Life drawing with Geoff

I think this was my sixth life drawing session. The model this time was a well preserved man in early middle age, with grey hair and a beard.

This first five-minute sketch was done in charcoal, and still shows that I'm having trouble with proportions while holding the drawing board. Basically I start off OK at the top but the legs end up looking too short. I've tried working with an easle but this presents its own difficulties. However, I think I need to be able to step back from the picture every now and then to ensure I'm maintaining the right proportions.

We then went for a 15-minute pose with the model seated. I switched to using Conte crayon for this.
Looking at this now, I'm quite pleased with the left arm and hand, which really seems to be gripping the crossed leg. The right arms is less successful, and the left foot needs to be better defined to stand out from the leg beneath it.

Finally, the model adopted a reclining pose. Still using Conte crayon, I ended up doing three sketches of the same pose from different angles. Working from both the head and the feet, it was a real challenge to get the foreshortening right. It was really difficult and I was very unhappy with the pictures at the time, although now I'm slightly more satisfied with some aspects of them, helped by the use of white crayon to depict light.