Vanessa and Virginia and Shawn

I'm fortunate enough to live in an area rich with people of talent and accomplishment. There's a group of writers and artists who are aimiably, and in varying degrees, connected--- and they live within a 15 mile radius of each other.
Jeffery, Ippy, Elizabeth and Allan I've already mentioned here. There are others, but as I haven't asked their permission to mention them, I won't do so today. Sometimes I feel as if I've been set down, dreaming, in Bloomsbury. Or, more recently, in Charleston, the country home and studio of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.
Tuesday and Wednesday I spent many hours drawing a live model at Ippy's house in the country. Ippy herself looks like a cross between Frida Kahlo and Virginia Woolf, so the Bloomsbury overtones were especially strong!
Our model was Shawn, a friend of Jeffery's, and he was very inspiring, with his dense muscularity, and powerful facial features. Drawings done on 18 x 24 newsprint with 8b pencil or Caran d'ache Neocolor II crayons or on 11 x 24 Bristol board.

Can you tell I was having fun with my Sky Blue crayon? The two days of drawing Shawn were a perfect idyll. The weather was very cool (almost English!) and Ippy's place is so serene and remote---Shawn was able to walk around the property nude and to model for us on her deck, with only us and the mourning dove for audience. Here's a resulting drawing. I would say he reminds me here of a Rodin sculpture, but we were in England yesterday, not France.
Wedding photos are in! Will post a few this weekend.

Comments

[Steph Yellow]

Fantastic, all of them. It's great seeing you loosen up as you go too.

[Laura]

What fun to read all of your comments---the enthusiasm is contagious, I think! Really fun to hear what the various favorites are. They differ widely, don't they? Katherine, since Bloomsbury was all about breaking conventional norms, they would no doubt have stripped bare and joined Shawn in his cavorting!

[Paris Parfait]

These are all fantastic! What an idyllic time to create - you've made the most of it with your beautiful work! I think the fourth one is my favourite, but they're all good. xo

[Jana Bouc]

You've captured those wonderful sculptural muscles and his weight and strength so beautifully. I loved hearing about this wonderful group of creative people (including you, of course!)

[Katherine]

It's just so difficult to find a really good male model - looks like you've come up trumps. Lovely drawings - I particularly like the first one.

I giggled when I thought what Bloomsbury would think of Shawn playing at statues in the back garden!

[jules]

Aaargh Laura - as usual, I have called you Laurel! Habit from having a friend by that name!! Sorry!!!! Jules