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The perfection of imperfection

The perfection of imperfection (1)
Drawing / Life Drawing / Thoughts

The perfection of imperfection

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about where I would like to go with my drawings and especially my life drawings.

I am co-organizing a weekly life drawing class in my North Vancouver studio and every week we meet for a 3 hours session.

Our group Simply Drawing has been going on for at least the last 3 years and we often joke about the frustration of seeing very slow progress in our drawing skills. But then I am also thinking that if we were to become too exact in our renderings of the human body, we might end up with drawings that would look way more similar one to another than they do now.

Drawing by Sandrine Pelissier- Model Shelley

What I like about our drawings is the fact that not two drawings are alike and they are as personal as handwriting. And I feel that, with drawing, what you gain in precision or exactitude you might loose in style.

Or maybe I should just consider that there are 2 types of drawings: Classical realism drawings and what I would call modern drawings. As much I can see the amazing skill sets it takes to make a classical realistic drawing, I am not interested in trying to reach that level of perfection. I like to see a bit more of a personal touch in drawings, a bit more of a personal style. Maybe our inexactitudes are part of what is making our drawings ours, in a way I am embracing our shortcomings 🙂

Also I think some media are better suited for an exact rendering of what you see like photography, I think drawing should leave ample room for interpretation.

Here is a gallery of drawings made by some of our class members,  you can see how our drawings look very different from one another :

Brian Uhryniuk
Rhaya Conover
Anna du Bois

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Comments (2)

  1. Beautiful drawings, Sandrine! Thank you for sharing. I agree with you that modern drawings, though slightly imperfect, are more expressive of the individual artist than classical figure drawing. Draw on, and best wishes for a successful show!

    1. Thanks Ruth! Happy to see you are also enjoying the beauty of imperfection 🙂

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