Comment by Dave Corcoran on May 18, 2014 at 9:41

Good to see the enthusiasm for a local life-drawing class. Can I offer one reading suggestion? This is the best single book I know on figure drawing. It shows a very clear approach to achieving accurate proportions Its also very inexpensive (£14.39 new from amazon, even less from some of the 3rd party sellers there):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artists-Complete-Guide-Figure-Drawing/dp/08...

Comment by Kathleen Duffy on May 18, 2014 at 9:51

Hello Dave, thank you for that book link. Last night I was looking through Amazon for a book on life drawing and that book stood out. It's in my Wish List and I am going to buy it next month. Glad to have it confirmed as being a good buy.

Comment by Dave Corcoran on May 18, 2014 at 10:41

One of the things I see in many life-drawing classes is an emphasis on fast short-pose drawings. People try to get down a very fast pose, before it changes in a few minutes, without ever having learned a structured technique to getting proportions and placements. The result is usually an extensive collection of somewhat wonky drawings.

This book offers a very solidly-founded alternative to that. Once the lessons it teaches are learned, they can be applied to fast-pose drawings too (and will make a HUGE difference to the quality of drawings),

In the first instance it is best tried with longer poses, though, and in fact one good way of learning it initially is to do a session or two of drawing from sculptures down at the V&A, since it means you can take your time as the model doesn't move at all. Once you've done spent a couple of afternoons doing a drawing or two there using the approach, you'll see how it can be applied to life-drawing, even to the fast poses, and your drawings will really stand out from the crowd, who don't know about this method! I promise, try it, and you'll become an evangelist for it!

Comment by Kathleen Duffy on May 18, 2014 at 14:55

I will definitely have a go! However, I wouldn't have the confidence to draw in public...yet! But I think that's a brilliant idea. Thanks for such interesting comments Dave, appreciate it.

Comment by Dave Corcoran on May 18, 2014 at 16:08

There are lots of people who draw at the V&A, they even have lots of stools freely available for them to sit on. Nobody pays you any attention beyond a cursory glance, generally. You just need a drawing pad and pencils (they don't allow anything wet or messy).

If you'd like to meet up at some point for a couple of hours in a weekday afternoon there, I'd be happy to do so, show you the technique (though I can't do this coming week). Here's an example of the sort of thing, a hand study I did from one of the sculptures, and a block-in demo of for someone I was with.

Comment by Kathleen Duffy on May 19, 2014 at 14:13

Hello Dave - that's so generous of you to offer your time and considerable talent!  However, for the time being, I will see how I go with the Tottenham classes as to whether I feel confident enough to take it further.  Thanks ever so! 

Comment by Dave Corcoran on February 10, 2015 at 17:37

Hoping you are well, Kathleen - was wondering how you are getting on with the life-drawing class?

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