Some warm up drawings of the skellington while the model warmed up. Trying to make him as lively as possible.
The first pose. Trying to leave some gaps.
Sponge and oil pastels. The smaller dancer is her reflection. The sharpness of the elbows was the starting point for the image.
A very dynamic 5 minutes. Testing. The colour is fun. Purposely jarring to go with the pose.
3 minutes of frenzy. Apart from the hair colour which was put on while talking to the model in the break.
Reflections again.
A cropped head from a larger piece. The dancer was in a very compact pose which I find hard to capture with the energy that I want. The work kept on fluctuating between good and smeary to just wrong and messy.
A hour of intense observation, thick daubs and quick decisions. On grey Daler board. A1. As the figure recedes so the marks get smaller.
A close up of the marks, strokes, slashes and smudges.
This was created around 10.30 that night, at home. I’ve since made two more versions, the latest with huge Phillip Guston like feet. Sleeper as landscape.
Trevor Mill Graphic Designer Ltd 