sketches

[helenic]

When I drew Fergus and liriselei in Oxford the other weekend, it was because I was very drunk, and because I was very drunk I gave the sketches to them without looking at them again. I regretted this later: I do draw quite a lot, but on the backs of envelopes or lecture notes, or on my skin, or I give them away, and so I have remarkably little to show for it. So when I was in the mood at the beer festival yesterday to do some sketching, I decided to keep the results. Since working on my tattoo design I've now finished a sketchbook which I started in 2001 - I went through a dry patch in drawing and painting during my first two years at uni, and the only things I produced were a painting and a few drawings of kungfuchaos, all of which he still has. I'm fairly confident that I'm through that now, and although I still don't have time to paint for pleasure I have several commissions lined up and I am sketching again. Mainly I prefer to sketch people, which usually means my friends, and I only ever have the nerve to sketch publically when I'm drinking. My models are therefore mostly under coercion and I rush the things off as quickly as I can. Which is a shame in a way, but at least it's practice.

medieval_bunny, at the beer festival yesterday. She's prettier than this in real life.



cantabulous, also at the beer festival: see above disclaimer. What can I say, I was drunk.



Experiments in deviating from my normal soft pencil into the realm of rollerball pens.



Both of these were done during the same library shift last term. My linework needs, um, work.



romauld, reading. I did this while I was staying with him during the first week of January this year. The fact that I couldn't be bothered to shade his hair to the same extent as his beard adds about twenty years to his age, but I kind of like it.



The cathedral in Prague, sketched moodily and unsuccessfully in late August last year. I'd spilled my over-priced beer, I was paranoid that romauld was bored, and the stonework was impossibly complex, so I gave up and bought a postcard instead.



Also dating back to last August. I don't know why either - I woke up one morning and discovered I'd apparently drawn it the night before, but I don't remember doing so or what I was thinking.



Downing college, where I study, and where I stayed last summer rather than living with my parents.



The composition study for this painting, drawn last August. I couldn't get hold of any decent pencils and the majority of the shading was done with an HB, which was ... interesting.



These three sketches date back to sixth form, when I begun this sketchbook and then abandoned it for two years. I seem to remember getting the source photographs from online, but I have no idea where. The first two scans date back to about then as well; hence the pseudish © notice.



I can't remember exactly when I did them, but I remember doing the third one during the rehearsal for a concert. I was sitting in the choir stalls in the nave surrounded by people and empty musical instrument cases trying to hide the page from anyone passing by.



Ah, there's nothing quite like the result of bisexual eighteen-year-olds deprived of girlsex and deciding to draw breasts.

Comments

[stopsignsongs.livejournal.com]

you never told me you were an artist. you know what, wow

[libellum.livejournal.com]

hey, thanks. I'm sure I told you I draw? I seem to remember ranting about the irony of how much I hate painting despite seeming to be good at it, because you were talking about something similar with regard to composition...

I only hate painting, I don't hate drawing. I need to remember to do it more but it's like the other things that vastly improve one's life, like yoga and meditation and reading fiction - somehow I always forget to do it during term.

[liriselei.livejournal.com]

because I was very drunk I gave the sketches to them without looking at them again. I regretted this later

out of curiosity, why the regret ?
i can return the sketch of me if it would help ?

[libellum.livejournal.com]

it was more of a "damn, I finally get around to drawing something and I didn't keep it again!" Mainly, I'm motivated by the fact that at some point I want to put all my art online so people can actually see it (I've even bought the domain, but so far all that's on it are these images and no title page) and I might be able to make some money. So you don't need to give it back :) If you ever find the time to scan it that'd be cool, but it's only a tiny thing and really won't make much difference in the long run.

Are you going to be in Oxford on the 10th-11th? I have Things to talk to you about and I want to do it in person rather than email.

[the-waves.livejournal.com]

these are wonderful. i hope you post more in the future :-)
i'd so love to be able to draw.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I'm planning on gradually getting my artwork scanned in. A lot of it is still at my parents' house. I went on a mission in the lower IVth to scan in all my work, but our scanner then was appalling quality and they've come out mostly as obscure grey bitmaps. I intend to ask my parents to bring up my folders (most of which are A1 sized, and therefore not exactly portable) so I can do it on my shiny new scanner of love. Although I was at my most prolific at the age of 15-16, and I've improved considerably since then - but there's still some stuff I'm kind of proud of, and I want to have it online to prove I actually produce stuff, or have done. If that makes any sense :)

[yvesilena.livejournal.com]

RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE!

