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Wednesday 2 June 2010

Justin, Brockweir, 01. 06. 2010.


More conte' drawings, but I have enjoyed the last few so much I couldn't resist another go. I will use colour next time.

Justine was a new model which is always good as it throws up different challenges. The drawing was hard again especially as the position would change slightly after every break. In a way I think this worked in my favour because when I started to block in the colours I began by applying them in a looser more relaxed manner. It was as if the frustration at not being able to get the drawing right relaxed me for the next bit. I had decided today to use just three primary colours cadmium red , cadmium yellow light and ultramarine. I also used a bristle brush rather than the acrylic ones I have favoured lately. I did the drawing using the red and blue first and then added the yellow. Into this I added titanium white to get a grey and then just added colours to get the shades I was after. This mixture can get a little muddy and I needed to mix fresh colours. I felt more in control than of late and I liked the marks I was making and the fact I was working all over the canvas at once. Not all the areas worked but some do. I don't like the orangy colour I have used but I like the blues and purples. I added alizarin to the palette to get a better purple but felt I was losing some of the harmony and so stopped using it. The face was a problem as it kept changing and she even fell asleep at one point. I am not making excuses because as I have said earlier I think it helped in some ways.
I am pleased with the finished result but could have done with a bit more time to resolve the hands, but then I would have probably started tightening it all up and spoilt it . Angela referred to some of the brush strokes and mark making as joyous which was encouranging because I think she picked up on a more relaxed attitude today and certainly an approach I intend to repeat.
Below I have put the last three which I feel points to some progress.