Wednesday 21 February 2007

A very good place to start

figures at bus stop cold day Right, I've photographed my sketch book to date. It's been about a month or so that I'm back to drawing on a daily basis, after a break of a dozen years or so. So I'm going to start there - 4 weeks ago in early Jan 07.

One of the subjects that has been hanging round in my head for a while, and which feels good to get down onto paper, is my repeated sketching of the figures who approach and collect at the bus stop near my house. Quickly drawn in pencils, charcoal, pen & ink etc in early Jan 07 with a cold blustery wind most days. The figures are hunched, sometimes hooded, or with hats, all trudging with heads bent. I like the way they've come out quite anonymous. Everyman, almost. I wonder if they look like typical Northern people to the rest of the UK.


Lowry has been a reference for me during this, though I don't like his almost cartoon or caricature portrayal of folk. I do love his handling of dreary skies, that appear almost white at first glance, but have a lot more going on when you get up close.

figures in charcoal pencilIn 'A Sudden Illness' he has a sky like that, and the pale factory you can see over the wall looks to me like a solidified section of sky, rather than being made of the same substance as the wall.
Mostly I love Lowry's grouping of figures.
I don't know yet what use I'm going to make of these figures. I haven't found a location for them. But I am going to continue drawing them, because it's like an itch, when I glimpse them out of the window.

2 comments:

Melanie Rimmer said...

I love these figures, Steph. I like the way they each seem to have a "story" even though they are very sketchy and lacking detail. I feel I could guess the sex and even age of each of them pretty accurately, and like you say, I like the groups - guessing which ones know each other, which are family, or strangers. It's amazing how you accomplish this without features or detail, in just a few strokes.

ammmmzzzy said...

hiya steph!

i have created a blogg,

have a butches

amy

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