Tuesday Drawings

Every tuesday, well almost every tuesday, I drive an hour and a half down to the Courtenay BC area, a Dove Creek property just north of the town, to Vicky Scott's studio. She holds a drawing session each week and we hire a model. The group size varies from three or four to over a dozen week to week. I love the interaction and friendships I have formed in this group over the past seven years. Working with a live model is the best ever way to keep your drawing "chops" up (I have been married to two musicians so I sometimes use their lingo). Recently the group has asked me to give lessons so now I go down there on thursdays also and teach for four hours...they even PAY me! How great is that? Sometimes the models are clothed sometimes nude but we have endless discussions about what we're trying to accomplish and the learning goes on for a lifetime. The drawing process brings your mind around to the essentials and seeing mistakes is much easier than in painting, at least for me. My first love was drawing and it will always be a passion for me, much as I have come to love painting and colour. In art school we were cautioned to take full advantage of the life drawing classes because there was a good chance we would not have access to live models too often in our "real" lives. That was true for many years but in the past decade or so there has been a resurgence of interest in life drawing and we have four groups that I know of just in the mid island region that meet regularly. Most of us are older and female but there are men and younger people too who have come to join the drawing movement. This is one of the things in my life that keeps me sane!

Boy, I nearly missed the boat with this one yesterday - got sidetracked by that great hat and messed up proportions on her legs...

We always start with two minute sketches - forces you to stop hovering on details and get to the nitty gritty of the pose.