This exercise was all about movement. I started the exercise by looking at artists who manage to show movement in their figure drawing. The first drawing I looked at was the example we were given. The Tango by Marcel Vertes.
This drawing shows movement through the rapidly drawn lines. When viewing this drawing I feel like I have captured a moment in the dance. The undulating lines appear to flow with the movement of the dance.
The next work I looked at was the drawings of Don Gale. Below are some examples of his work.
Gales work is very energetic and shows movement through his quick expressive lines. His drawings are devoid of detail but his use of repeated and close lines give the impression of movement.
Before starting my own figure drawings I experimented with creating abstract marks that depict movement. I used a selection of materials including, Indian ink, charcoal, marker pen, tipex pen, biro and pencil. Below are my drawings:
When creating these marks, I tried to feel the movement in my wrists and hands and I tried to be expressive and free with my movements. On reflection I feel my marks do show movement. Therefore it is important that I try to implement these marks in my future figure drawings.
For the main part of this exercise I used my four year old son Teddy.
I was asked to get my model (Teddy) to adopt some dynamic positions.
I worked on blue a3 sugar paper and used charcoal, biro, white crayon and marker pen.
When drawing I tried to convey the sense of energy in each pose. I tried to concentrate on the energy radiating out of Teddy rather than focus on the details. I also tried to make my marks quick and expressive in order to show movement. Below are my drawings:
For my first drawing I started with a black marker pen. I used this pen in my experiments and felt it showed movement effectively. However when I used it for my figurative drawing, it made my drawing of my son look cartoony and I didn’t manage to capture his energy at all. I thus decided to add other materials, so I worked with my biro and my white pencil to try to show movement and energy. This did improve my drawing however I decided to not use this marker pen again.
For my second drawing I started too big and only managed to fit the head and main torso in. Rather than start again I decided to carry on anyway. I experimented with lines and marks in order to show energy. However on reflection this drawing doesn’t show much energy or movement. Maybe this is because I only managed to fit in the top half of my son or maybe my marks were just ineffective at showing this?
My next couple of drawings were more effective in that I managed to fit my model on the page. I also managed to create marks that showed my sons energy more effectively.
Overall this exercise has been beneficial as it has made me think about portraying energy and movement in figurative work. This is something I would like to develop further in my later work.
Caitriona 