When I began attending regular life drawing classes, nearly four years ago (see the first post here), my reason was simple - I wanted to study the human figure up close so I could improve my knowledge of the form and therefore advance my drawing skills as a whole.
Over the years I've learned that the intense study I make of the model during class, while good, means I often end up with drawings of that figure alone on an otherwise blank sheet.
As you can see in the drawing above, I've made an effort to include the studio space into my composition. I still treat the life model with more importance than the rest of the stuff, but broadening my study to what's around the model has been an important step in my development.
Drawing more than just the model reminds me of the importance of composition and all the important decision-making that ought to occur before you even make the first mark.
Thinking about how much to include in a drawing and then making decisions on framing the elements to form a composition that conveys a feeling of the environment the model is in, along with a sense of what the model is doing in that space - is the sort of stuff I'm trying to get in the habit of doing.
The other students have referred to these as narrative drawings, I think they've got a lot further to go for that to be the case. I'm on it.
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