BBC4 Life Drawing Feb 4th

This coming Tuesday I am delighted that my studio will be part of the first live nation-wide life drawing session, on BBC4 with Lachlan Goudie.

Last week's life class at BARA

Drawing the human form is a very centering experience (after all, we are drawing that most familiar of things - ourselves) and I think everyone should try it. More than once!

Details of the programme are here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/life-drawing-live

It's a pilot programme, to encourage people to get their paper and pencils out at home and join in, following the live model on the screen.

Try to tune in!


Next workshops at BARA this Friday 7th February 6 - 8 pm portrait drawing and
Saturday 8th February Portrait drawing 10.30 - 5pm

Friday Night Life, BARA Belfast.

Students at work while Jeff poses

It's not every day that models come along in two's, but tha'ts exactly what happens with Jeff and Debbie! This lovely couple have been life modelling for ages, and are great to work with. Based in central Ireland, they travel all over the place to model for artist and students.

Lovely study by Sarah M

 They came to BARA for the first time in May, and we drew Jeff, and Debbie joined in with the class to do some drawing, for the first time ever! (She is second from the right in the top photo)

A selection of student's drawings 

Wonderful colourful chalk studies by CMW - these are always the envy of the studio!

 The second visit later in May was Debbie's turn to model, see some drawings above and below.

A snap of some of the class, with Debbie bottom left

 I'm delighted that they will be returning in July. If you are looking for a model (or two!) lifemodelsireland.blogspot.com

 they can be contacted via their blog

Friday 19th July 6 - 8pm, drawing Jeff.

Friday 26th July 6 - 8pm and Saturday 27th July 10 - 4pm Drawing Debbie.

For more info email julie@juliedougals.co.uk

Heaven is a place in Holywood..

.well, it was until I bought all the gourds in town, and now Heaven is in my house!

On display at the shop... I want them all!

Although I am not overly attracted to Orange things, in autumn it's an eye-catcher that can't be ignored - jolly, warm and hopeful, with the colour of fire. I love autumn, it's abundance of colour-contrasts, berries and seeds, a last gift before nature takes a rest. 

colour contrasts: orange leaves,  blue sky

As well as the leaves slowly changing colour, gourds begin to appear in the shops in the run up to Hallowe'en. With their twists, stripes and warts, they are like nature's joke - they aren't edible, purely for decorative entertainment.  

Abundance of warty temptations.. Be careful to check for mould as you want them to last as long as possible. 

They make the most brilliant subject for drawing and painting, and aren't offended if you add extra bumps and lumps. 

Safely at home 

Colour pencil drawing in my Moleskine Sketchbook

Warts and all

Drawing these is all about surface pattern. Great fun. 

Upcoming workshops in Oils, Water colour, portrait drawing and Colour Pencil. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Life Drawing, Belfast

When drawing the human form, one wonders why one would ever draw anything else. These studies were drawn during Colleen Barry's figure drawing workshop in Belfast. Five days to study form, light, and anatomy - an endurance test in its own way, not only for the model who stays in the same pose all week, but for the artists who get similarly stiff and sore.

End of day 1

I chose a back view for a change, although the shadow of the head was lovely from the front. But  my favourite thing was the light at the top of the model's head and on his shoulder. And I like a blady head. This view required sitting below the model, on a studio 'horse' or 'donkey' - this is a long stool rather like a woodworking bench, which has a hinged board to rest your drawing board and paper on. Basically it's as comfortable as you'd expect, if you sit on a plank for a week. 

But a bit of suffering for our art is all to the good...!

Twenty minute poses

Drawing the figure is one of the most satisfying, connecting experiences.  It is in no way sensual, even though someone in the room is naked. The word 'naked' impies a vulnerability - a life model isn't vulnerable, they are Nude. Modeling is extremely demandng on the body - try standing still for half an hour and see how you get on...  So even though it is not a sensual experience, life drawing is in fact intimate. There is intimacy in studying human form, like a contract between artist and model. 

End of day 2 (though the artwork is not so dark as it looks in this photo)

Twenty minute poses

We started each day with short poses of twenty minutes. As you can see, Robert has an arsenal of diffuclt-to-draw poses.  He clearly has an understanding of creating shapes with the body, to provide the artist with new folds and relationships on the page. this is the sign of a skilled model. 

Each one of the above drawings took twenty minutes. (just in case you thought I did all four in twnety minutes...) 

End of day 4

Twenty minute poses

More twenty minute poses. These were lovely poses, but we all wandered round bewilderedly trying to find the most manageable angle to draw from. We resigned ourselves to the fact that there were no easy angles, they were all just differently difficult. Some of them would have been great for an all-day pose. 

The last day, day 5, I added the front view of the model. 

