Ziggi Flame 01 Painting

Ziggi Flame is a dancer and fire breather based in London. She also happens to be a tremendous life model, no doubt due to her background in dance and performing arts. In a wonderful session in North London, this pose is all about the weight of the human body. Folding over at the middle and letting the upper body and right arm hang down, we truly get a sense of gravity and the heaviness of the chest. Interestingly, the weight is also incorporated into the stance of the figure, with the weight of the body being shifted over her left leg, creating wonderful asymmetry in the legs with one being straight and the other bent. Graphically, the silhouette is incredibly clear, with there being 3 distinct vertical forms of different lengths traveling up from the ground at slightly different angles, once again creating appeal through variation. The pose can also tell a story that is open to interpretaion; are they tired, injured, defeated or just relaxed? The piece is done with black gouache on brown, textured craft paper (the reverse side of which is smooth). I used the freshly applied gouache for the intial mark making and strong shadows (darker areas of black) and then would add the softer shadows with a dry brush effect once most of the paint had come away from the brush (lighter areas). I would then repeat, intertwining and working line and shadow work simultaneously in a way that makes them feel unified and not two individual processes that can usually render a life drawing 'stiff'. 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 peices like this, please look through my other works.