Circomedia & Drawing Circus Performers

Trying to capture movement.

This time last week I was in Bristol, staying with my daughter, and it was the eve before an amazing drawing workshop lead by Sara Easby from the Bristol Drawing School. The drawing day was held at Circomedia - the centre for contemporary circus and physical theatre - in St. Paul's Church, Portland Square. The church was saved from dilapidation and converted in 2004 and now houses the UK's largest indoor trapeze rig and aerial facilities. Visit www.circomedia.com for more information.

Circomedia, St. Paul's Church, Portland Square, Bristol.

The day dawned bright but chilly and we arrived at the venue in good time. We had come with sketchbooks (size not specified so I kitted us out with A3 as capturing moving figures suggested to me bigger gestural strokes), pencils, charcoal, Neocolour crayons and water brush pens in case we had time to brush pigment out into a wash.

Sara started by introducing simple ways to tackle figures in constant movement - from a single sweeping line of action to 'pin men' and suggested that we keep in mind where the weight was distributed. Basically we would be trying to capture first impressions, no detail, and just explore how to best describe the evolving configurations of the circus performers (our models) as they practised their skills!

To give you an idea of what we were up against I offer this brief video clip taken on my phone:

A small selection of my A3 sketchbook pages...

Acrobatics, in pencil, A3 sketchbook.

Acrobatics, pencil, A3 sketchbook.

 

Acrobatics, pencil to capture first movements
and superimposed with charcoal
as sequence of positions changed.

Things got a bit more scribbly and manic as I tried to get the essence of our 'models'  doing some juggling with first the diablo then balls/skittles. Can you make head or tail of these?

Juggling, pencil, A3 sketchbook.

Juggling, pencil, A3 sketchbook.

Juggling, pencil/charcoal pencil, A3 sketchbook.

All of this was before lunch! Three quarters of an hour later, back into the fray, with a variety of circus skills on offer. Our next models warmed up...

Circus performer warming up on the floor...

Warming up...

... before they both took to the air on the trapeze!

Two performers on the trapeze.

Two performers on the trapeze, Neocolour crayon.

Two performers on the trapeze.

After the trapeze came Poppy creating beautiful shapes with the Hoop...

Performing with the aerial Hoop
(apologies for the blue tinge - the paper is white).

... and Johnno working with the long drape of red fabric...

Aerial performer with suspended fabric.

Amazing shapes of aerial performer with suspended fabric,
Neocolour crayon, A3 sketchbook.
(Apologies for blue tinge).

By this time everyone was beginning to flag from the intensity of the looking and rapid mark making trying to get the gist of 'poses'. I have done a fair bit of 'blind contour drawing' in the past whereby the drawing is created whilst the eyes are focused solely on the subject matter and not on the page at all - a strategy that proved very useful at times. Then just when we thought we had seen it all the final performer took to the sky - well, the curved swing suspended high up near the ceiling. What a finale!

By this time many people on the workshop had called it a day with the drawing, either from tiredness or shear awe at the difficult task of capturing anything of this last performance. But I was determined to give it a try...

Holly on the curved swing, Neocolour crayon, A3 sketchbook.

The whole day was fantastic. I had treated not only myself, but my daughter (who also likes to draw when she gets the time) as a birthday gift to her, to spend such an extended period of time grappling with this near impossible task of capturing something meaningful of these incredibly hard-working, skilled specialists of the floor and air. Thank you Sara, and the talented circus performers of Circomedia for such an incredible experience.

If you are interested in finding out more about the courses run by Bristol Drawing School visit www.drawingschool.org.uk.

I will leave you with another short clip of Holly on the curved swing.

Practice, practice, practice...

Quick A5 sketchbook portrait studies
(charcoal pencil on left, charcoal stick on right). 

In my Mixed Media classes this term I have been really encouraging the use of sketchbooks. As the pages have been filling up I can see how my enthusiasm is catching on, and many class members have been using theirs between sessions. It is such a simple way of integrating creativity into everyday life and artists at all stages of development reap the benefits of regular practice!

The photo above was another quick session at trying to capture a likeness in a portrait by looking at the big shapes first. They are both in charcoal, one in charcoal pencil and the other with a willow charcoal stick. Side by side it is easy to see the denser velvety marks deposited by the stick.

Portrait study of my son, 15 minutes.

And another 15 minute study, my son this time as he played on a computer game (wearing headphones). These were in preparation for the class session where members were asked to work in their sketchbooks and do rapid charcoal studies of each other for the first hour. After break they could work on a longer study, in the medium of choice, either from life from their own reference photo. They all did a fantastic job and were pleasantly surprised at how much information could be captured in short bursts of 10 - 15 minutes!

It is still looking like Henderson Art and Framing will be closing it's doors permanently... and I have been firming up plans for the future. The response from the people I currently teach there has been positive and I really hope they will continue on their personal art journeys, with me would be lovely, but in any way, shape, or form. I will be offering various art events and workshops at different locations, so some exciting new ventures for me too! The first is a Social Sketchbook session at a small rare breeds farm next month and in May another outdoor session in the local park. Hopefully the weather will have warmed up a bit by then. Two weeks ago I had a great meeting with the store manager and the catering manager of the Dobbies Garden Centre in King's Lynn to discuss the possibility of holding a workshop there for my class members. I was delighted with the enthusiastic response I received, and in May I will be running a one-day workshop titled Focus on Flowers. 

Pastel Class... working 'as if on location'.

    
In preparation for life beyond the art classes at Henderson this term I included a session for all my hard working students based on the premise of 'as if on location'. I placed some A3 photocopied images around the studio featuring a variety of subjects - a dog on the beach, a bluebell wood, a boat, an old archway, a cat on top of the stairs, a sunflower, some bowls players, a busy scene with chickens and some bright pink flowers clinging to a rock face. I had moved the tables around to enable better views but suggested working with sketchbooks/drawing boards on laps, or even try standing up, to simulate the more usual conditions of working on location.

Mixed Media Class... working 'as if on location'.

There was a great atmosphere in all the sessions and some inspiring work produced. Most people managed two or more pieces of work, some were quick studies but also some resolved artworks. Congratulations to everyone concerned, and my thanks for rising to the challenge!

Entering the spirit of working 'as if on location'...
an enthusiastic class member standing and creating quick sketches
of chickens in her sketchbook!

If you have never tried working on location before why not have a go at this exercise and get in some practice? Instead of having your reference image right beside your working surface pin it up somewhere and pretend you are out of the comforts of your usual art space. Use easily portable art materials and try working quickly to capture the essence of your subject.