It is said that leaving your comfort zone allows you to grow. What isn’t mentioned is how nerve-racking it is at the beginning. This morning in life drawing I was responsible for timing the model and I found it difficult to watch the time and draw at the same time. Plus I was changing up the normal pose format so I feared an artist revolt.
Turns out that everything went fine, my drawings suffered a bit, but this is all part of learning, I’m sure I will get the hang of it soon.
I looked online for any app out there that would help in setting up a pose timer but I couldn’t find anything. I may have to create one, it would be a fun project. It would be nice if I could set up a pose and rest schedule and just have a timer run through it. I could have a list of schedules actually and pick one depending on what the group is feeling or needs… hmm…
Anyway, I think the next time I will have less 1.5 minute gesture poses and I need to give the models a few more breaks, the models here are not used to going a full hour without a break. Although Jeremy, the model this morning, was amazing. Here is my idea for the next pose schedule.
145min of pose time, 30min of break time, with 5min left over for buffer. I like this because there is enough time to warmup the model and the artists, plus we can have a single pose for up to 80 minutes. I would like to offer a long pose option though, an entire class with one single pose and the timing for that would look like this.
140min of pose time, 35min of break time, with 5 min left over for buffer. And of course these time are not set in stone, I’m sure that setup can run over a bit or under, maybe the model is late, or we chat for a bit longer. I think the important thing is to gauge the needs of the model and the artists. If most of the artists walk in with paints then I’m definitely going to go with a very long pose time.
Yikes! my gestures really suffered, it was hard to watch the timer and draw at the same time.
Not much better for the 5 minute poses either. I’m sure I will get the hang of it soon.
Ok, now I’m getting a bit better, of course now I have 15 minutes so I don’t have to watch the timer as much.
I’m fairly happy with this one. I have a bit too much focus on value here, and I had to redraw his proportions three times, but I’m very happy with the sense of volume I achieved.
