for a change
I have designated this first weekend of my self-led residency as “travelling time” as I have had some orders to sort out, Charleston, housework, and changing things around a little bit in my space so I can access my materials.
I have been watching Fake or Fortune on BBC iPlayer as some of the artists were either associated with, or around the same time as, the Bloomsbury group, and it’s interesting to hear about some of the backgrounds and lives of these peripheral people. One was about Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and his sketchbooks, and horses remained a common theme throughout his childhood. I find horses difficult to draw, possibly because I know them well, and spent a long time wishing I could draw beautiful renditions when I was younger. I think this means I can’t lean into my own style in the same way I can with something less personally important, like a giraffe or toucan.
Anyway, I got my A1 pad which I promised myself I would work on, and did a quick and spontaneous sketch using my ArtGraf graphite tablet which is marvellous for large gestural work. It’s water-soluble, so I could smudge it with my wet hand, and I also added some Schmincke liquid charcoal smeared on with my fingers. I followed this with some marks made with the wonderfully chunky Derwent XL charcoal in black. I really like how it turned out.
I added the lines and extra drawings in pencil afterwards, as I felt the edges needed some detail. These little horses were really fun to draw as I have a collection of small stubs of Blackwing pencils which I can’t bear to throw away, and using these on an upright plane meant I had very little control over the marks.
I worked fast and loose; this took me about 20 minutes.
