I was so excited to finally work with a model again as it had been a lonely lockdown. I had him lay in relaxed positions on my bed to create a similar composition to that of Edward Hoppers ‘Morning sun’. Slowly as we worked together he became more relaxed and loose in his body language which was ideal for me to work with, with what I wanted to create.
With my first attempt I was very happy with how it came out and how realistic the face and some parts of the body looked. His left arm clearly could have been done better with a softer approach to tone, but I think the details of his hairy chest is what really brings the body and the head together. I love how this piece came out, he seems so peaceful and lost in thought, which is what I was aiming for. I wanted to continue looking and trying out different positions to see what would work best for my ideal composition for an assessment piece.
I think this was my favourite out of all the sketches I did, I love the lounging position as he looks off into the distance, clearly in thought. The way his body is positioned towards the viewer while he looks away creates a sense of openness and intimacy as he is holding his body towards you, inviting you in to meet his gaze and join him in thought. I think this really fits into the female gaze, while also working quite well with playing off the composition that inspired me in Hoppers ‘Morning sun’. I think my pencil work is great here. I particularly love the detail in the face and hands, they look delicate and real, they really make him feel alive in this drawing. The pencil work also flows well throughout the drawing of him, it looks whole, not a body and then a head loosely connected. I really feel my skillmanship has improved here. The details of the chest hair really complete the body and make it feel real. I think out of the sketches this is most likely the composition and positioning I would like to include in my assignment piece. It just perfectly captures what ‘Morning sun’ depicts.
I’m not so happy with the outcome of this next piece. It’s very similar to my first drawing, him looking off into the distance however this time at a different angle. I like that concept and idea, but the drawing and the facial proportions are very off. I think I captured the nose and mouth very well but the eyes seem lazy and looking into different directions. The shading on the arms however has definitely slightly improved.
I tried a different pose, one looking straight towards the viewer and making eye contact. I think his added smile was a great touch, and allowed his personality to shine through and connect with the viewer. Again its like his pose and expression resembles listening to the viewer in conversation, it creates somewhat of an interaction and intimacy between the model and the viewer, which is something that I am interested in maybe incorporating into my assignment piece. To create a direct connection through eye contact could add to the female gaze I want to push within my work. In so many traditional portraits of women they make eye contact with the viewer in order to make them seem guilty of their nakedness for being so self aware. So this can be a take on that but with more of a positive spin, personifying that act of being self aware. Although my model isn’t completely naked, he is in a vulnerable position of just being in his underwear, so to have such a positive response to his situation, which did take him time to get used to, adds to this positivity of being happy and confident in ones own skin. And I think it is always such a wonderful thing to see someone really embrace themselves.
For this final sketch from this session I wanted to look at a close up and tackling a portrait from the shoulders up and really work on getting my facial proportions right. I got him in the middle of yawning and I love the character it adds to this sketch. Its just a relatable, vulnerable moment. I did forget to add his stubble in this drawing, and that might have helped really push a more realistic look overall. I loved working with the head and I really like this drawing, however I think a body focused image like the drawings before would be ideal for an assessment piece and would really push this idea of flipping that traditional male gaze approach to the female body on its head. Twist it into something more positive while allowing the person behind the model to shine through as a person, while celebrating that body confidence instead of pushing to shame them.
I am really happy with my sketches here and beginning to explore and develop ideas of what I want to achieve with my ideas and drawings. I think next it would be great to delve into different mediums and combining them to see what would work best. I would like to look at gouache again and maybe ink.
Simona Hopewell : Drawing 1 