Well, I’m feeling much better now. It has only taken two weeks to adjust my new medication; I’ve got past the horrible side effects and I’m starting to feel like a human being again. I ventured out for a short time yesterday and felt ok, but today I was out all day and everything was good.
I was looking online a couple of days ago and found that there are life drawing classes in the city every Wednesday evening. They also hold day-long classes every six weeks on a Sunday. They just happened to be holding the day-long session today, and luckily for me, they had a few spaces available so I booked myself in.
The session ran for six hours with single pose. It was a fair old challenge for me, since the maximum time I’ve spent on life drawing is two and a half hours. It was a decent enough sized room but the heat was blistering. With the dizziness I’ve been experiencing I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through, but somehow I did. I did some warm up exercises since I’ve not drawn a live model in months. They were woeful. I used a graphite stick, then changed to charcoal and chalk. I’m not a huge fan of drawing with pencil, that’s why I changed to charcoal. I won’t show my results as they are pretty woeful as I said.
I changed to paint after lunch break since I’m more comfortable with that, but today it wasn’t really my friend. Obviously, I’m very rusty, and it shows. I spent hours working on this painting and every time I got to the face it just wasn’t working for me.
I kept scrubbing over it with a fresh layer of paint, and so I couldn’t finish it in the allotted time. It was very frustrating. I know I’m rusty, so I just have to be patient. I will return to the painting, but I’m not sure where I’m going to go with it.
It was good to get out of the house and back into a classroom environment. I’ve really missed it, and I’ve found it difficult to function artistically outside of it. Weird, since I found it really difficult to work in a classroom at the start. Funny how things are.
I really like this! Glad you're up to being back out there.
Thank you Pam! It's great to be back out there too. You know, I love most of this painting. It's a bit weird but I liked where I started to take it. I particularly love the lower half, the arms, and I love the background. The torso is a bit off, but it's the face that's giving me the headache. Still it's great to just be back attending a class, and to be feeling not so under the weather. The medication is clearly helping now.
Funny, I just located life drawing sessions in my city too on Wednesday nights. And I want to go! I don't think you can expect to do your best when you haven't been feeling good. But I admire your efforts.
Hi Dan. Thank you. You should definitely go to drawing classes! You'll love it. I really missed being in a classroom environment. It's just great to be in among like-minded people. Just go for it!
Dear Heather, I am SO sorry you've been dealing with this for so long now, and I'm sorry I haven't been by to wish you well until now. Bravo for making the extra effort in spite of it all to create this gorgeous piece. I love the movement and color contrasts. It may not be 100% finished, but as you say, you are rust. If you were an athlete you wouldn't expect your best time to be what you hit on your first try after an injury, so…
yes, be patient and loving to the sensitivities that make you who you are. Balance and healing to you. xox Karin
Goodness Karin, don't you dare feel sorry for me, or for not having stopped by! You are going through so much more than me. I'm getting help now, and I'm feeling much better. I'm having less panic attacks and I'm sleeping now. Thankfully, the dizziness has disappeared. However, I am very grateful that you took time to stop by and wish me well. Thank you so much.
You are completely right, of course, about being rusty and that I should have patience. It will come in time, I'm certain. Anyway, I love my painting apart from a few parts.
Anyway, I hope your radiation treatment is going well. Balance and healing to you too. xxx
Glad the rough spot is over! I actually love the colors you chose for this painting. You should not be so hard on yourself. The movement is great in this and it presents an interesting image for us. Keep up the painting.
So am I! It's been a pretty rough few months, but I'm definitely feeling much better and more positive. I do like this painting. There are only certain bits I dislike, but since it's not finished I can't complain too much!