Simon's Blog

I am still surprised where inspiration comes from. I was watching that excellent movie sliding doors last night and suddenly was inspired to make a quick sketch of Gwyneth Paltrow. The sketch didn’t really look too much like her but that wasn’t the point. It was the inspiration that was important. As the the film progressed I worked on the sketch using Letraset pro markers to add a little depth and colour.

This morning I couldn’t get the sketch out of my head so I decided to create a large drawing from it. This time I used the pro makers mixed with oil pastels to produce Gwyneth. Now she is not. Likeness per si but rather what the actress might have looked like if she hadn’t lead such a privileged life. Actually that is not far as whilst the the drawing developed I moved further and further from the actress to someone completely different. My Gwyneth has the sad lost eyes of someone who has faced a hard life whilst at the same time retained her femininity and dignity. The ears are sad but they still are full of life.

So thank you Gwyneth for the inspiration I hope you like the drawing, if you ever see it.

Sent from my iPad

There is something really quite fulfilling spending half an hour doodling and sketching with brushes. It is totally inconsequential which makes it so much more rewarding. Life is far too short not to have a bit of fun every now and then. Here is my bit of fun this morning.

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I have found this photograph of a well round woman on the Internet – this is actually harder than you might think as most nude women tend to be undertaking degrading behaviour. Anyway, I am fascinated by this woman and I am not sure why. The more I draw her the more I realise that I am attracted by her curves and these are leading to a more abstract result.

In This drawing I have used only curved lines. This was a deliberate decision on my part and for a state I couldn’t understand why. Then I realised that it may well have been the curves that attracted me. Everything is curved. I have called this series of drawings ‘modern women’. I suspect this is a reaction of the depiction of women you see on TV, film and all other media. There seems to be a rejection of what is real in favour of some strange emaciated figure that has no real relationship to the modern world. This is hardly radical, I know, but you can’t help what motivates you.

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Well I’ve let myself go and this the result. I’ve no idea where she came from and I’m sure many art historians can point to the influences and they may be right. What I do know is that she makes sense me.

Having store back and looked at the drawing I think I will remove the face – it doesn’t add to the work which is turning into mother earth.

I’m on line at:

www.flickr.com/photos/guthlac
http://simonmarchini.blogspot.com
www.simonmarchini.co.uk

I hope you enjoy

Day two working on the female form. I have christened this drawing ‘Modern Woman’. The idea behind this today was to mKe as realistic drawing of the woman as I could. However what is real? I am not sure now as having spent the day trying to create the most realistic drawing I realise that this is controlled by your technique and the materials you are using. In this case I am using charcoal and try as I might I can’t get the control I vet with pencil. I could, of course, use charcoal pencils but I enjoy the tactile feel of charcoal in my hand so I have decided against this.

So how real is she? Well in one sense very real but in another not. She certainly isn’t a photo real drawing and I am glad of that. I have seen many such drawings and paintings and I always come away thinking why? I think there is a wold world of difference between drawing and photography, both bring something special to the experience but they are not the same.

Is she better than yesterday’s attempt? Again yes and no. In short she has a life of her own – indeed I am referring to her as ‘her’ rather that ‘it’ which probably says more about how real anything is.

Sent from my iPad