I went to figure drawing studio today, and it was a good experience. Our model was a young man that knew his way around the podium. There were a lot of artists there, so the room got overly full, and that meant getting a good seat was tough, but I’m glad to see the figurative community in Indianapolis is alive and well.
I’ve done figure drawing off and on for decades. I enjoy being in the company of like-minded creatives all focused on a task, and the energy of the room is both serene and inspiring.
Another reason to stay involved is because imaginative artists like me draw from mental images, and we have to make sure that our personal arsenal of images don’t get distorted over time, or we get into our bags of personal drawing tricks, bad habits, or easy answers to tough questions. You might call that “style,” but I call it a problem to be addressed.
Kim Jung Gi was likely the prince of sketching in his day. His memory for details was almost god-level, and he could prolifically draw amazing vistas of anything he could imagine. He did this going straight to marker or pen, not penciling first of laying out any roadmaps or marks to guide him. If he made mistakes or got a detail wrong, he never mentioned it, so we all assumed it was pure genius. He could draw complex machinery from memory, and his people were spot on.
As someone who is not a prodigy, just fairly competent, I was in a good position to admire the world-class genius of Kim Jung Gi. He passed away a few years ago at the too young age of 45 (I think), and the art world was diminished by his absense.
I’ve meandered a bit, sorry. I love figure drawing.