meldrum artMy father passed away on the 29th September, it was a sad moment and I joined my family in grief. I am only now starting to find some form of normality, returning to a sense of balance which allows me to focus on positive moments like my art once again. Here are a few life drawings I did a few weeks back, I enjoyed having only six pastels and a charcoal pen to work with.
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I was very excited about attending my first life drawing evening after the summer break. It was a two hour pose at, “The Swedish Academy of Realist Art“. I was a bit too eager and so my watercolour study failed, luckily I didn’t give up and managed to do one half-decent sketch. The model’s underarm does not look correct but otherwise I’m quite pleased with it.
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| figure drawing 20130905 |
I used Arches 300gsm rough paper originally which is wonderful to paint on if you have time but is too slow-drying for figure painting with tempo. I don’t think my fellow artists would appreciate me using a hair drier every ten minutes either.
…and one backwards. The last week has been a bit of a backward step for me. Seven days ago, I thought I had mastered it, watercolouring. I was silly of course to think this way. I was painfully reminded that I am in fact a student of art. My last four watercolours have been flops, very frustrating. This quick watercolour below, which I painted this evening may mean that I am starting to move in a forward direction again. What a relief if this is the case, but then again, I haven’t started my next watecolour yet, so we will see.
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| Moleskin watercolour notebook, 13 x 20.5 cm. |
Firstly, I would just like to say that I am very happy with the execution of this painting. It was the first time I used 100% cotton paper (Arches Rough, 300gsm), and wow, what a difference it makes. It is so much easier to paint on high quality paper.
The only problem I have with this painting is the subject matter. Why is it that a naked person who looks you in the eye, feel pornographic? Why do naked models who look away from you or have their eyes closed feel like classic art nudes? I have a problem with this, Lucian Freud did not but then again, he was not exactly glamorising his subjects either. The next nude I paint will have a cloth over her head, let’s see how that feels!
I paint, I learn and I paint some more…
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| Autumn, 38 x 76cm / 15 x 22″ |
I try and do a sketch or a painting during my lunch break at work as often as possible. I really would like to practice my figure painting but having pictures of naked people on my computer screen is a bit of a sensitive issue to say the least. So, I have found the solution – hands! Yes, naked hands! Nude hands! It’s genius, I can practice my watercolour skin tones and hand drawing at the same time. Only I see the naked truth.
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| The Naked Hand (24x32cm, Canson 200 g/m2) |
I have a watercolour Moleskin (A5) where I practice my watercolour nudes. I’m trying to do at least one a day. It helps me ignore the real task; finishing the large watercolour that is such a challenge and sits there beside me waiting …
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| A5 watercolour figure painting |
I am on holidays, which means I have the opportunity to paint at last. Time, such a hard treasure to find.
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| Nude In Red Armchair, 30 x 42 cm (A3), 11 3/4 x 16 1/2″ |
Venue: The Swedish Academy of Realist Art (SARA) 20130523
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| The Body Builder 20130523 |
Venue: Konstnärshuset, Stockholm.
It was only a short break, but it felt so much longer. It was so good to be life drawing again. I was relaxed too and not stressed which is so important when drawing. The model was excellent, very professional and expressive. It’s not good to stress, it’s better to sketch! 😉 All sketches were on A4 sized paper, actually the watercolour paper (200g) was a little larger but I don’t know the actual measurements.
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| 5 minute watercolour sketch. 20130521 |
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| 10 minute watercolour sketch. 20130521 |
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| 5 minute watercolour sketch. 20130521 |
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| 5 minute watercolour sketch. 20130521 by David Meldrum (Cropped) |
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| 10 minute watercolour sketch. 20130521 |
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| 2 minute pencil sketch. 20130521 |
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| 2 minute pencil sketch. 20130521 |
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| 2 minute pencil sketch. 20130521 |