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!
Very interesting! Thank you for sharing. It does not seem like hard work on the surface, but I am sure it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your day with us. I'm worn out just seeing some of the poses.
ReplyDeleteMade me tired just looking at the poses! 20 minutes is a long time, let alone and hour!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from Blogging Buddies.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Http://christiecottage.blogspot.com
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What an interesting day you had!! Great photos!
ReplyDeleteVery different. I really like all the details in the "dead body" pose. Also it has to be easier to keep that pose. TFS
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to take a life drawing class, but I'll have to work up to it - it's been too long since I've done any regular sketching. You look like you're having lots of fun! Keep up the great work. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, all! It is fun work, but can also be physically challenging. You wouldn't think that staying still would be an effort, but it can be. I'm feeling the muscles in my lower back talking to me about the twist I held during that second 'dead body' pose! And keeping the mental focus to *hold* for up to an hour, even when you have an itch or a tickle or a fly crawling on your or the muscle is cramping or you are bored or... I end up using meditative techniques to keep going until the timer releases me. But I like collaborating with the artists, and knowing that I am part of the teaching/learning process.
ReplyDeletePolyspace, I'd suggest finding a beginning life drawing class at one of the community colleges. I know the one at GCC has no prerequisites, and teaches the students from the ground up. I can just about guarantee that you'll improve from the beginning of the semester to the end. I tell the students who are fussing about their skills at the beginning of the semester that if they already knew how to do this, they wouldn't need the class, would they? :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like so much fun!! Thanks for sharing your day, Melissa!!
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