Assignment 5 - Part 1

Working title Figure skating - a study of movement on ice

Dance inspires some great lively drawings but figure skating (always the poor relation) doesn't inspire even though there is beauty and athleticism. I love the feeling of freedom and movement on ice and I understand what the moves feel like. This seems like a good starting point to draw from.

Inspiration;
Karolina Szymkiewicz carefully drawn but with a hint of movement from half drawn hair or feint movement lines. The dancers are perfectly proportioned but very slightly off balance so you know they will be moved by gravity a split second after the drawing the you see.
Marcus Gannuscio The sketches are way ahead of the finished pieces. Hatched lines and shading create energy and are read as movement lines. Figures are again slightly off balance.
Jane Waller Multiple lines overlaid. One figure drawn many times or multiple figures dancing and merging.
Laura Foote Particularly her drawings of the English National Ballet.
Keith Martin multicoloured gestural drawings where the movement is in the layering and depth of the mark but is as much about what is not drawn as what is. A sort of David Downton in motion, though maybe David Downton is already doing what I want to do but on models who move less than skaters.

Some preliminary sketchbook drawings

Although I draw quickly I'm not great at constantly moving models and ice rinks are inhospitable places to sit still for any length of time but I didn't want to work from photos. Then I found a gif here which was great for studying a repetitive movement. Below are the drawings I did while watching (and a random sketch of my dog)

I saved some scrappy paper that had been used to pack shoes. It's very crumpled but the idea was that I wouldn't be afraid to experiment with it as it was rubbish. I drew with charcoal, felt tip, pastel and oil pastel.

I found the pose that I wanted and did some more sketchbook experiments in felt tip and pencil.

Then tried charcoal and white conte on a larger sheet of sugar paper

I'm trying to utilise the direction the lines to give a feeling of movement but this became a bit stiff and I overworked it.

A second attempt. This is work in progress photographed to record where I was before I had a chance to overwork it.

Unfortunately the photo is a bit fuzzy but here is how it developed. I'm more pleased with this, there is energy here though maybe the head could have been better with a lighter touch. It's a bit better in real life.

Next experiment in pastel. This was small enough to crop to A3 size with the scanner.

 It's interesting to compare the different colour values between the photo and the scan, it's the same picture. I'm not sure whether the larger picture gives the figure more room to rotate or the closer crop heightens the feeling of movement because the figure is in a smaller space.