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5 Nudes: Chairs Missing
Five life drawings on a theme
I hate props in a life drawing session. By ‘props’, I mean anything that is not a part of the body, and effectively distracts me or detracts from the pose. I have variously been afflicted by models wearing pieces of clothing, sunglasses or masks; models holding wine glasses, umbrellas or books; I’ve even had a model holding a stuffed owl. Why? Isn’t the body enough by itself? Drawing the human body is already the most challenging, engaging and infuriating exercise an artist can attempt indoors (with a pencil in hand, anyway), so I don’t see the point of embellishment. I feel the same way about tattoos and jewellery on a model, but these are more easily ignored.
There is one prop, however, that we can’t do without, the humble chair. I like standing poses, tolerate reclining poses, but almost always prefer seated poses, so I concede that chairs are a useful addition to the life drawing room. I very rarely draw them however, and I consequently have many drawings where the chair is conspicuous by its absence, generally leaving a negative space where it may have crossed or supported the body.
