Life drawing in different media

I’ve gone to a couple of life drawing sessions over the past few months, and whilst I’ve mostly stuck with the provided charcoal, this time I wanted to branch out. Not because I’ve mastered any of these mediums, but I really enjoy how different tools have different personalities. Also I can be very indecisive!

IMG_5084.jpeg|loose charcoal sketches of female figure

Charcoal stick for 1 minute warmups, nice and loose, slightly messy.

IMG_5078 1.jpeg|sketch of nude woman in red crayon
IMG_5088.jpeg|Another crayon sketch of woman reclining

I used my kids’ twistable crayons, sharpened to fine points, for some 5 minute sketches. For sketching it feels a bit like using coloured pencils, lending themselves to details, fine lines and soft shading. Maybe a little tighter than I’d like for short poses.

IMG_5076.jpeg|bold black sketch of nude female figure

Since I usually spend a lot of time in sketchbooks, I wanted to take the opportunity to go BIG and fill up the A3 sheets of paper we were provided. I brought another kids tool, a chunky chisel tip chalk pen in black, and some brush pens filled with ink for some of the details.

IMG_5091.jpeg|Nude female figure in soft pastels
My friend brought some soft pastels and I gave it a go - a lot more difficult (and messier!) than I thought.

sketchbook 5 5.jpeg|3 watercolour sketches of nude woman reclining
Since I've been studying watercolour recently, I wanted to give it a try for the longer poses. It was really fun to work loose for the main shapes, then come in with darker layers for shadow and back to the charcoal stick for detail. I realised after the first pose (middle) that I wouldn't be able to turn the page on the wet paint, but adding the next one in around it (I had enough time for 2 versions in the 20 minutes) gives an interesting layout.

I was hoping that now I've tried a bunch of things, I'll be able to commit to one for the next life drawing session - but I like them all!