Portrait conte drawings

Tried out my new box of 'portrait' Conte sticks at Stamford last night. As I'd hoped these were a bit more subtle. I still can't resist drawing outlines, but we all have our foibles.

Conte crayons and exhibition

After my last blogpost I couldn't resist buying these Conte carres. Box of 12 'portrait' colours on offer at Colemans at the moment (£8.99). They look nice in the box, however I might break them up to use on their side.


I've taken some work (life drawings and portrait paintings) to the Stamford Arts Centre for the students' Summer Exhibition. The exhibition is on in the Arts Centre gallery from Wed 31st August until Saturday 10th September, 9.30am to 9pm. Most of the work will be on sale. Come and take a look, have a drink in the bar or a coffee in the cafe.

No-one ever regretted buying art!

Life drawings

Two more drawings from the Life Class. I like to try different approaches, and respond to the model and pose before deciding what to do. It also depends what mood I'm in. The first is using Conte chalks on 'charcoal' Pastelmat paper. I used chalks on their side to produce larger areas of colour. The chalks I have are quite saturated so I deliberately pushed the saturation. I think I need to get more subtle colours.

The second is a more conventional charcoal portrait on off-white paper (cream Ingres paper pre-prepared using Sepia ink wash).

Life drawings

A couple of drawings from last night's Life Drawing at Stamford Arts Centre. This was a new model to me. How anyone can hold poses for an hour is beyond me, I think they like the challenge. She would make a great anatomy model.

One drawing in charcoal then Pierre Noire Conte pencil, the other using four conte chalks then Pierre Noire Conte pencil. Click images to zoom.

The Four Humours Series

Completed a series of oil paintings based on the 'Four Humours' temperamental categories named by Galen as "sanguine", "melancholic", "choleric" and "phlegmatic" after the bodily humours. These humours are traditionally associated with the colours Red, Black, Yellow and Blue respectively. The general idea is that personalities should be balanced, or at least avoid extremes. My natural inclination is towards the Phlegmatic.

I did a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test at work which characterised me as INFP (introversion, intuition, feeling, perception) with borderline INTP (introversion, intuition, thinking, perception). INFPs have been refered to as Healers and INTPs as Architects. Amongst my scientific colleagues I was unusual in being 'feeling' slightly more than 'thinking'. There is no one type that is best, but it is interesting to appreciate that different types are largely inherent and that we should take account of these when dealing with others, and perhaps in our life choices.

These square format paintings combine trompe l'oeil with 'colourfield' composition.

The Four Humours: Melancholic (Somber – Guardian – Sensing-Judging (SJ)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011

The Four Humours: Choleric (Enthusiastic – Idealist – Intuitive-Feeling (NF)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011

The Four Humours: Sanguine (Cheerful – Artisan – Sensing-Perceiving (SP)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011

The Four Humours: Phlegmatic (Calm – Rationalist – Intuitive-Thinking (NT)). Oil on canvas. (c) Mike Todd 2011.

Life drawings

Posted a couple of drawings from this week's Life Drawing group at Stamford Arts Centre. All rights reserved.

Leicester botanic gardens drawings

I visited Leicester University Botanic Gardens on a lovely summer's day. There was an outdoor sculpture exhibition around the grounds. See below for drawings in pastel and pencil.