Figure Drawing with Carl Jeppe

Saturday 22nd of February was fabulous! Once again there were almost too many people for the space. But we managed to squeeze in. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold, and this of course helps the model too! I suppose I always seem to go into spirals of ecstasy about our models but Ailyn has been posing for us for some years and she continues to get more beautiful and more serene every time! Please have a look at the drawings that we did of her. I've posted a couple of shots of our tool boxes and also of our lunchtime "banquet!" Everyone seems to go to so much trouble to bring along such tasty and healthy food for the table!
What a wonderful day we had!

My enormous apologies for not posting anything since May! Due to illness the last time we drew together was in November, and I didn't post then. But here we are in January 2020! What a fabulous time we had at the scout hall on Saturday .... there were 30 people in that space, all trying to find a little elbow room. It seems to work out that when there's been a break, everyone's drawing seems to sparkle that much more, or perhaps it's that there were so many people that we were so close to our neighbour and we could see what they were doing and so we'd better try harder!
Our model, Bernadette, was phenomenal! She got into some spectacular poses and held them beautifully!
I don't know of any other drawing group that goes for a whole six hours and it's incredible how much one can get done in that time.
It's so easy to be part of this unique experience .... all you do is send me your email address and I'll send you notices of when the next session will take place. Meanwhile, please scroll through the photos below to see what we've been up to. (I just shot photos randomly, so I'm not sure who did what, so please forgive me if I got it wrong)

Last Saturday (18th of May) was the firs time we'd drawn since it seemed like ages. But my goodness did we make up for it! We were lucky enough to have two amazing new models this weekend, Tracy on Saturday and Megan on Sunday. What is usually a worry turned out to be a blessing: the winter sun comes streaming into the room from the clerestory windows and seems to stay there all day. Each time you look at the model the sun seems to be in a different place! But if you're quick enough, you can catch it! Everything seemed to work perfectly. Have a look at our drawings ...... ( because I'm drawing myself, I'm sometimes not sure who did each work, so please forgive me if I got it wrong .... )

Mimi van der Merwe, one of Pretoria's best-loved artists and art instructors, came along and gave us a fascinating printmaking workshop. It was amazing! So many people attended and so many of them said we should do it again. And we will! Mimi and her assistant Adele worked like Trojans for the whole day. Please look at the photos, I apologize for not knowing who did what, it was just too much to keep track!

It's been a long long time since I posted any figure drawing photos, be cause we stopped our sessions rather early last year and although we had a busy drawing time in January, I only just got down to doing it properly last weekend. We had a wonderful model on Saturday 16th February, André is also an accomplished artist. And the people came in droves! It was wonderful! Please have a look at what we did with André!

And then along came Sunday 14th October! It had rained all night and it was soooo cold! I wondered if people would be brave enough to crawl out of bed on a day like this, let alone stand all day and draw in the freezing scout hall! I needn't have worried; they came in droves and we had a glorious day, with a breathtaking model, Lila, an artist and yoga instructor whose body is so lithe and athletic it was eye-popping! Please look at our drawings and like the ones the you fancy!

Saturday 13th was amazing! For the first time ever we had a guest lecturer, Heidi Beyers, and she taught us how to make a Figure sculpture. Our model, Reneé, was breathtaking! So many people came to try their hand at this new medium. After a demonstration of how to go about it, Heidi set us to work. First we made a lying figure and then a sitting one. We turned Reneé on her table from time to time so everyone could get a good Veiw. One thing’s for sure:?it’s way more difficult than we thought it would be!
After the class Heidi filled her car boot with all the little sculptures and crawled back to Midrand through torrential rain!
She’s going to fire them in her kiln and bring them back to the scout hall for us. What a day! It was awesome, and it sure won’t be the last time we’ll do something like that!! Look at the photos of our first figure sculptures!

