Life Drawing
Life Drawing by Suffolk Figurative Artist Delia Tournay-Godfrey
Importance of life drawing
I regularly work with the life model using life drawing as an investigation and a record of my experience of seeing; it informs my painting and the choices I make in my work. Life drawing creates a deeper understanding of my subject, the figure, the space it inhabits, and the formal arrangement of these two elements within the support I am working on. I like the limitations in the life room, a given space, a timed pose and a few materials. I enjoy the shared intensity found there with my fellow artists.
Essential practise for a painter
I place my work within the British Figurative Tradition; figure in the landscape my predominant theme. I have a passionate interest in Art, combining holidays with essential visits to galleries throughout Europe. Many artists interest me, in particular Gwen John, Piero Della Francesca, Richard Diebenkorn, Paula Moderson Becker, Helene Schjerfbeck and Edouard Vuillard and the Nabis artists. I believe observational drawing is essential practice for a painter as did all of my favourite painters.
Painting surfaces and mediums
My studio in Ipswich is where my paintings begin, they start off as pieces of board that I enjoy preparing, cutting and sanding down surfaces and then giving a number of coats of primer. I also like to stretch my own canvasses and often spend days at a time working alone with these materials. It’s a very meditative activity processing thoughts about recent work and inspiring ideas for future projects. Many of the life drawings and paintings found here are in a variety of mediums and worked on these different surfaces.