Drawing is an intellectual act. Be in no doubt that the problem solving nature of observation drawing is good for your brain, your eyes, your appreciation of nature - and learning to draw well improves the intellect. We should all be doing it, more of the time...! 

Upcoming workshops: Oil painting, Belfast, Big Drawing Day. 

For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Figure Drawing Workshop with Colleen Barry in Belfast 2014

Figure drawing is one of my favourite things. To have a whole week of it is wonderful.
I was deligheted to welcome Colleen  Barry to teach in Belfast, fresh from a two week course at the Angel Academy in Florence.

Students were from a mixture of past exprience and from many backgrounds - Fine Art, Animation and Beginners. To accomodate this variety, Colleen started each day with 20 minute poses, allowing plenty of practice in the all-important starting point of figure drawing. Robert was our model and he had an impressive (or depressing, depending on how you're feeling at the time!) portfolio of outrageously difficult-to-draw poses for the short drawings, and how we all scurried around the room trying to find the least-horrendous views. (Discovering of course that all views are equally difficult, but just in different ways!) 

But the main focus of the week was one pose, studying form and learning about anatomy. Robert was a fantastic model - I can't begin to imagine how painful it is to stand in one position for several days and I am very grateful for his professionalism.

Colleen doing a demo on form shadow verses cast shadow

We enjoyed watching Colleen demonstrating, not only about the figure but explaining about light, shadow, tone and form in general. Colleen is a gentle teacher, an incredibly knowledgable artist who is willing and able to spend time explaining so that everyone understands. She is a lovely combination of inspiring, and modest.  

One of the daily anatmony talks. 

Alice, Jeremy (aka Leonardo), Caroline (showing Peter how to sharpen his pencils), Peter, Sarah, Pat, Colleen Barry and jacinta) 

Julie, Jacinta and Alice, suffering on the wooden horses.

To make it even more perfect I'd have to suggest a shoulder and back massage at the end of each day - sitting on a hard wooden 'horse' for a week is not comfy.. ! I had a great tip froma  student I worked with in GCA, who recommended support socks for days when standing to draw. 

Colleen was joined in Belfast by her husband Will St John, who is a wonderful painter and sculptor - he spent time seeking out his family roots, in Comber, County Down! 

Ciara, who was kindly practicing the pose just in case Robert needed a break..!

The whole group, skeleton and all (giving Robert an affectionate hug). 

A fantastic week - I hope to display some of the drawings during the Belfast Festival of Art and Design in March. 

Upcoming courses - Oil workshop, Colour Pencil workshop, Belfast. For info email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk

Figure Drawing with Colleen Barry at the Grand Central Academy, NY

Well, I surprised myself by booking a trip to New York to attend a course with Colleen Barry, and had a wonderful time.

Manhattan, from the Top o' The Rockefeller Center  

Such a contrast between outside (fast, humid-hot, bright, busy and colourful) and inside the studio (dark, still, quiet, focused and concentrated) - but the balance of those things meant that neither became overwhelming.

The studio is without windows and the walls are painted black, so all light is controlled, and constant.  the model was San Diego, and he was fantastic - incredibly stationary, without being lifeless (because if we want to draw a statue, then we ought to.. well, draw a statue), and eminated a professional and elegant presence at all times. 

end of day one - figure fully blocked in. 

The workshop only ran for five days, so we were spared the strict regime followed by the full time students of Classical Drawing. Having said that, it was a race against the clock to get everything completed in the time. Fortunately, Colleen gave us a list of what to address each day, which helped keep on top of it.  Day one was blocking in the whole figure, in a much freer way than seems apparent from the drawing, to find the gesture of the pose. Having the full day for this allowed time to get it right. 

end of day two - torso

The hardest day for me, was day three, when we had to do the legs - from this angle, the legs covered a very large area for toning. 

Colleen Barry (centre) with Liz Beard. 

Colleen Barry is a gentle and knowledgeable teacher. At some point every day we had instruction on anatomy, which is a huge and interesting subject.

Daily instruction on anatomy for artists was invaluable

End of day 5, fully complete, as much as I could in the time!

Colleen Barry is coming to Belfast to teach Figure Drawing, and attending her course in NY has filled me with confidence that all particpants will have a fully rounded, enjoyable learning experience with her.

Upcoming workshops - intensive portfolio course
Big Drawing Workshop at the Drawing Office, in Belfast's Titanic Quarter

Oil Painting workshop with Matt Weigle,
Figure Drawing Workshop with Colleen Barry

Draw In - a drawing symposium on 30th & 31st August with invited artists including PJ Lynch, Peter Cooper, Paul Foxtona dn Coleen Barry.

For information on all courses email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk