Amongst my recent life drawing explorations from the St Ives School of Painting was a session focusing on the Chiaroscuro technique. Chiaroscuro means light and shadow in Italian and is a classical technique that was used by Renaissance artists*.

And so I had my first experience of drawing a model who was only lit by candlelight! What a privilege to have the chance to try this – and to learn from our tutor Tom Rickman. I’m loving the chance to try these differing ways of making art.

Thank you to my patrons for making my art learning and practice possible, your support means the world to me :)

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Reference: * Chiaroscuro in Art: Definition, Technique, Artists & Examples – Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com


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I attended a Living Art online life session today and was delighted to have the chance to draw body artist and contortionist Francoise. Working in my favourite charcoal this time, sometimes it’s lovely to create in a familiar medium for a change. The poses were swift and my hands tried to keep up as I swept the charcoal across the page.


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Decided to give the palette knife a rest and try something a bit different today!

I attended an online life drawing class run by the St Ives School of Painting, tutored by Alice Mumford. The session was inspired by Georges Seurat’s Bathers at Asnieres. Although I’ve used graphite a lot in my drawings before, I  haven’t actually been taught in that medium before and it was so interesting to use it for this subject matter.

It’s my second online life session at the St Ives School of Painting and I got so much from it. Highly recommended :)


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