[libellum.livejournal.com]

um. thankyou!

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

God, you're talented. It's often so cringeworthy when people share their sketches, but with you...no.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

well, the last three are cringeworthy, but they were also five years ago, so I feel justified. It's interesting watching myself improve - and it's bizarre that this particular sketchbook has lasted quite so long, which is why I wanted to post the beginning and the end.

Thankyou for the compliment. It's really really good to hear. I take it that the Sudan plan, as well as other things, mean that you're no longer interested in commissioning me? You said you wanted a nude - I have no ideas for composition but in terms of style I'm thinking something dark with scratchy metallic bits and an abstract background with maybe fields of red and gold, but, um, that could just be influenced by the decor of your lounge. I'll be putting out a request for work over the summer when I have time to actually do it, but this seemed a good opportunity to ask :)

[dreamfracture.livejournal.com]

Cool, especially the composition sketch for the painting (I think I like it more than the actual painting, but then I've always been fond of monochrome).

I've done the "create something beautiful, gift it to someone, and then wish you'd at least scanned it in first" thing. Ah well.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

annoying, isn't it? :)

I quite like the pencil sketch, but the scratchiness of the shading annoys me, and the fact that he's not looking out of the picture in the same way he is in the painting. I still think that painting is the best thing I've ever done, to the extent that I have no idea how I actually did it. But isn't it always the way?

[suzerain.livejournal.com]

you realise that some of that work is easily of an equal standard of technical draughtsmanship than many semi professional artists I know? and a few professional ones, for that matter.

even the ones from a few years ago are pretty good - I know a lot of people who got into good art colleges on worse work...

JGE

[libellum.livejournal.com]

yes, I did. What do you mean by "technical draughtsmanship" - are you referring to the sketches of buildings?

I know I'm good at this. I intend to make money at it - I've already sold one painting and am being paid this summer for two more. I'd rather stay freelance and part-time around a more reliable job, for the moment, than do it fulltime and risk utter poverty, or being obliged to produce substandard/uninspired work for the sake of being able to buy food.

God, it's something I hate admitting, I feel so appallingly arrogant. But yes, I think drawing and painting are the things in life that I'm best at. I'd be intrigued if you have any ideas about how I could do it professionally other than freelance commissions. I'd love to go into (e.g.) book cover illustration, or graphic novels, but I suspect I'd need an illustration degree to get work and I'm not that bothered. Although I do have a friend who's suggested an illustration commission if/when they sell their novel...

[realdoll.livejournal.com]

Helen, you should paint/draw colleges and sell them to local shops which sell art/prints. MAJOR pennies to be made that way- people are always gagging for them.

Maybe some downing sketches for old members?

You should see the prices *prints* of modern, dauby Oxford paintings go for (think hundreds, just for 300 ltd editions)

[realdoll.livejournal.com]

Also, I don't know if you've seen, but on some of the sketches you can see the remains of others from where the pencil has pressed through in the backgrounds- my laptop screen is v bright so maybe thats why I noticed :) It is especially creepy/cool/shuddersome on the first one! A scary face over her shoulder...

[nightkitchen.livejournal.com]

these are great. I especially love the face without eyes (well, without irises/pupils) - eerie. post more!

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I plan to :) but, sadly, this is all the stuff I have from the last three years or so. All the others got lost or given away. I'm going to start scanning in my older things, and - more importantly! - work on new stuff. After finals. (!)

[lizw.livejournal.com]

Those are beautiful. I love the luminosity (if that's the word) of the composition study.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

thankyou! it's got very very smudged. I should have put some greaseproof paper or something in there, but I'm useless.

[akonken.livejournal.com]

Wow, those are really really good.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

eep, thankyou!

[the-lady-lily.livejournal.com]

I still love the ones you did of Laura and Roger. Their eyes really catch who they are.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

the more I look at them the more dissatisfied I am with them. They compare very unfavourably to the one of Chris, but then, when I did that he wasn't moving, he wasn't bored, there weren't any distractions, I could take my time and I wasn't drunk (although I think I had had a glass of wine).

I'm going to be sketching my parents later. They want to commission a double-portrait, Hockney-style, for their silver wedding. I refuse to use watercolours though.

