I’ve taken part in two life-drawing sessions recently, with similar results. I have been quite pleased with what I have managed to do, but end up asking myself whether I might have missed the point. On each occasion the best part of what I have ended up with has been portraits of the sitters. As I drove home last night I found myself wondering whether there is something amiss when we pay a young woman to take all her clothes off so that we can draw or paint her image, and what I end up with is her head and shoulders.
Actually, over recent weeks, I have been wondering whether I might run my attention (at least in the short term) to portraiture. Sorting through the material from which I was selecting my entries to open competitions over the past week, I was impressed by the quality of a portrait I did of my grandmother, some time ago. We shall see.
For the next few days I will be off line, because my wife and I are going down to London on one of our periodic “raids” on the capital. In addition to visiting the theatre, which we both enjoy, I will be taking in the big Donatello exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Giorgio Morandi show at the Estorick collection.