First Life Drawing Class in 30? years!

The title says it all. I went along to a life drawing class today and think it's the first one I've been to since I graduated from art college in 1979... Here are the results:

After 6 x 10 minute sketches to warm up (and, looking back, boy did I need it!) we moved onto 20 minutes. I've never used watercolours to draw a figure before (I don't think...) and was surprised this worked so well. Not brilliant but pleasantly not bad. Meg said it was "delicate".
This was a half hour drawing BUT I thought it was going to be an hour so I was really taking my time with it. Proportions are a bit off and it doesn't show up too well in the photo but one of the other artists there thought it was lovely! That was very encouraging! "Delicate" was used to describe this one too.

In my final year at art college (1978/79), I used to be able to draw a figure starting at the eyes and just fill in the rest of the space with the drawing. Now I'm back to needing to sketch the whole form first and then move into the details.

Another half hour pose. I hate the face, it's all wrong, but I'm fairly pleased with the perspective along the body (except for the chest area which is looking very odd now!). It's comforting to know I can still "see".
A 10 minute pose again, to finish off the day. As the first watercolour sketch worked so well, I thought I'd try another. Very unfinished, of course, but I like it better than I thought at the time.

I confess I found myself wondering about the value of it all. I seem to need to have a purpose in what I do. Obviously drawing informs my knowledge of the human figure for other work, but I'm not sure what it's all about, apart from expressing ego... My photography lecturer at college, Joseph McKenzie, said that art is only [forgive me] masturbation. I have a tendency to agree with him...

A few things I've listed on Etsy

Ali's Lighter Life

Please have a look at my other blog Ali's Lighter Life to find out what my intentions are for 2009. I need to raise £560 in order to take part in the Lighter Life programme so I can lose weight - and then I can raise money for charity through my weight loss!

Frosty Winter Photos

If I'd known 5 years ago that I'd be living here, along with two dogs, I would never have believed it!

Frozen moss on a fallen twig

Hard to believe this is a daily sight for me...

Contrasting the enclosed woods against the exposed open

Frozen lichen on a fallen twig

A frozen pine cone

I love the contrast of the exposed frozen trees against the pines

A frosty hawthorn (my favourite tree)

Close up of the frosty hawthorn

This may look like dusk but it was only around 1 pm

The rest of the advent decorations!

In no particular order...
For some reason, Jamie wants his tree leaning against his bedroom wall! So most of the decorations are hanging two together on the "nipples" and none are round the back of the tree! In the end many of the later ones ended up on the proper Christmas tree!

Not all of the decorations are from Alan Dart's Advent Tree - some are adapted from his Advent Calendar. The sweetie is my own design. I've also adapted all of them to suit, leaving out bits or adding others. The observant among you may have noticed there are only 24. I've always had advent calendars with only 24 windows on them but that's not the reason why... I just ran out of steam and, because I was behind, Jamie was none the wiser. However on the day after Boxing Day, he asked if there was another decoration for him, so I've given him the option of choosing from those patterns that are left and I'll knit one more. There are 25 "nipples" on the tree after all!