love pencil. For me it is the most versatile tool in the box. When I draw I look for tone and shadow predominantly to create mood and atmosphere. Whether I am applying harder lines and marks, or softer smudgy areas, the pencil feels very natural to my approach.

Is scale important in your work?Yes. I like to change the scale of my work quite a bit, I do tend to use a similar size for a while, and then have to up it usually for more simple smooth marks, and downsize for directing me back into focusing on smaller detail.

Do you see yourself converting to paint at all?

I am still very much experimenting with paint. I don't find paint to be as soft or as malleable to what I want to put down... I have used paint as a back ground to add to the general mood of a drawing, and I have used paint to 'draw' some colour into some drapery. I have also used paint and colour to emphasise a certain light in a drawing.

What is it about the nude that inspires you and encourages you to draw?

The nude has become a very important subject for me. It conjures up so many feelings of the human vulnerability and sensuality, that I think has an appeal for every 'body.' A lot of my drawings are self portraits, a kind of self discovery quite literally. When I sit in your classes and have that great intimate yet powerful opportunity to draw form life, there is something different to see every time. I love the fact that whoever (he or she is not just a figure) I am drawing from, is portraying something of who they are just in a gesture.

Is self portraiture more important as a Life study to you rather than the Nude of figure in general?

Quite honestly it depends on how I want to approach my practice at the time! I think both self portraiture and the nude in general hold equal interest for me... Somehow drawing the nude in general ends up depicting something quite different in that it seems a looser approach. When I am doing a self study it seems more intense...

Your training is predominantly textile based, do you see your work developing with this field?

Although a lot of what I have studied at college has been textile based I have never lost the urge to draw. I believe that whether you are a designer, maker or fine artist the discipline of drawing is the origin of creating. Textiles is just another 'making process' that uses other materials other than paper....As far as merging any of the textile work I have done previously, I would definitely like to merge some printing techniques with some of the drawing. I feel many printing processes have really lovely qualities to bring to my work.

Where do you see yourself progressing from here?

Hopefully into more inspired ways of capturing the nude! Progressing onto and into some new ideas with some new techniques... Printmaking will be one of them. I would also really like to incorporate photography in the near future. I think there are many exciting ways of creating moods and atmosphere with a camera. I am also very much looking forward to being involved in a the running of an art workshop.