I’m attempting, at the moment, to get a new idea off the ground. At first I faced the deterring thought that I might need to use a number of models in order to get the figure drawing right, but that didn’t last long, because it would be so complicated (and potentially expensive). Several years ago I did attempt a rather complex composition which might well have involved as many as twenty figures. I solved that problem by using he internet as a source of information about the costumes they were required to wear, and because they were (for the most part) standing in a line the drawing part of the problem was not too difficult to resolve. It worked out quite well in the end.* The idea with which I am toying at the moment is a more complicated problem, in that the people in the composition will be in varied poses (because they are dancing) and in some unusual costumes. Whereas it is quite straightforward to search the internet for pictures of (say) police officers or High Court judges, the things I have in mind are of a more fantastic nature.
The idea on which I am working is derived from my having watched on TV the parade celebrating the recent royal jubilee. It struck me that I might be able to gather some suitable images drawn directly from that. So, I found the event on the BBC iPlayer and watched it with the computer control at the ready and a camera close at hand. Every time an image appeared which I thought could conceivably be adapted to my needs I paused the video and photographed the TV screen. It was necessary to watch the event three times altogether (using the fast-forward facility when passages with no possible interest were being shown), and I have ended up with a reservoir of about two dozen photographs which look initially to be quite promising as sources of the images I need.
I’m still considering he question of the medium in which I might work. It will be quite a large composition, and I’m not sure whether pastels or acrylic would work best. (Media such as tempera or ink, in which I’ve been working recently, really would not be suitable.) I shall be busy during the later part of the coming week, so I’m setting myself the aim of producing some preparatory sketches before I become diverted. Wish me luck, and watch this space!
*There isn’t a copy of this in my “galleries” at the moment. I’ll see if I have a photograph of it somewhere and perhaps post it tomorrow.