It was a fabulous weekend! The hall was chock-full and the atmosphere was one of absolute focus and dedication. Gisela, the model was brilliant, and the thought that kept popping into my head was how gentle she seemed. I think that comes across in the drawings too!
One very frustrating thing happened though, my iPad on which I write these posts is so full that it just wouldn't take any photos on Sunday! And Sunday was magnificent too! Jessica-Lee posed for us and it was almost as though her purpose was to bring out the best in us! Pity you can't see the results! But please enjoy the fruits of Saturday's harvest....

The weekend of the 8th and 9th of September was wonderful, not in terms of weather (chilly) or numbers of artists (few) but in terms of our glorious models! On Saturday we drew Hannah and Dené on Sunday. I know I've so often said this, but it's often the personality and confidence of the model that makes the artists feel comfortable and creative! Well, the fruits of our labours are evidence that we all had a really great time!! Please take the trouble to have a look at our drawings below! Hope you enjoy them!

Then Sunday came along and in walked out fabulous model, Amelia. Such an athletic and well-defined body, and a face that exudes character and intelligence, that one finds oneself desperately trying to rise to the occasion! After basking in the sheer pleasure of drawing, we were all pretty exhausted! Anyway, you be the judge, I hope our drawings did actually do justice to our lovely model!
To be part of this awesome experience, just text your email address to me at 0832045407
Enjoy the drawings!

It seemed like ages since we had been drawing! Well, lots had happened: suddenly I had not one but two new grandchildren! Wow! What an absolute
blessing! On Saturday 18th we had a tutored session, and I was set on doing portraits. I was taken aback when in walked our model, sporting a huge beard! It's much more difficult to draw a beard than it is to draw a chin! But no matter, the artists coped extremely well! Then we went on to do the figure, and it was back to normal.
Have a look at our efforts - I'm sure you'll be impressed! If you want to be a part of the amazing life drawing experience, whether it's the tutored version or the untutored sessions, just text your email address to me at 083 204 5407
Enjoy the drawings below!!

On Sunday we had a brand new model, Montaigne, who was absolutely wonderful! This has been a long hard winter, but thanks to our arsenal of heaters, the models are warm as toast! There were some red hot drawings too!

Saturday 14th came around and we had a tutored session. We also had Stacey-Lee posing. She is always so graceful, elegant and and deceptively delicate. We tried to emphasize gesture and spontaneity in the drawings. It was a wonderful day.

This was an unusual weekend because we drew on Saturday, but not on Sunday. There was a good turnout and we drew an unusual model: a Chinese guy called Naz. It was very interesting and as I've often said, the quality of the drawings often depends on the quality of the model! There were some wonderful drawings that came out of the session.
I have many request for information about the sessions, and if you want to know more about this drawing group, please text your email address to me at 083 204 5407, and I'll send you regular updates.
Meanwhile, enjoy the drawings below!!!

The chilly weather continued on Sunday, but the sun shone and it soon warmed up. The warmest person in the room though, was our lovely model Amelia. She exuded such a calm strength that everyone without exception was at the top of their game! It was great to welcome Leonie and Marcel back to the scout hall, and congratulations to Danie on all his contributions and sales at the Rosebank Art Fair! (Hurry to the Rosebank Mall to catch it before it closes!) Please have a look at our drawings!

Wonderful day at the scout hall today! The chilly weather couldn't deter the intrepid drawers, neither did it faze our model! Daniela posed for the first time ever, and she was stupendous! After a few warm up sketches I set up a tableau with Victorian bench and a grey back drop. Then stuck yellow stickers randomly all over, including on Daniela. These were "reference points" and we only drew the dots for about ten minutes, eventually placing the figure around them .... it worked very well! After that it was a Lucy ing pose. Please have a look look at our drawings

For much too long I haven't contributed anything to this page, for which I apologize. Exhibitions, project study guides, baby showers, and life itself have pushed the page to the back burner for awhile. We have however been busy at the Arcadia scout hall, drawing on schedule!!!
It is such a privilege to be drawing at this lovely venue, with these wonderful enthusiastic people and our incredible models.
I really recommend that if you have any interest in doing some life drawing, any aspirations of getting better at improving your drawing skills, then come and join us. Just send your email address to me and I'll send you details.
I'm not going to give details about the photos, but please enjoy them anyway!
This next drawing weekend is June 2 and 3, and there's an easel waiting for you!

