anatomy and drawing

I’ve just watched one of the “Today’s Nude” programmes on my computer via Channel4 O.D. (Now there’s an unfortunate name – confirms my impression that too much television is bad for you). A very strange experience it was too, but great to hear Maggi Hambling talking about drawing. She used the “drawing as battlefield” analogy, but made it sound more like good sense – she didn’t say that a drawing should look like a battlefield, nor did she use the term to define a “good” drawing.

Not being used to the TV these days (I got rid of mine years ago, when I couldn’t stand it any more) I had forgotten about the adverts. Just when M.H. is telling us that drawing is about energy and total concentration – cut to inane fizzy drink/breakfast cereal commercials. Perhaps it was purposely ironic? There were several moments when the process of TV filming was apparent – deliberate shots of the camera, a less deliberate shot of someone’s left knee and shoulder appearing round a corner, and a view of the camera track making an interesting line in the final shot.

But then there was the short intro. piece (probably a trailer, but you can’t trail at the front, can you?) complete with slinky panning shots and the cliché of the dropped dressing gown. Who were they trying to entice in to the programme? I had to “sign” a declaration to say that I was over 16 before I could watch it.

I played along for a bit, got out my sketchbook and drew from the computer screen. But oh how boring compared with the real thing – flat, flat, flat. And the image is SO SMALL. I stopped trying to draw, and wrote “what is the point” in big letters; but of course the programme isn’t aimed at professional artists. If you’ve never drawn from life before it would be fascinating, and a good incentive to get out to a real life class. And then up piped dear Maggi H. to say exactly that. Ah, great minds think alike. Somewhat subversive of her, too, considering the context. (As noted by the Radio4 critics; see yesterday’s blog.) It would have been interesting to have more shots of M.H. drawing (could have done with more of her opinions too). And what a model that Matthew Oghene is: I hope they paid him more than the measly minimum wage the models get around here.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/life-class-todays-nude/4od#2926659

Well, at last I’m back online – possibly permanently??? So far, the tally is: a series of engineers’ checks on the line, another series of engineers’ checks on the line, “oops, could it be the router?”. It was – twice. So I’m now on the third router, and … fingers crossed, so far so good.

Since I’ve been away, (and I’ve been away properly, too) several things have happened. Firstly, I’ve lost track of where I am with the project. Must sort this out. Secondly, the drawing “Homage, KSH” has been accepted for a national travelling exhibition – http://www.linesandstrata.wordpress.com -and that’s another of my drawings at the top of the 2006 archive page!

Thirdly, there seems to be a bit of publicity about life drawing on the television at the moment… I don’t have a TV, but I did read about Artangel’s project in a friend’s newspaper while I was on holiday. It was discussed on Radio4 on Saturday http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qh6g. Odd to hear apparently outward-looking media types retreating into the old “I can’t draw for toffee” stereotype. They seemed still to be suffering from the effects of school art classes: drawing-as-a-competitive-sport; your work isn’t good enough to be put up on the wall; if it doesn’t look like the model then it isn’t a good drawing. I think I need to see if I can download the Channel4 programmes & find out what it was all about.