Thirty Seconds and Counting

For today’s practise I cut some large sheets off a roll of cartridge paper to fit my A2 boards. This practise is one that I really enjoy, but don’t do often enough. Today it was all I did.

The basic practise is to choose a figure reference, then set a timer for 30 seconds and see what you get down. Then gesso over the sketch – I used gesso that has been diluted a bit so that it doesn’t entirely cover the lines.

You can either wait until the gesso is dry, or got straight back in for the next sketch, which can be another 30 seconds on the timers, or a minute. Again, you gesso over the sketch. You can keep doing this as many times as you like, increasing the timer. For the one I’m sharing above, I started with 30 seconds, then a minute, and then three minutes.

As I was doing this exercise, and I did several poses, I started remembering the first time I was taught this exercise, way, way back in time during a college art course, when I was a teenager.

Now the art lecturer who taught us this handled things a lot differently to all the versions of this technique I have come across since. In his version, he timed us for thirty seconds, and then went around the room and decimated everyone and their drawings.

It was like he had set up the class to fail, and relished the opportunity to shit all over us, especially all the young women. I could go on at length about him, but you get the gist.

The practise that I was doing to day was different because the focus wasn’t on gaslighting myself that I had to have a perfect drawing after 30 seconds. The gesso was right there telling me the thing was going to be covered. That frees up the mind to just look and see and make marks, no perfectionism.

It’s a really good way to warm up, and for training your eye. It’s also really good for practising getting over the idea that every page must be a work of art, which is still something I have to work on, and I’ll put at least some of that at the door of that bitter lecturer.

Oh, and today I just found a few comments on posts that I had sent when I was on my recent trip. I hadn’t seen them, or notifications, presumably because I was just using my phone to blog. Sorry if you thought I was ignoring you, I really wasn’t, I absolutely love that people take the time to respond to my wee blog. I think I’ve replied to everyone, and I’ll make a not to check comments when I’m off on the randan again.

Til the morn,

Suzanne

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