Nude Drawings

Drawing for me can range between the quick thumbnail sketch in a sketchbook to an independent drawing, which can depend on line or tone (shade) or blend the two. The outline drawing - as found in the nude life drawings - it takes a lot technical skill because one has to accurately describe a form with only the outside edge defining volumes. The artificiality of using the single inflexible tool of the outline is extreme. A particular pleasure for me as a draughtsman is playing with decorative mark-making and juxtaposing volumetric forms and flat surfaces.


Drawing on coloured paper allows the artist to build forms through using shade and highlight. The colour brings added sensual pleasure, adding a new dimension to black-and-white materials. Working on heavily textured paper (such as cotton-rag paper from India) enlivens shading with speckled light. Nepalese papers with visible strands of plant matter forcefully return us to the materiality of the art object, where image and material co-exist.


For me, drawing is the very core of my art and it is my way of thinking about objects and exploring ideas - making things clear to be as they reveal themselves under the tip of the pencil.