Except for an annoying and upsetting glitch, Sunday 15th was phenomenal plus Braam's Ray-bans, which were stashed in my box, waiting for him to collect them. I have been accumulating those materials for decades. Oh well, such is the truth about life in SA. Otherwise, what a day! Everyone seems to be getting better and better at drawing! There's a richness and depth to them these days, along with a fascinating variation of styles and techniques. From the exuberant expressive colors of Danie Strydom and Ilana Seati, through the lyrical linework of Linda Tyrrel, to Kevin Millar's measured clarity and Rinus' exquisite realism. Rinus has been lucky enough to study painting under the amazing Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. Elise Erasmus was the Rock star, this weekend, and in between poses everyone crowded around to see what new magic she had made! But you'd best look for yourself!
Bianca was our wonderful model on Sunday. Haven't seen her for about eight years!

What a marvelous weekend we had! Really, we are spoiled rotten! Great venue, scrumptious food, delightful crowd of artists and of course, the models! Oh how we are spoiled by our models! On Saturday there was Monique, a beautiful, petite but athletic Pilates instructor ..... what more could we possibly wish for?

I've always said that our life drawing group has the best models in the world. But last weekend went on to prove it! If Egon Schiele had spotted Reneé in the queue at Pick & Pay, he would have abandoned his trolley of groceries, and he would have swept her off to his studio! She was (is) magnificent! Lucky we got to her before Egon did! Have a look at our drawings and remember, you can be a part of our magic life drawing group. Just send your email address to me at 083 204 5407

There was something very special about Saturday the 24th of March ..... for one thing, the rain had stopped and we were just beginning to see little shreds of blue sky among the hanging clouds. The other thing was Zubaidah! Back from all sorts of galavanting, she had got herself engaged to an old school buddy who's now a medical student in France! Zuby is one of those models who makes you feel like you want to be a be a better artist.
Please excuse the lateness of this post; my internet hasn't been working and I've only just figured out that I must turn off the wifi button on my iPad!

Sunday 11th was great too! This was our masculine weekend! We had Peter come pose for us. Quite a small gathering, but that has its advantages: for one, you can move from place to place if you don't like the pose! Open the drawings and have a look ....

On Saturday 10th we had a blast! It a tutored session and we experimented with different approaches to our drawings. It's so easy to get caught in the trap of reaching for the same old pencil and doing the same old drawing every time. Having a different model helps, as does trying different techniques, and working in different size paper. This time Hannes was our model. What we did was try to start our drawings in a way that we're not used to. I was over the moon with the results! Open the photos and see for yourself.....
You'll notice a few un-named drawings. Sorry about that ...

And then along came Sunday! Very relaxed and calm, perhaps because there were fewer people, but probably more so because Ailyn was posing, and she is such a classic, naturally confident model that she really does bring out the best in us.
When there are fewer people we can wander around and pick our spots to take advantage of the pose. I hope you enjoy looking at outperform drawings!!! Don't forget, you can be a part of this magical experience; just message me and I'll send you details...

I wrote in my last reminder letter that this group has the best models in the world! Well, Saturday just proved that beyond doubt! Dené is graceful, sinuous and elegant, and couldn't be more beautiful if she tried! Lots of people came to draw and it really was a feast of a day! People come from all over the place to attend these sessions; from Jo'burg, Potch, Benoni, and from just up the road, and it's clear why we do it: it's intense, challenging, fun, and relaxing at the same time, if that makes any sense. But more than that, we get some drawing done!!! Please have a look at the work we produced on Saturday.

