Artist’s Statement, Life Drawings, 2011 – Present
For me, drawing from the live model is a thoroughly enjoyable activity. Working with fundamental issues of representation such as shape, mass, proportion and scale help sharpen my powers of observation. Drawing the figure also makes me think in a very directed way about color relationships, balance, movement and emphasis in a composition. The insights I have gained about describing the human body and the relationship of the body to its immediate surroundings have translated to my other work through an improved understanding of form and spatial manipulation.
I find drawing intrinsically energizing, and I find life drawing doubly so. The fact that the subject is a living breathing being who will only remain in the pose for a finite amount of time compels me to approach the drawing with an enhanced awareness of the physicality involved in making the work. I become more aware of my physical self as I draw the model, making the relationship between the artist and the drawing process one of immediacy and focus at the same time.