Monday, March 1, 2010

Metamorphica - 02.26.2010

The first Metamorphica figure drawing workshop this year was great! Led by Anastazia Louise, Bad Unkl Sista yet again delivered fantastic performances to the tunes played by Fkir Elderfae and other musicians, not to mention Nadia Mogilev's efforts in organizing such a workshop for us artists, students and professionals alike.

I'd say one of my biggest struggle during these workshops is not so much the drawing part itself... but trying to juggle the damned camera to get a good shot and then switching to drawing the models after they settle down. The length of the poses varies between 3 minutes to 20 minutes, depending on the model. Since they are butoh performers, they do a bit of "dancing" or some kind of expressive movements before posing for the artists.

As far as drawing medium, this time around I opted to use prismacolor fine liners and grey markers. I recall the last metamorphica I attended was quite crowded and I came with an 11x14 newprint pad and some pencils and had to sit on the floor, which made the experience a tad uncomfortable. Expecting the same, I figured I'm gonna have to draw smaller and with something that didn't require constant sharpening.

Ive recently started experimenting with different mediums, first with pastel sticks. But, It yielded rather disappointing results since I didn't really know how to properly draw with them. Gonna have to practice a few times more before I post something decent in that medium. So for this workshop, fineliners and markers it is.

The format of the workshop had changed - instead of a front and center stage, the entire floor of the studio became the stage, so artists had to get up and move around to get the best angle possible for their sketches. It was a lot of fun and allowed for more interaction with other artists. The preformers also got "in your face" and interacted with the artists as they drew. It was such a cool experience.

I am truly humbled and proud to be in the presence of such talented artists. Their commitment to their craft help fuel my drive to become better at figure drawing. Another workshop is being planned for April, so I expect to be posting up more images from that event. I can hardly wait.

Photos from this workshop can be found in my facebook photo album and flickr pages.