I took advantage of having a model available and made some pen and ink drawings on quarter-size sheets of gessoed 22 x 30 inch printmaking paper. I drew just the outlines of the pose, focusing on the gesture and lines moving in space. I didn't worry about shadows or areas of different value.
Later that night I looked through the drawings and added some colored pencil marks to start defining and dividing the rectangle. Developing the figure-ground thing.
Today it is time to move these figure drawings along. I needed to find a starting point to develop these drawings further. The sketchbook is my place for collecting ideas and I happened to have a book titled Gothic Art in Bohemia to look at. What do I notice? Sculptures of madonna and child; Church buildings, ornate and soaring, inside and outside; illuminated manuscripts; stained glass windows; ceilings divided by curving arches.
I wasn't sure what I would use to satisfy my immediate impulse. I just wanted to explore some of this religious expression. Collect some ideas in the sketchbook. Discover by careful looking and drawing.
The Illuminated Manuscript has a leafy vine growing up the page edge. After I started to draw this I noticed there were several men climbing and hanging on. Surprise! This would work. I would take my drawing and add some organic climbing element. This was enough to get me started. Later it occured to me to use the stained glass window to break up the environment.
I am thinking of this figure work as the latest in my series of 'naked white people' so I want to keep the shape of the figure pretty much white, and have the background be composed of almost abstract color shapes. That is my general plan. The specifics are to be worked out by using the sketchbook.
From my stack of pen and ink drawings, I have 4 that are started. Here they are, so far. I still have further to go with these, and more in the pile to develop this far.
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