I have a commission to work on which is to make some drawings for a book but definitely not illustrations so I am really pleased I signed up for 2 online courses with the Royal Drawing School, both of which are helpful in pushing me to bring the two worlds of observation and imagination closer together – or to understand and try different approaches to that process. Each course day is exhausting and very intense but I am learning so much and am sure my response to the commission will be better as a result. The great thing with online is being able to work in my own space and not having to struggle to get to London early …
I signed up for the London Drawing Group workshop on symbolic self portraits and did this
I’m posting it not because it is a great piece of work but because the emphasis on tone took me right back to school days – tone was my art teacher’s favourite word I think. So doing this drawing felt significant. I feel as if we are in a time of change but also a time of re-evaluating what is important. I might be wrong but so many artists seem to be doing observational work at the moment, as if we are valuing what we see, the ordinary, the everyday.
I tried the pencil over watercolour technique on this life drawing (via zoom) after I’d done the self portrait
