More Figure Practice
I'm still drawing figures (mostly dancers) from photos to practice sketching their body positions. I take ballet barre once each week when I can (I hate all other forms of exercise) and then pick up a postcard advertising a dance program and sketch the photo while I have a cold drink. We pick up my grandson Robbie at nursery school at lunchtime, so I have some time to paint these while I'm still at the dance studio. I'd love to work live, but ballet dancers are in constant motion. I've made no progress on adding faces so far this year and their hands are still pretty awful, but I know that constant practice is important. Here are some of the ones that I sketched in July.
I also copied several more Seurat drawings onto the modern equivalent of the paper he used and here is the last one I did. I usually don't draw only in pencil, so using his drawings as inspiration and experimenting with the Arches MBM 105 grain paper and some of my pencils is fun.
Comments
I like these very much! They're very expressive and there's no need to apologize for the faces and hands, they suit the mood of the drawings just fine!
Posted by: MaryO | August 1, 2008 5:50 PM
Shirley:
I've said this before but it is so true I must repeat myself, your figures have such a grace -- that I just LOVE to see them -- they're so well done -- so well lined and washed -- but that GRACE that they have is so alluring and so wonderful ... super super job!
Posted by: lin | August 1, 2008 9:44 PM
Beautiful elegant, clean lines, Shirley. I don't miss the faces at all because your figures are so lovely. And now I've seen your photo it's very easy to imagine you at dance class. You are a great advertisement for ballet as exercise.
Posted by: RobynS | August 2, 2008 3:19 AM
Very nice work! I especially like the second one, in red and black, it has a lot of energy in it!
Posted by: delph | August 2, 2008 3:49 AM
These look wonderful! You've done so many different poses and done them all so well!
Posted by: Luba | August 2, 2008 6:29 AM
I agree with the others that these are expressive and wonderful. I do think the figures without faces do convey personality and feeling, and can do it better than figures with faces, as you have illustrated well here.
Posted by: The Happy Painter | August 2, 2008 8:49 AM
I love the gracefulness of your lines!
Posted by: Leona | August 2, 2008 9:21 AM
how wonderful! I love your graceful dancers and the the Seurat pencil drawing is so evocative of Seurat. Bravo!
http://deliberatelycreative.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Stephanie | August 2, 2008 1:23 PM
Love the dancers! One of my favorite subjects too! Continued success.
Posted by: Lyn | August 3, 2008 4:15 PM
The dancers are beautiful! I especially like the one in the pink dress.
Posted by: Katy | August 4, 2008 4:34 PM
I envy people who can draw the human figure. These are wonderful! :)
Posted by: Rita McGregor | August 10, 2008 3:23 PM