[steeraway.livejournal.com]

I'm particularly impressed with the 5th one down (shaded beard, unshaded hair - it has that 'something special' quality.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

that's my favourite, too. Partly it's the best one because I took my time over it, I didn't have any distractions, I wasn't in public and (because he was reading) I didn't have to worry about annoying him if I took too long. Also I wasn't as drunk as with the others. But I think it's mostly the emotional context - there's something extraordinary about drawing someone you're in love with, I always do it and it's one of the ways I explore them (and my feelings). We'd been fighting and although we were okay, I wasn't. I did the picture as a peace offering to myself, if that makes any sense.

[steeraway.livejournal.com]

...and the first one, also. Both this and the other I picked out seem to me to have that masterful, deceptively light touch - so much expressed in a relatively small number of pencil strokes.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I take this as a great compliment - possibly more than you meant it as - thankyou very much. The only thing is, I wish I knew how I'd done it. I just tried to copy a photo of my parents and it came out heavy-handed and strange looking. Bah.

[translucent.livejournal.com]

I must ask -- 'pseudish'?
I bought a sketchbook recently with the determined aim of improving my draughtsmanship, but I keep running up against the definite block of having no patience. I avoided spending too much time on drawing at Art GCSE as there wasn't much competition, the teacher hated my laziness and had very definite Methods for developing a piece. Thus I defected to Music at the blink of an eye at A-level. Blah! It's a mystery where people find their driving passions spring from.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

pseudish: like unto a "pseud", a concept well illustrated by the figure of a talentless 17-year-old plastering their "art" all over the internet and covering it in official-sounding jargon protecting it from copyright theft, as if anyone would be interested in making off with their amateurish efforts. As was I. I don't care much about copyright theft these days, but that's partly because I've had a classical education and I prefer meaningful and ironic allusion to "originality", which is impossible to identify most of the time anyway.

Lack of patience also curses me. Hence why these are mostly so quick. I can get involved in a drawing, if I have access to an uninterrupted evening, music and caffeine, but if I'm painting I start fidgeting and distracting myself every other minute.

[fiona-kitty.livejournal.com]

These make me want to draw again. They are fantastic.

*sigh*

[libellum.livejournal.com]

Thankyou! you should draw; everyone should draw. It's good for the soul. Pubs are a good place to start.

[verte.livejournal.com]

I really love the sketch of Chris reading, and the Eliot one made me laugh. Whose face is it on the mug? The nose and eyes could almost be yours (over-caffeinated and underslept, anyway...).

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I think the face is mine - that is, it's one of my random from-imagination faces, and they're usually of my own face because that's how people work. Considering I probably drew it late at night, so tired that my short-term memory wasn't even working, I'm not surprised that that's what I looked like ...

I'm please you like the one of Chris - that's my favourite, too. I'm not sure why. There's a quiet focus in both the subject matter and the linework, and the syncretism is pleasing.

[medieval-bunny.livejournal.com]

They're beautiful!

I'm NOT more beautiful in real life, libellum is too kind!

But some of these are exhibit-standard, have you ever entered them for anything? because seriously they could do very well, you really have a talent for 'seeing' people. I love that one of the guy reading, it's so peaceful and just lovely.

[libellum.livejournal.com]

not these, no. I'm waiting until I have a portfolio of paintings before trying to exhibit (and that'll involve painting pieces that aren't for commission, and which I can therefore keep). I've never seen drawings exhibited unless they're by already-famous artists. Which ones do you think are that good? I'm not sure I agree, I'm just curious.

I love the one of Chris too, the more I look at it. I'm not sure why it came out so well. But - thankyou.

[taimatsu]

You are very very good at this.

Would you draw me sometime? No is a perfectly acceptable answer.

When are we next going to see you, anyway?

[libellum.livejournal.com]

I have no idea. Do you want to LARP in Oxford on Saturday the 11th? Otherwise I think it's the Big Session :)

And yes, I am very much interested in drawing you. I'd actually really like to paint you nude some time, lying on your side, head raised on elbow, with that grin you have. You have one of those beautiful curvaceous bodies that should be painted more, because painting nude pictures of skinny girls is utterly dull. But that would involve you coming to Cambridge for a day in August to lie around not wearing anything, and I'd very much understand if you didn't want to :)