Ursula and sheet. Part 1

This session with Ursula modelling was a follow-on from a recent one with Frankii (see Frankii in Longer poses 28 May post) where depicting drapery proved to be the main challenge.

Drawing drapery over a figure is not straightforward. As I wrote in that post, the forms you see are created by several forces in play at a given moment. There’s bunching, pulling, twisting and crumpling, but the main effects are caused by the interaction between gravity (drooping, hanging) and the form of the figure beneath (stretching and pulling) .

Looking hard at these forms you can discern how tones (and sometimes edges) can define what is hidden below, as well as locate points of tension.

But we have to interpret what we see with great care to replicate that effect. If we don’t, the drawing goes flat and the marks we make just appear random, even chaotic.

So Ursula gave us a series of gradually lengthening poses – from 2 min to 25 min – incorporating a white sheet. Short poses because it was important to focus on the essence, rather than detail, of the pose – which is what gesture drawing is all about.

I’d say Angela’s ghost-like figure (at the top of page) is just right. Those succinct lines neatly imply a figure hunched beneath and show how the sheet drapes around it.

Jane’s version (below) is more uncertain, so reveals less.

Angela’s second drawing has much of the same certainty as the first, though the pose is more complex so clarity is more of a challenge – especially in so brief a time (2 mins again, I think).

Maria (below) took a different approach, using style to (as it were) gloss over the intricacies of the drapery. This stylishness brings a confidence to the lines that rather masks limitations in observation.