Laurence 02 Painting

Laurence is a regular model at the Wednesday night Life Drawing classes. An artist herself, she knows what makes for an interesting pose and aside from the more traditional style sessions, she also proposes themed sessions where she dresses in the style of famous paintings or artists, and undresses as the evening proceeds. With very strong and defined facial features, she's great for pieces that focus on portraiture. Partially clothed, this is a relaxed, seated, 10 minute pose where I wanted to concentrate on her facial structure and upper torso. It was done with a mixture of black gouache and coloured acrylics on brown, textured craft paper (the reverse side of which is smooth). I used the gouache for sketching out the figure and then I worked over the top with the acrylic to add the fleshy skin tone in the areas I wanted to draw attention to, leaving the rest as loose line work. I then went over the top again with the gouache and a dry brush effect to darken the areas in shadow. I love how effortless the pose seems, especially as there is a very nice, subtle curved line of action created by the model resting her left arm on her seat and twisting the upper body. It was done at the Wednesday evening Life Drawing sessions held at Illumination Mac Guff, Paris, where I worked as a Character Animator for over three and a half years. The studio is known for such films as Despicable Me, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets and The Lorax. All of my figure drawings are from life - no photos were used at any point in their fabrication. The model is in front of you and you have a definite amount of time to get down as much information as you can or see fit. Because of this, each drawing is truly unique and a complete one of a kind, containing a spontaneity that can never be duplicated through photo inspired drawings/paintings. For more of Laurence and other Parisian based models, please look through my other works.