Sunday 11th was very special, but then again ALL our sessions are special! Danica posed and she is magnificent. Such an athletic body toasted by a festive season in the sun! It was one of those days when as an artist one hopes that you can rise to the occasion of drawing such a fabulous model. Have a look please .....

Please forgive the delay in writing this post; my internet service has only just come back online! Well, Saturday 10th was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me: Petrus Snyman was the model, and I last had him pose way back in 2013!
It was a tutored class and the subject was shadows. How to shade and what to look for. Most of us begin a figure drawing by finding the proportions of the figure and putting down outlines. Then we fill in the shadows. This was different; it was shadows first, then find the lines (if necessary) amongst the shadows. Here are some of the drawings ...

And then Sunday dawned; cold wet and muddy! But along with the weather came lots and lots of eager artists, impatient to begin the year's drawing! What a glorious day of drawing! I just couldn't get Jack Nicholson off my mind. In the movie "As good as it gets," he confesses to Helen Hunt that she "makes him want to be a better man." Well, our exquisite model Stacey-Lee does that for me. She makes me want to be a better artist. As so often happens, even with twenty people drawing in the room, a tangible atmosphere of quiet but intense focus infuses the space. That's when the best drawings happen. It really has to be experienced to know what I mean. Please have a look at our drawings, and I apologize in advance if I don't know who did some of them.

It was a gentle introduction to the year....
six people turned up to draw on Saturday, and perhaps because there were so few, there was a wonderful relaxed and intimate atmosphere. Our model was Suné and it was her first time posing for an art group. She was amazing! Tall and slender and graceful, all topped by bright pink hair!
Have a look at the drawings below....

I hope this new year brings you all much adventure, happiness and good health!
We start our new drawing year next week, on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th January. If you wish to be part of the awesome experience of figure drawing, just send your email address to this page. I'll send you all the details you need!
Have a great year!

Saturday's miserable weather was replaced by brilliant sunshine on Sunday! This was the last drawing day for the year and it was only fitting that Elsa came along to pose for us. Sadly for us she is leaving soon to join her family who are setting up a new life in Ireland. We wish her everything of the very best! It was such a special day, there were more artists than ever before, but with a big elliptical ring around the model, there was space for everyone. And then there was the lunch! Wow! Linda and her assistants from the HPC set up a fabulous feast of Lasagne, chicken and salads. Not to mention loads of bubbly!!! Oh my goodness the humble scout Hall was transformed into a banquet hall! A truly unforgettable day! Oh, yes, and we did some drawing too!

I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but here we are at the end of the year again, and that means no more drawing till January 😳😱! However it is the time when we all seem to be tearing off in different directions to visit our distant families, and that's how it should be. Saturday started off being rather wet (a good thing, because we need some rain!) but then things started to turn positively Arctic! We had to deploy more and more heaters on our magnificent model, Corlia. When Corlius poses it always seems to bring out the best in our drawings! Have a look below ....

We were scheduled to draw Megan (the Aztec Princess) on Sunday, buy she came down with 'flu, so she asked her friend Jessica to step in for her. Jessica could have stepped out of a Botticelli painting! Oh, how the muses continue to smile upon our wonderful little life drawing group!

I wonder if the day will ever arrive when I write a post that says: "Wee-ell ....... this was an ordinary boring same old same old life drawing weekend - nothing much to speak of."
I very much doubt it! With EVERY drawing session and with every model comes a new rush of excitement and a new set of challenges. This must be the luckiest Life Drawing group in the world when it comes to models! The models are the very beginning of the creative process and they set the tune of the session. We are privileged to be able to draw such willing, beautiful and generous people!
Just look below at what we do with them.....
Hannes posed for us on the tutored class on Saturday 11 November

Sunday 29th brought slightly better weather, and it also brought Stacey-Lee, graceful, relaxed, confident and beautiful. She's also rock-solid and doesn't move a muscle!
Sundays are always very special, and on this day it was clear that the muse was working hard for us!