Wednesday, February 19, 2014

A few studies in pastel

A few pastel sketches from youtube refs... At each step I was trying to be intimately aware of the structure... rather than pay attention to the esthetics of presentation. The latter was developing, as much as I could concentrate on the former, as a subconscious or 'practised' response. Its really fascinating how the human body is built, and how surface elements (skin, fat etc) and deeper elements (muscles, bones) dynamically interact to create this beautiful, logical design. To the student of the human figure, none of the social determinants, by which popular opinion designates how good (or bad!) a person looks has any value. He revels in the study of all body kinds, surface texture, color, tone... its all a wonderful challenge to him. He tries to understand the nuances of a surface form - what makes the skin recede here, or bulge out at some other place, and tries to fit the local in the context of the general.

All with dry pastel on A3 size paper.

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Ref images for these studies by kind courtesy of  The Croquis Cafe on Youtube (a series of presentations by OnAirVideo.com) - many thanks for extending my education!