Needle felted life drawing

So, if you've been following along for awhile, you know that I'm a life drawing model. Mostly retired now, but I still work every few months with TriPal Studios. They have a drop in class every other Tuesday. Last time I was there, I brought the needle felted pieces that I showed in my last blog entry, and the lady of the house was intrigued, but couldn't quite figure out how I did it. So, this week I went to draw instead of modeling. I figured I could draw on the shorter poses, and felt on the long one at the end.

It has been over a decade since I did any regular drawing. I was RUSTY. The two minute gesture poses went ok...

But the 20 minute poses showed me that my eye for proportion is quite off.

I have a tendency to make the legs too short. Need more practice!

But this is the reason that I showed up tonight. I brought not only my paper and charcoal, but my wool and felting needles. This was my first time trying to felt from a live model. I could really have used more time on it, but I can see the start of something really neat here.

I used white and black wool on a grey background. The piece is about 8" x 11". I think I would like to work larger, to get the ability to do finer details. Or, next time I should just felt part of the body, and blow it up to fit the background piece. But, so far so good.

With access to a model on the Tuesdays that I'm not working, I think I may need to drop in to draw more often. I could really use the practice. And I'd like to see where the needle felting might take me. I have skills to learn!

Modeling, Spinning, and Weaving

This is just a post filled with bits of this and that. First up, I thought I'd show you what I was doing last Thursday. I'm an art model, and that morning I was posing for a portrait drawing class. I had pulled out one of my Medieval costumes, and brought the spinning wheel along with me. Mind you, that style spinning wheel is actually several centuries too late for the style of dress, but the students didn't seem to mind the mismatch. They probably wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't said anything, actually. But I'm a bit of a fiber geek, so I know the dress is appropriate for the 1300's, and the wheel probably for the 1600's and later.

But the art work turned out neat! Both the photograph and this drawing were done by George Palovich, the teacher at TriPal studios. He mentioned that he might use the pictures and the initial studies as a basis for a later painting. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Speaking of spinning, while I was at Estrella I found what was billed as a 100ish year old Russian supported spindle for sale. I remembered recently seeing this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxY8rPwMjbY&list=FLv-qbOJU3XYu6wnRipxqDDw of a woman from the Himalayas using a similar spindle. Since I tend to collect old fiber tools, I snapped it up. And then I walked across the street from the event and gleaned some cotton out of a straggler plant in the ditch that the farmer had missed in his harvest. I spent an afternoon pulling the seeds out of the cotton by hand, and learning how to use the spindle. I'm starting to get the hang of it. I think I want to pick up some cotton carders though, to make the fibers a little more regular for spinning. But it is fascinating how you can spin right from the cotton boll, right off of the plant!

And finally, I'm starting a project on the loom again. I'm working on enough cotton fabric in a broken diamond twill to make a Medieval style tunic. I'm using the same 10/2 cotton from Webs that I used for my warp painted napkins that I made for Christmas presents. I thought then that the yarn would make lovely dress fabric, so I'm going to give it a try. Currently I'm working on measuring out the warp. At 1020 threads, 14 yards long, 32" wide in the reed, this is going to take awhile. More on this project as I go along.

Modeling for Life Drawing class on Halloween

When I'm not working in my studio, I spend my time modeling for life drawing classes for the local community college. On Halloween, that gets to be lots of fun! One of the teachers came in over the weekend and put together this setting for me to play in.

There was room for me in the center, and little vignettes on either side of the podium.

We usually start a class period by doing 'gesture' poses, which are 1-3 minutes long. They are good for warm ups, and allow me to do some more strenuous and twisty poses. For the afternoon class, one of the students who was in costume came up and posed with me, just for the heck of it.

And then I did some longer poses, which were anywhere from 20 minutes long up to an hour long. I got to play a dead body in both the morning and the afternoon classes. (I took a walk around the room to look at student drawings after the morning dead body pose, and tweaked it a bit to improve it for the afternoon class.)

And the students decided that this pose was Little Red...about to kick some serious wolf tail.

I normally don't get to share this part of my creativity with you, because normally I'm not wearing a heck of a lot for class. But every now and again I get to play with costumes. It is a nice change of pace, both for me and for the students. And there is some really neat artwork that comes out of these sessions!

Sewing for Estrella, and modeling for life drawing

Oh man, am I sore again. This semester I'm working with 6 different teachers of life drawing classes, and this week I modeled for each and every one of them. It was only about 16 hours of work...but imagine if you worked out at the gym for 16 hours in a week's time. Yup. My muscles are talking to me. Mostly whimpering, and asking for the hot tub pretty please. But I'm kind of stubbornly proud that I can help the learning process in this way, and that even at 44 years old I'm fit enough to do the job well. Also? There were two paintings of me on display at a professional art exhibit this week. How's that for kind of making for weird feelings?? They were evidently done from class sketches like this one:



(Hopefully that one is work safe enough not to freak anyone out.)

In and among the class work, I've been able to get some more prep done for the upcoming Estrella War. (estrellawar.org) I still need to write the documentation for the fabric I wove for the arts competition, but I was really pleased that the matching linen (from fabrics-store.com) came in today. The hand woven will end up being a nice warm over-tunic, and the linen will be the under-tunic. I need to enter a length of fabric ready to be made into something for the competition, so the actual construction of the outfit will wait until after I get back. But won't it be beautiful? I'm so pleased the colors matched as well as I thought they might.



My husband is kind of hard on his clothes, and I hadn't sewn for him in a couple of years. So I made him the fingerloop braids (http://tangibledaydreams.blogspot.com/2011/02/tutorial-basic-finger-loop-braiding.html) to fix the cuffs for one shirt, and then sewed him another one. This is from the McCall's M4864 pattern. There were some fiddly bits around the cuff and collar with getting all the gathers tucked in correctly, but I'm pleased with the way the shirt turned out. And the XL fits my husband beautifully, with plenty of ability to move. Since he's not a small man, and is very active, that makes this pattern worth the little bit of fiddling and hand sewing. Yes, I really hate hand sewing. But I'll be using this pattern again. (And it looks better on him than it does crumpled up on the ironing board. Really.)



This was an easier project. McCalls Easy Stitch 'n Save M5738, minus the collars because Joann's didn't have enough of the yellow bias tape to go around. The dog coats run a little large for what the measurements call for, and I had to shift the placement of the belly strap for the smaller dogs. But the pups didn't mind wearing them. Actually, when I tried to put a coat on Kaylee, Wash tried to nose his way in to get the pretties instead. He even did the roll over and show his belly trick as a way to beg for the coat. I think maybe he just wanted all the attention for himself, but it was still cute to see them jockeying for who got to wear the new clothes. Luckily, I made up three of them.



You can almost hear them saying, "Ok Mom, we're in our new garb. Is it time to go yet???"

November Poetry Challenge: 22/30: A Life Drawing Model's Internal Monologue

Tonight's poem kind of wrote itself while I was working tonight. So here's poem #22 of 30 in my November Poetry Challenge:


A Life Drawing Model's Internal Monologue

30 minute pose.
I can do that.
Set the cushions up,
take off the robe,
give them a diagonal line and a
twist
for composition
and settle in...
dang. That pinches the hip.
Well, they're just 30 seconds or so in,
I can still shift. A bit.
There.
Now No More Moving for half an hour.
Set my spotting position for the eyes...
and I can't see the clock.
So much easier to hold on
if I know how much time is left.
Lets see...60 relaxed breaths = 5 minutes.
So, count 360 breaths, and I'll be close.
One...two...

there is a hair tickling my nose.
three...four...
that is really annoying.
five...six...
can I blow it out of the way?
Yes. Good.
nine...ten...
my side and shoulder are tight.
Ah well, they'll stretch.
Modeling poses are like pregnancy.
The first third is uncomfortable
until the body adjusts
to the strain.
30...31...
Bored.
Nothing but the scritching of pencils.
All quiet. Let the mind drift...

