I had the pleasure of attending the Gage Academy life drawing with a fellow artist today and it was a lot of fun. It was really great to have someone to talk shop with, thanks Bob!
I’m not sure if the same is true for everyone but, I have noticed a decline in my skills for a particular material if I don’t use it often. The last time I was at Gage Academy drawing from the model I was at a very high point in drawing with charcoal. Of course, this was at the tail end of a whole month of nothing but drawing from the figure for at least 2 hours a day. I don’t want to lose that ability so I need to put some sort of plan in place where I practice a bit of drawing with charcoal daily or a few times a week.
I’m a bit concerned about this concept. With my current schedule, I find that 2 hours of art a day is the max that I can achieve on a consistent basis. Adding charcoal drawing along with painting isn’t too bad I’m sure I can fit it in, and it may be a great warm up before painting. But, what will happen when I need to add still life or landscape into the mix? At some point, I think I’m going to have to make a decision on subject matter and focus on it.
