Muscle Memory

It is undeniable that some people have an inherent talent for art, but if you're someone whose repertoire doesn't extend far beyond stick men, the best wisdom I can impart on you is to practice. 'Practice makes perfect' can be a frustrating thing to hear when something doesn't come naturally. It's easy to appear talented when you pick and choose the aspects of the craft that come to you more naturally. I spent years avoiding drawing the full figure. Portraiture had become my métier, but I ignored everything below the shoulders.

Art school threw me headfirst into the world of life drawing. No time to labour over a detailed eye with a size 000 brush when you have a model who'll be changing pose in less than ten minutes. A levels had made my natural instinct to start small, and here I was: A1 paper on the easel, large brush in hand, hanging on every word my tutor said. I'd been painting for years, but this was entirely new to me. My rapid improvement through weekly life drawing classes was testament to the 'practice makes perfect' motto.

When I next came to draw a figure outside of a life class, I found myself instinctively using the correct proportions and preempting areas of shadow and light. In effect, life drawing had become muscle memory. I still find myself reworking an awkwardly angled foot now and then, but the blank page and awaiting model no longer intimidate me.

Once you have learnt to draw something in its most literal sense, there becomes more room for stylistic choices. DaVinci's anatomical sketches, for example, show that by understanding the workings of the body, by repeatedly depicting limbs in motion, an artist betters their craft. My early drawings and paintings are no more than glorified outlines of the human body, my later sketches show tone and form, incorporate backgrounds and experiment with mediums.

Different from my old process of finding a comfort zone to work in, I have now discovered a style that I believe allows me to produce my best work. White conte pencil and graphite pencils on grey paper, though challenging to balance, automatically supply me with a shadow, highlight and midtone to sketch forms with depth and spatial relevance.