120...121...
and here come the yawns.
Must stifle them!
I'm not that tired, am I?
I got eight hours last night.
130...YAWN...131...
Oh yeah,
my torso is twisted and bent,
which compresses the lungs.
Hence the...YAWN...dang it.
Breathe deeper to compen...YAWN...sate.

203...my eyes are starting to close...204...
must keep them open.
Students are drawing the face
and I can't change it on them.
206...tickle the roof of my mouth
with my tongue?
Sensation helps a bit.
Too quiet. Heavy eyelids.

223...oh good. The teacher
is finally making rounds.
I'll concentrate on that for focus.
"Look at the negative spaces...
You've got the head at the wrong angle...
Bring the leg in a bit, and finish on a light tone...
Good structure, but add the drapery under her...
There's bounced lighting on the belly..."

240...Man, my arm is falling asleep.
I can't feel my right hand.
And my neck is really starting to ache.
That danged hip wants to cramp again too.
242...Oh yeah. Pregnancy again.
The last third of the pose
is like moving into the last trimester,
when you are so blasted uncomfortable
that you just want it OVER already.

...260...ow...Maybe if I flex the leg muscle
I can shift the weight just a bit
to ease the hip?
...270...now the leg muscle hurts too.
300...ow...ow...
Breathe. Relax.
Focus on the left elbow. That doesn't hurt.
330...just a bit more...
muscles starting to shake from exhaustion...
almost there...breathe...
I will make it.
Too close to give up now.
345...oh man this hurts.
Ow bloody OW just a bit more...

-Beep beep beep beep beep-
Thank God for the timer!
I can...

"Melissa, could you hold that
just a few minutes more?
Now, see if you shade it a bit more here..."

Aargh!

Smile sweetly,
deep breath,
and HOLD.
Of course I can.
I'm a professional.


Melissa McCollum
11/22/2010

November Poetry Challenge: 10/30: Create!

Poem 10/30. A third of the way there! It will probably get more difficult to come up with topics as the month goes on, but so far so good.


Create!

I've modeled for years now, for the life
drawing classes at the local college.
I'll disrobe, and find an interesting pose
up on the podium, all angles
and twists and static movement and then...
hold it...
hold it...
motionless, for up to an hour
at a stretch. An eternity
on my side of the easel,
but if I've done my job right,
crafted that perfect scene,
the students are so lost in creation
that time speeds by for them. I grin
when they cry out in disappointment
as the chime of the timer
releases me
from my deliberate agony.

When I get the chance,
I'll stroll around the studio
viewing the results.
Partly to see if that last pretzeled
pose really worked,
but mostly because it is simply
fascinating.
A room full of people, staring
at the same exact subject...
you would think the outcomes
would be similar, no?

No.
Especially late in the semester,
when the teachers loosen up
and let the students have their head.
The results become wildly different.
Color, composition, media choices,
all jagged angles or swooping curves,
delicate shading or bold contrast...
where did their eyes focus?
What filtered through their hands,
their emotions, their minds,
and made it to the paper?
I may be naked up there,
but it is the artist
whose heart is really revealed.
The drawings say ever so much more
about them
then they ever do about me.

And this is why I tell people:
Create.
Yes, other folks have done that.
Whatever it is.
But I know from experience
that hundreds can draw
the exact same subject...
and yet. What you have to say,
what you bring to the easel
(the jewelry bench, the loom,
the whatever your tools are),
what you will bring
will be different.
Will be yours.
I've seen it.
A hundred artists,
yet your creation will be
unique.

There is powerful art
that will not exist
ever
unless you give it form.

Create.


Melissa McCollum
11/10/2010

Modeling for Life Drawing this week

Oh man, are my muscles sore! I modeled for 4 life drawing classes this week, and I think I over did it. There were just a few too many poses with an arched and/or twisted back. But there was some really neat artwork that came out of it!

Here are a couple of the 1-3 minute gesture warm-up poses. The half hour and 45 minute poses were not quite this strenuous to hold...but they still worked the body.



In addition to the back twisting poses, a few of the teachers were working on hands and face studies. Many of the students shy away from hands, feet, and heads when they're doing their drawings. You'd be amazed how many anonymous floating torso pictures I've seen come out of these classes. So by the middle of the semester, the teachers tend to do some focused sessions to try to take the mystery out of those body parts.



One of the teachers set up three drawing stations for head studies. There was the skeleton at one, a plastic head showing the planes of the face at another, and I was the third one. Hint: This picture is not my drawing station.



Oh, remember those gesture poses? One of the more advanced class participants took two of the poses I did a few weeks back, and worked them up into a more finished piece of artwork. Doesn't this remind you a bit of Matisse's style? It is fascinating to see what folks come up with.



And now, I think it is time for a nice hot shower. My back muscles will appreciate it.

This and that

Well, I was going to be weaving on my antique rug loom to test it out over the past several weeks. But I've been up to my eyeballs in life drawing modeling! I love the paycheck, but modeling 4 or 5 days a week really takes it out of me. There has been some awesome artwork coming out of the sessions, though. I've put together a folder with a few snapshots of the student work at Flickr, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25078538@N03/sets/72157604578528806/ . I did have a set at Photobucket, but they kept pulling the best drawings down for terms of service violations. They do not like art nudes.

Now, the loom will be leaving my house entirely. I heard back from the Pioneer Living History Museum that is located just north of Phoenix. They're willing to take the loom and add it to their collection. I am actually really tickled about this. I love having the loom, but it really belongs in a museum helping to teach other people. My contact will be there on Thursday, and will get back to me about when I can deliver the loom. In the meanwhile, I need to carefully disassemble it. It is too big to fit through the door as is!

And in other news, I just ordered three Icelandic fleeces off of Ebay, in preparation for an arts competition entry for Estrella next February. One of the three categories for the year is 'weaving', and I'm using it as an opportunity to really push myself. I'd like to make a rectangular Viking cloak from the ground up, as authentically as I can. Hence the Icelandic fleeces. That breed of sheep is supposedly genetically almost unchanged from the sheep the Vikings brought to Iceland 1100 years ago. So, step number one will be to clean and process the fleeces for spinning. I'll be posting more about this project as I go along.

I hope the fleeces get here soon, though. The longer I have to think and plan, the bigger this project gets to be. When I first thought of it, I was going to be content to spin the yarn for the project on my modern treadle spinning wheel with the Woolee Winder. But I have a great wheel that is almost identical to a Medieval wheel. And I have an actual spindle whorl from the Middle Ages...I wonder if I could find a shaft for it and get it working again? And hey, I could dye the yarn too, instead of just using the natural color. I've got a pot of madder that has been growing out front for a couple of years. Hey, if I'm going to all this trouble, maybe I should build a warp-weighted loom, instead of using my modern dobby loom. And....


Somebody stop me before project creep takes over entirely!!

Modeling begins for the semester

The semester has started back up, which means I'm back at work as a life drawing model. I did three classes yesterday, and one this morning. At three hours each, that is 12 hours of modeling in the past 2 days. Oh man am I sore right about now!!

But, it is worth it. I get a kick out of seeing the new students catch fire as an idea clicks. I enjoy joking around with second and third semester students. (But, I'm still not going to stand on my head for 45 minutes! No matter how cool the drawing would be.) And I dearly love modeling for the ongoing students. Several of the students in the evening class are professional artists, taking advantage of having access to a live model to keep in practice.

For instance, the two drawings here are half hour/40 minute sketches by artist Kevin Kibsey. Can you imagine drawing that well, in that limited an amount of time? He's awesome. If you are an art collector, I'd really suggest you look him up and grab a couple of his paintings. Check it out here: http://www.villasandverandas.com/kk.htm . His 'Blue Dancer' is one of his more recent pieces. I saw it in the works, and it is spectacular--I love the motion that he got into the dancer's skirt. He's got a violinist that he's working on right now, but I think that one is already spoken for.

Anyway, you'll hear more about modeling on and off, now that things have started back up again. Tonight though, I think will be a hot tub kind of night, to work the kinks back out.