Draw : Grimm Tales

Last Saturday, to a Draw session themed around fairy tales, entitled Grimm Tales.

Quite wonderful concept : bringing theatricality (costumes, music, plot) and fun to the process of life drawing. Pretty popular too, about 100 artists jostling for space to see the models.

Illustrator Geo Parkin captured the vibe much better than I did, and has a superior scanning technique. However, for the morbidly curious, here are some of my sketches (click on image to be taken to Flickr). Links to other artists on Draw's own blog.

Desirables of a Life Class

I'm not hugely experienced in life drawing (just over two years), though I've seen three or four different types of class/session now. I'm usually open to whatever the class is. However, I've built up some ideas about what I like. I've tried to reflect on the most important, which appear towards the top of the list. I hesitate to call them Requirements, so let's say they are Desirables.  I've left out things like location and frequency, as these are on the Cost side of the equation.  Can you tell that I'm accustomed to thinking with my left brain? Or that I'm fairly grumpy?


My ideal drawing class, or strictly session, would have : 

1. A Model, or maybe Some Models, who are willing to be still and be studied for a while.
   
   That's basically it for essentials, so here are the differentiators:
   
2. Nude. The figure can best be studied without obstructing clothing. On the model I mean. Some is OK, but essentially I'd like to draw the figure. 
3. Time. A decent session duration. Two hours is standard, but I could go low as 40 minutes or up three hours. Beyond that, the place has to be comfy and offer other features.
4. Poses. A variety of poses, some short, some long, in various postures (stand, point, stretch, sit, lie).
5. Stillness. Poses held quite accurately, though doesn't have to be static to the millimetre.
   
   You get all that with any normal class with experienced models (or good guidance). So now we go to the aspects which vary a lot from class to class.
   
6. Light. Good light falling on the models, preferably warm and directional. Medium shadows that show form.
7. More Light. Good amount of light on the drawing paper, neutral and flat.  (Yeah I know, bear with me, this is an ideal list.) I'd like to be able to see a light mark made with a 2H pencil.
8. Knowledge. Both of how long each pose will last, and what poses there will be. No sudden surprises.  Poses may be slightly longer than advertised.
9. Schedule. Start, break and stop at the advertised time. I usually have a train to catch.
10. Space. This means adequate sightlines, fairly close to the model. Enough leg and elbow room to adjust my drawing position. There should be the option of sitting (on chairs) or standing to work, and moving around.
11. Peace. No crashing about, dropping things or giggling.  Noisily setting up next to me after I've been concentrating for 10 mins? ... hmm, not impressed. Talking in a soft voice is fine. This is do with the culture of the class, and harder for the leader to control.
12. Easels and boards. It's very nice to have these available, as they don't fit in my bag so well.
13. Tea. I can't survive on will alone, so refreshments are very good to have. A nearby shop/cafe if the venue doesn't put on its own tea. This needs toilets to work properly. A class shorter than 2 hours can do without.
14. Sympathy/society. Interacting with other artists (and models) is part of the process. I don't especially want formal crits or anything, but it's good to see what approaches and techniques are being used, and to have the chance to chat with the others. Again this is class culture aspect, as some people don't seem comfortable with having their work on show.
15. Tuition. It depends on the intent of the class. I can cope with none, sympathetic guidance, all the way to stern correction. Demonstration is a very effective technique. This could simply be having a drawing done in the same time as I made my attempt, and getting some quick Q+A with the master.
16. Materials. It's a bonus to have paper and such for sale, though I'm basically going to bring my favourite stuff to a class. Having consumables such as tape, fixer, water and towel/rags is very nice.
17. Beer. Post-session pub trips are nice to have. But these would essentially be a wind down for me, so no jumping joints thanks. 
18. No extraneous noises.  I've listed this one separately as it's to do with the environment rather than class culture.
19. Hygeine.  The room should be fairly clean. It should be safe to sit on the floor, and there should be wastebins that are not already overflowing.
20. Admin. This means signing up, paying, finding information and all that, should not be a hassle.
21. Beautiful models. Well, everyone is beautiful, but you know what I mean. I've listed this simply to show that it's low on the list. Anyone can be a life model.
    
