It’s amazing to think that despite Vienna’s rich artistic history, our young sketch group is somewhat on the periphery. Life drawing doesn’t hold the privileged position it once did in artistic circles, and our group exists only out of the sheer determination to grasp after a manner of learning that has been all but lost. And so, in the city of Klimt and Schiele, whose life drawings and impressively knowledgeable figure paintings attract visitors by the busload, we found ourselves holding a ‘first ever’ group show for our motley collective.
We welcomed a cellar-full of visitors and found ourselves needing to explain why such a group might exist, and what we hoped to gain from this endeavour. It wasn’t obvious to our guests that an artist might draw regularly as a musician might practice scales, or that the life model provides a testing ground for consolidating new learning. A solitary worker has much to gain from some like-minded company, and saves a little money on a costly resource by sharing in a group. The regularity of such sessions keeps the brain active and responsive and focused. And the private, fundamental work that goes on in such groups supports and strengthens our personal work that we more usually present to the world.
And so, the exhibition was a furtive backstage pass to see the inner workings of the minds of a diverse group of painters, illustrators, animators and designers. Despite our different intentions and varied efforts, a common strategy unites us, and it was wonderful to display this commonality to others. Our visitors may observe our shared origin—a respect for the fundamentals of drawing—and see for themselves how we diverge from here and go on to make original creative works.
I usually work in pencil at our sketch group, thinking about the construction of the figure, how to represent the three-dimensional volumes, and always trying to improve the energy and fluency of my lines. I think good draughtsmanship is fundamental to good painting, and wanted to emphasize this by exhibiting clear, strong drawings. I chose to show works that demonstrated such stripped-back thinking: three-dimensional blocks arranged in perspective, an emphasis on weight through the body, the search for connections between the parts to form a pleasing whole.
Despite being underground and on the periphery, important things are happening here. I hope that our determined efforts inspire others in our broader intellectual community. The time is ripe for action!
If you’d like to draw with us, find our groups on Facebook: Sketch Group Vienna (Thursday evenings) and Life Drawing Vienna (Sunday evenings). A heartfelt thank you to Alexandra Kornienko for her untiring efforts to make the sketch sessions and the exhibition possible. You are a star. x
