Studio Door Drawing & Tip of the Day !

Today's drawing depicts one of my favourite models who is very energetic - I'm not sure if this comes across in the drawing - thoughts on a postcard perhaps !

Todays tip is don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today ! The rationale behind this remark is that I've been putting off archiving my work for far too long.

The studio door gallery came about from a desire to unearth more of my drawings from the festering piles in various studios here there and everywhere and to archive, catalogue and share my work both on a local level, with my friends at Artspace Studios in Portsmouth and with my various followers in hyperspace !

“Denis the menace” Charcoal on cartridge

595 x 840 mm

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signed chris n wood

Studio Door Drawing & Tip of the Day !

On my studio door at today is this multi layered portait in pastels.

I took a rubber to the drawing today and cleaned up some unwanted marks and smudges.

My tip for the day is spray fixative on your drawings ASAP !

Don't do what I do - invariably I leave charcoal or pastel drawings without fixing them. I usually make at least 5 or 6 drawings each session then return home and empty my portfolio - leaving the drawings on an ever increasing pile in my studio at home, the consequence of which is that the wretched drawings imprint themselves onto the backs of each other ! Another stupid thing that I used do was drawing on both sides of the paper. If you do that & forget to fix them - its a recipe for disaster ! I used to be very precious about my labours but now I'll rattle off a drawing and the act of drawing is far more important to me than the result - at least that's my excuse for developing sloppy habits !

Belated News Years Resolution : Take better care of my doodles !

“Gerald in Orange & Blue” Pastel on cartridge

595 x 840 mm

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signed chris n wood

Studio Door Drawing 0006

On my studio door at Artspace Portsmouth today is this multi layered portait in oil bars.

Drawing with oil bars can make a refreshing change - I like the way fact that, in common with oil paint, they take longer to dry than oil pastels and they blend and smudge together. This drawing was probably done about a couple of years ago (despite instructing my students to date drawings - I rarely do it myself) and the surface still feels damp - so caution has to be exercised when storing or transporting drawings done in oil bars !

“Gerald” Oil Bars on Cartridge

595 x 840 mm

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Welcome to the latest posting of The Studio Door Gallery. This isn't exactly a new drawing - simply one kicking around from my last exhibition at gASP, the Artspace Gallery above my studio. The exhibition was a huge success and I was amazed how many lovely people turned out ! The show was a collaboration with friend and fellow Artspace member, Sue Freeborough. Sue showed some superb examples of figurative sculpture and life drawings - many of which were created at when she attended my Advanced Life Drawing Workshop at Portsmouth Grammar School. We had the last session on Tuesday and explored Deconstruction. The Tuesday evening sessions will continue in September - for further details contact natalie@artspace.co.uk or email me direct on chriswoodartist@aol.com

Happy scribbling !