    Now we are into the nice-to-haves, no particular order :
    
22. Variations on class leadership. I've never experienced a class without one, so assume it may be necessary. It would be interesting to try a class led from within, i.e. a model or artist intermittently changing mode, or just by having everyone keep to a chalked-up menu, which might work for a small group of like-minded people.
23. Theatre (ideas, props, costumes). A sense of occasion is fine, and a narrative is interesting for long sessions. However, if the narrative has surprising elements in it, then this is in danger of breaking the Knowledge of the Pose desirable. If the drawings turn out OK, it also adds interest to the sketchbook, which goes down well with the non-artists who later see it.
24. Music (see also Theatre).  I don't mind a bit of ambient background noodling, but I could do without singing (unless word-free) and dramatic musical content. Some artists stick their iPods in.  Were I to do so, it would be vocal-free, but not necessarily chill-out. E.g. Electronica, instrumental rock, dub reggae, classical would all work, and could even be pretty loud.  The main thing is that it shouldn't draw attention to itself at the intellectual level. If it's live, it should be in tune (nothing like a flat to draw attention to itself). I recognise this is personal; I'm crap at multitasking (e.g. can't answer a question if I'm typing a sentence), but I do like working with music on.

Next time, I might tell you how some different classes have done on this scale.

2012 Running Plans

It's that time again. Thou Shalt Resolve to Do Better!

Not really into the whole annual resolution thing these days, but I have indeed signed up for another series of cross-countries, as reported previously. A friend of mine is somehow doing the London Marathon - for charity, I'll find out which one - and so I put it to him that getting up double-early to drive down to Newlands Corner on a chilly Saturday to do a hilly 10 K is just what his training schedule needs. Bearing in mind that his idea of a gradient is the end of Waterloo Bridge, whereas the G3's frequently have runners, or rather ambulatory particpants, on their fours up the side of St Martha's hill.

Looks horrendous - cold muddy and hard work. I hate hills

Let's do it.

Sudden thought. It's just next week! Ahh, better get the trainers on. This week I ran with D around the block on a cold, damp night, headtorch a go go. By myself on a sunny Friday, attacking Frith Hill a couple of times. Again with D gently along the towpath today (Sunday). That's about, what, 10 miles altogether? On the back of nothing at all since mid November? So I'm just about prepared for the first 3 Km.

G3 Series : http://www.allabouttriathlons.co.uk/events_g3-run.html

G3 Nerdy Stats

After 3 races of the G3 Series 10 k, here are the promised Nerdy Statistics.

Obviously, as a not-very-dedicated middling plodder, I'm not going to win, so it's more appropriate to see where I am with respect to the distribution. Rather than chart the whole field, I've chosen to compare my time and position with the leader and median (i.e. half way down the field) for the overall result and my category Veteran Man. Finding the median is easier than computing the mean (average), as I can just look up the half way point in the listing. These are my times for each of the three races (not an identical course, but similar).

Data laid out as follows.

• Number of runners in each of the four categories, then the total
• My time hh:mm:ss
• Overall: leader's time, median time, my position overall
• Vet Man: leader's time, median time, my position in this category
• Overall: my time ratio vs leading time; vs median. Lower is better (Note 1)
• Vet Man: my time ratio vs leading time; vs median in this category
• My position as a percentage of the Overall field (Note 2)
• My position as a percentage of Category

Encouraging to see an improvement in each of the metrics. Goes with my general trajectory of improving (restoring fitness?) since I switched the running back on in December. Sort of confirms what I thought about progress and how you feel competing.

Note 1: The winner would score 1.000 here, and someone running at half the speed would be 2.000. So I take 50% longer than the leader, but in terms of time I'm within a few percent of the middle.

Note 2: The winner would be about 0.3% (1 divided by the number of runners) on position, whereas the last runner would score 100%. The median runner scores 50% by definition. The results show that the distribution isn't symmetric (there are more people towards the front; the average is quicker than the median). It's taken me 3 goes to work towards the better half of the field, and I'm not quite there yet, whereas on time I'm not doing so bad.

G3 Part 3

Up early again for another 10 k on the Downs. D and I both felt odd (hot, queasy) during the night : a bug? some food not right?

I continued with the queasy sensation during the run, but no emergencies of any kind. A much simpler route than 1 or 2, characterised by long flat sections, tracking along the contours of the North Downs, and equally long steep bits at right angles. I started well, moving forward in the bunch in the first km, then lost places when my shoelaces unravelled. As usual, the steep southern approach to St Martha's is amusing in the extreme. A walking family looked on us stumbling up the past aghast - had we been running all the way from Canterbury perhaps? No just 35 minutes around those fields. "We're having fun, honest!"

It occurred to me that in these sorts of distances, that there's nowhere to hide. You have to concentrate continually to keep your footing, so turning off mentally is not an option. Physically, the pace is pushing all the time, at what atherletes like to call the Lactate Threshold. For me, that's three steps per breathing cycle, as opposed to the four steps of a half-M or Sunday run.

Likewise, progress in gaining speed endurance fitness isn't accompanied by any less discomfort. You feel crap if you're doing well or badly, just that if you can go faster for the same amount of crap feeling you'll place higher. Assuming you're competing consistently.

Similar time to last couple of outings 10 km = 1 h 08 m.

Ghastly photo and nerdy stats to follow.