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sketchbook
Standing female nude: studio sketch
Charcoal on paper. 2005. Standing nude model. Art class.
This drawing from the live model was done from a fifteen minute pose. Somehow all the uncorrected search lines give it a vitality that tends to get lost in a more finished drawing. My longer term aim is to be able to keep that vitality even in finished work.
Even so, I find it is important to be definite about where a line is supposed to be, even where the line disappears. There should be no ambiguity about which line the artist intends you to accept as the correct one. When this is unclear it betrays a want of skill on the part of the artist.
This is why bad impressionism is especially objectionable, because the artist can hide a lack of precision behind the veil of the fuzzy style. If, however, a fuzzy mark implies clearly where the real line lies hidden, that can be very pleasing.
Click for a fifteen minute sketch of a nude male.
All images are copyright Martin Dace 2005.