PORTRAIT MASTERCLASS WITH MORAG CAISTER
The genre of portrait drawing and painting can sometimes slip towards academic, traditional and conservative, associated with grand paintings in lofty halls. Portrait and figure drawing and painting that avoids that territory, that illuminates the character of a person as much as their physical being, feels more interesting to me. Finding the sense of the figure or face. Looking beyond the literal for a representation of the subject’s attitude.
Morag Caister’s work sits in this space for me. I’m curious about how she pares back line, tone and colour, without being minimal, so that the figure becomes drawn and imagined by the viewer’s eye as much as by what she lays down on the page. It becomes a conversation between the viewer, the sitter and Morag.
I’m feeling lucky to have just spent two days on a masterclass with her organised by The New School of Art gaining an understanding of her approach. It felt as though she approaches the drawing from the inside and from the sense of the person.
She gave us a series of demos and exercises to begin to explore her style.
Exercises began with little drawings in oil pastel, focusing on just the outline of the model’s shape. Then, just the weight and solidity. Drawing on tiny paper with big thick chalk pastels, so there’s not too much scope for obsessing about detail. Paring back to what’s important.
Finding the highlights in the form and using them to map out a drawing. Adding line once patches of highlight are down. Combining unexpected materials and techniques, resulting in a push against more conventional approaches - oil paint line with patches of chalky pastel colour. Drawing with paint, and painting with dry drawing materials, when you might normally draw with dry materials and paint with wet.
She described the highlights as ‘constellations’, like stars and pinpoints that can help to navigate your drawing as it emerges from the page.
We finished the weekend with an all-day oil painting on the Sunday, here it is below.
Roy. Oil paint on Murano paper, 2 sheets of A1 size paper approx