Advice galore and About a Babe

There was a great model at the drawing session this morning. By "great" I meant that she has a round, curvy figure, quite plump, and awesome C-cup sized breasts. All tan and golden brown and feminine curves. In short, a voluptuous, luscious, BABE. and she's cute too. Chatty and polite with a nice voice. So unlike the typical skinny, flat-chested, flat butt willowy forms in this country. Did I mention that she's "hot"?? Am I in danger of turning bisexual, or rather, bi-curious??!!


So, anyway, I painted a portrait of the hot, curvy babe standing and facing me all in her golden brown glory. At first the acrylic looked garish and too transparent against the smooth white surface of the thin, wooden canvas. Colours were decidedly patchy as I piled on layer after layer, unsure how this portrait would turn out (my first portrait for the year, and first at the studio). Only when time was over did I remember to step back to look at the work. DUH!! Seriously...!!

Surprisingly the picture doesn't look too bad from a distance. Had compliments too from the senior artists. One commented that there is potential to become a professional artist, should I continue in my efforts to progress consistently and seriously. Those words mean a lot, coming from the elders.

I've been drawing conservatively all this while, only intend on putting the figure to paper according to the right proportions, etc. A couple of weekends ago, I drew the model in different way as an attempt to search for a style. One senior artist was kind to explain the idea of "style", etc. Today he also took time to make suggestions on my work. It was kind yet mildly distracting, though I understand he was trying to help. While this guy heaped words and suggestions to me, another guy advised in brief: Just do your work and don't bother about anyone else, and always remember to sign your work.

It was also suggested that I need to be bold with my drawings, dare to make mistakes with the work (so I know how to counter it when there's a similar challenge at the next canvas), practice the same style repetitively so there's "flow", and to continue to search for a style that's distinctive and unique.

Another artist asked me to choose an aspect of art, specialize in it. Told him I considered using art to make social statements... (more on this another time). At the moment, I'm having fun getting to know and use each medium. Lots more to explore before sticking with a particular medium as my voice of choice.

Another gave a tip: when on travel, use acrylic. Then when you get back to your studio, paint oil on the acrylic.

Yesterday, W told the class they should treat each drawing/painting an opportunity to create a "work of art".