South African Woman 2 study

Thomasin Dewhurst · 07-05-2008, 08:45 PM

I purchased some charcoal sticks from an estate sale recently. They are packaged in a lovely old-fashioned box - I am not sure how old they are. They are the soft, brittle charcoal (willow charcoal, I think). They really inspired me to get down and do some charcoal drawings, which I have avoided for ages because whenever I did try they never seemed to have any resemblance to my paintings. I thought I would, because of this problem, do a charcoal drawing of one of my actual paintings as a study, but it evolved into its own image and became a study for a new painting revisiting the them of South African Woman.

It is charcoal on paper, 15" x 16" (although I cropped it here to fit the 400 x 600 pixel requirement).

A full-size image can be viewed here .

Carlos Ygoa · 07-06-2008, 08:21 AM

Thomasin!

I log in this morning and first thing I see is this work of yours. Beautiful drawing! It has a very real sense of relief the way the head emerges from two dimensions and creates the third. There is mystery as well as mastery...reminds me of the same feeling as Munch

Alexandra Tyng · 07-06-2008, 10:02 AM

Thomasin, I love this drawing! It is very exciting to me because it actually is like your painting. . . or maybe your painting has become more like your drawing, or both your painting and drawing have a more consistent voice! I imagine how you are feeling the sculptural quality of the head as you draw. No lines are necessary. It reminds me of what Sherry McGraw says in her book on drawing (which I find refreshingly different than the books that tell you how to draw accurately)--she says to feel the roundness and draw around the edges of the form.

Do you think this will lead to another "South African Woman" painting or will you leave it as a drawing? Or maybe it's too early to ask.

Peter Dransfield · 07-06-2008, 10:20 AM

Your paintings and drawings have such a scuptural quality I would love to see you with clay in your hands. Great drawing.

Thomasin Dewhurst · 07-07-2008, 11:16 AM

Thank-you Carlos, Alex and Peter for your kind comments. It is such a nice break to be doing charcoal, and to actually have it working.

Carlos, the estate sale just advertised they had some art supplies for sale. The box had a mixture of sticks, but they didn't seem to be that old, or at least, not different from new sticks.

Alex, I am not sure what the study (studies) will evolve into. I did have the idea of doing another South African Woman, but what is interesting me is the combination of light modeling and darker modeling to create the effects of light and composition. I want to work on balance of tones and try and do something more exciting composition-wise. I think I would like to make a scene of figures on stage with different brightnesses of light. I think I need to become more deliberate in my compositions and narrative - not so apologetic.

Peter, I have sculpted but what excited me most about doing the sculptures was doing the drawings of them afterwards. I love the illusion of space and form - sculpture, for me, takes away that illusion.

I have posted the sculptures and drawings on this forum. If you are interested, this is the link .

SB Wang · 07-07-2008, 11:41 AM

Thomasin!
Fire makes charcoal,
Charcoal makes fire,
Fire will be ignited on
Aug.8th, 8 pm. 2008

The world will watch the torch,
the world will watch the fire by artists.
Let the fire brighten the sky,
Let the world know you!

"Bird Nest" is a work by Ai Weiwei, one of my acquintances:
http://pic.people.com.cn/GB/7475702.html

Christy Talbott · 07-07-2008, 02:24 PM

Thomasin,

I love your sketch! I looked at your links as well, and your painting of the woman you drew this from is beautifully mesmerizing... I wish I could see it in person. also those caricature drawings!!! I'm blown away by those. The second and third especially, they look so fantastical like some strange character from an Alice in Wonderland type of story. I could look at them all day!

Christy

Thomasin Dewhurst · 07-09-2008, 10:11 AM

Thank-you for your comments, SB.

Thanks also for your comments, Christy. And thank-you for looking at my website and other links - I appreciate that. The original South African Woman will be on exhibition in August and September in Vancouver BC at the Hodnett Fine Art Gallery (in case you are near there at that time).

Thomasin Dewhurst · 07-20-2008, 10:25 PM

Seeing as though these drawings have taken less time than my oils and feel more like studies (although this last one, I feel, is more a finished drawing), I thought I would post them as a single thread of different drawings, updated as I finish them.

This new one is called: "Figure Dreaming" and is about 30" x 20", and charcoal on paper.

Here's a better sized image on my blog

Christy Talbott · 07-21-2008, 03:55 PM

That is really very beautiful Thomasin. I particularly like to see the close up line work.