gestural drawing & painting

Exercise one, quick drawing

gestural drawing & painting, for beginners, liverpool, southport, merseyside, art for beginners
Phase one, quick drawing on lining paper. I allowed my hand to travel all over the paper rather than following a methodical approach. The intention to become loose, spontaneous & rely on instinct.
beginners art class, free drawing, gestural drawing, of cottages, pen & ink, beginners classes, liverpool, merseyside
I now worked up the drawing using charcoal. Again relying totally on spontaneity and instinct and not allowing myself to become precious. Not wanting to draw a purely accurate drawing, but enjoy the freedom of just drawing without pre-conceptions!
beginners art class, pen & ink, drawing for beginners, liverpool, southport, ormskirk, lancashire and merseyside
...Just continued bringing this exercise to a conclusion by adding white gouache to highlight the light spots and to added touches of interest to enliven the over all image...

Exercise two, using two hands!

Yes, same photo. Now I drew using two hands simultaneously! This is quite an interesting way to work. working quickly so you don't spend time trying to put in un-needed details! Takes you out of your comfort zone but you will be amazed at the drawings you achieve... They will become livelier with a touch more spontaneity about them, they will be freer and unforced, non-photographic!...
gestural drawing and painting, beginners, art class, done in Liverpool, Southport, Ormskirk, lancashire and Merseyside
I then made up several tones of ink and followed the light source. Applying the ink washes quickly and not allowing myself to become tight.
gestural drawing for beginners, expressionistic drawing and painting, beginners class, Liverpool, Merseyside, Preston, Ormskirk, Lancashirre and southport
...Once again i used three tones of ink and added tones... Enjoying the process and not bothered at all about copying, just apply the ink in an instinctive way...
beginners art class, expressionistic drawing and painting, beginners art class, Liverpool, Merseyside, Ormskirk, Lancashire
...Brought it to conclusion by adding neat ink and gouache to enliven the highlights...

Remember, though I was working from a photograph, I kept telling myself that I mustn't copy. That I wanted to enjoy the experience of having an open mind: Drawing up the subject with two hands! Applying the inks, or whatever medium you choose, in a very free and loose way - suggestion and not description.

 

Exercise 3

cottage, frampton-on-severn, gloucestershire, painting done in acrylic impressionistic style, beginners art class, ormskirk, lancashire, liverpool, merseyside
Same subject. Done in acrylic paint, trying to take a very loose and spontaneous approach, minimizing detail. You need to time limit yourself doing these exercises, so that you don't allow yourself to become too detailed.
acrylic painting, expressionist style, done in beginners art class, liverpool, merseyside
Second stage. After the blocking in, began to follow instinct and define the painting more...

acrylic black and white painting, done in impressionistic style, beginners art classes, near me, liverpool, southport, preston, lancashire and merseyside

The final result. I timed limited myself of no more than 45 minutes, to prevent myself becoming too detailed.

As you can see, I didn't spend more time tweaking the subject, otherwise there's a real danger of adding too much detail, which

defeats the purpose of the exercise. This way of working is taking a journey, continually experimenting, pushing boundaries, exploiting the medium.

 

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