Life Drawing

My house is being worked on today. Lots of hammering, etc. So, I was very pleased to learn a local art association was this morning offering an open studio life class. It's an event I often attended years ago. The model's poses vary in length . . . usually four different poses held for a very short time, two 20 minute poses, and a final long pose. I never know whether I'm going to draw or paint, but I always can count on the practice being well needed by me. Today was another great example of how wonderful life class can be. The four short poses gave me an opportunity to remind myself that drawing what isn't there (negative space) is as important as drawing what is there. The two twenty minute poses reminded me to be brave, experiment, let the watercolor paint do its own thing. The painting shown here is a twenty minute pose on a paper similar to hot press. And, the final long pose reminded me how easily I mess things up by overworking. Too dark, too fast. My glazes went messy and I thought too much about making the subject perfect. And lastly, after the studio class, several of us sat around and shared art talk over bagged lunches. I'm home now and looking at a painting I should finish today. The paint is lacking life and spontaneity, but the drawing has a spontaneous quality. So, I'm thinking I need to make the same painting in 20 minutes and stop myself. Lay down the paint once and let it be. Maybe try a different surface. Be brave. And put open studio on the calendar in an effort to attend at least twice a month.