Rubens Award: Kamille Corry Part 2

Read part one of Kamille Corry’s residency reflections here.

My second week at LFAS was spent painting the figure with some of the team from the Studios. We got there early to set up the pose with our lovely model Emilie. I chose a seated pose that had a languid but dynamic feel to it, and a beautiful corresponding gesture between the head and the hands. Our painting sessions were scheduled for 4 hours in the afternoons for the week, and we had about 8 people in the group.

I started out the first day trying to just get the drawing and proportions decently correct. As usual with my work, I tend to grow my figures off the canvas (I was also working quite large, but it’s still an issue for me!) and ended up with a disproportionate head, and awkward gesture.

Despite my own slightly disappointing start, it was so great to see the other instructors start their paintings, and all the different approaches. I don’t know when the last time was that I painted the figure in a group, without teaching a group of students. It was such a great vibe and incredibly refreshing.

The second day went a little better, although I was still having proportion issues. I focused on getting a good layer of paint down, with a very limited colour palette (this stems from my beginnings as a painter, when I learned how to do a grisaille, and my current fusion of a limited colour lay-in, but still keeping it looking like it’s a living person by adding some colour).

Tuesday evening, as part of Ruben’s Residency, I did a small presentation at the school, for a lovely group of students and interested public. We set up in one of the upstairs studios – I had prepared a short talk about the structure of hands, as well as a short painting demonstration. Ann Witheridge kindly offered to be the hand model, and for the first hour I talked to the students about understanding some fundamental structure of the hands, but in the context of what the artist can actually see abstractly on the hand – not the intricate anatomical layers (although basic anatomy was definitely involved). It was basically a discussion of how to conceptually understand basic structure of the hand, and ways to easily remember it.

Luckily (for all the attendees!) we had snacks and wine, and after a bit of a break halfway through, I began a short painting demonstration using Ann’s hand. I encouraged everyone to walk up closer while I was painting so they could see better, and I talked my way through my technique, as well as going over the concepts we had talked about previously. Even though I went way over the time slated for the presentation, it was still a very quick lesson for me! but such a nice event and it was so great to meet lots of new people and get some good feedback about the discussion.

The rest of the week was spent working on the figure painting – for me that meant wiping out the head and in the end, doing a portrait study to the side of the figure. I also went into much more direct colour and getting some thick paint down to build up the form. The studio had fantastic natural light – high skylights that were great to paint under. On the final day, Jill Hooper brought in some drinks and snacks and we made a toast to this wonderful opportunity to paint together. We finished the last couple of hours painting with the model and reluctantly cleaned our palettes.

It was such an amazing two weeks for me, and to join the workshop and teaching, together with painting the model alongside the instructors, was a huge gift. I want to give the biggest thanks to Jill Hooper, who was the first Ruben’s Award holder, and has done much to support the award since, and to Ann and Scott at LFAS, who invited me to teach. Also to their team of assistants and instructors at the school, who were beyond helpful and accommodating. I could not have done it without the total support and inspiration from Jill, as well from Ann & c. throughout. Thank you so much!