It may be a man’s world… but it would be nothing without a (pesky & persistent) woman!
“KRudd Boots N’All”
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″x 12″
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
another entry in www.NewMatilda.com.au Political Cartooning Competition
(and yes… oops… Barack has one R!)
With a Dad and three brothers in my childhood home… my mother and I were used to the rough and tumble of living in a house full of boys. Consequently I think boys are great. Different entirely to girls… who are okay too mind you… but way more complicated (grin). Boys on the other hand are pretty straight forward. They say what they mean and mean what they say… punch first… ask questions later… that sort of thing. (Though I hasten to add… being the only girl in a family of boys had it’s strategic advantages too cos no-one was allowed to punch me! Ha!)
I have always found the notion of being a woman in a man’s world rather intriguing. The idea of mixing it with the boys who definitely seem to have the numbers in almost every arena (including cartooning) doesn’t really faze me… I grew up with boys remember? But still sometimes my ignorance of any tangible sort of philosophical difference between the genders still surprises me.
This ignorance has on occasion led me inadvertently into a number of humourous situations. Like the time I blithely sailed into the Gentlemen’s Room in the Qantas Lounge at LA International Airport… (incredibly jet lagged and in transit)… sending all assembled gents into an intercontinental flat spin and the room into an all-out unholy panic. Pandemonium ensued… as redfaced I realised my error. [I shall never again underestimate the power of a woman to clear the mens room in under 30 seconds flat!] I do however swear on my life to never ever do it again! Anyway by the by. I hadn’t intended to tell you that story… but it was funny at the time… and what the hey!
What I had intended to tell you about was the new Life Drawing Session I went to the other night. No stranger to life drawing… and being used to a “mixed” group… it took a comment fully half way through the three hour session to alert me to the fact that besides the model… I was the only female in the room.
“There’s life drawing on Monday mornings too you know” came the wake up call that enlightened me.
“Oh thanks” I responded appreciatively to the kind gentleman beside me… still not entirely getting it.
“but Monday doesn’t suit… and Wednesday night is just fine by me…” I trailed off
As the last word spilled confidently from my lips the realisation hit me. I looked around at the bunch of friendly and (don’t get me wrong) more than perfectly well behaved guys in the group and realised for the first time that I was definitely the odd man out.
I chatted with the model out in the kitchen over a cup of tea on our break… and learned that she too had no nonsense boys in her life and was unfazed (despite her lack of apparel) by the prospect of being in a room full of blokes. Though I’ve got to say… I reckon her courage exceeded mine by a very large measure! LOL
Undeterred I pushed on into the second half and left with a reasonable assortment of 2, 5, and 10 minute sketches. Whilst they are not serious art… I find quick sketches great for figure referencing in subsequent paintings. And life sketches do have a spontaneous freshness that is sometimes hard to beat.
10 minute sketch
Willow stick on cartridge paper
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
I think I shall go back again next week… what do you reckon?
If only to stir things up a bit? Heavens knows I need the practice!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
As a veteran of life-drawing classes, I think your sketch is excellent, Jean. Now that lacrosse season is over I can pick it up again. I go Saturday mornings, but there’s always a healthy male-female balance.
My mom was the only female in an all-male household of me, my dad, and two brothers. Her favorite all-time birthday gift was a baseball glove. She was a lefty, and so couldn’t use any of ours. She more than held her own in the household. Before my younger brother was born my father penned this bit of doggerel:
Bos wanted to go to the zoo,
Johnny wanted to go there too,
Daddy said ’twas the thing to do,
But mommy said no.
That is how the voting went
In our domestic parliament,
Three were for and one against,
So we didn’t go.
Thanks John
What a great verse! Your mom sounds like the power behind the throne… mine was too. Dad was the boss and he had my mother’s permission to say so. LOL
Exactly, Jean. I’ll never forget something that happened a couple of days after my dad died. I was staying at their house, having flown in from Los Angeles, and in the morning found my mom standing in the kitchen crying softly. It was very unusual to see her cry, ever, even though she was a warm and sensitive person. I asked if she was alright, and she said to me, “now that he’s gone, I’m nobody.”
Wow… that’s profound John. I guess most of us can only ever hope for a love like that. Your mom sounds like a warm and courageous person… you must miss her.
Great sketch Jean! All the life drawing sessions in this area have both men and women in them as both artists and models. Counting down for the trip to France. roger
Hi Roger!
Yes… that’s usually the case here too… a mix of men and women… and to tell you the truth until last week I hadn’t ever given it a thought. Life drawing becomes such a natural part of an artist’s process that the gender of the sitter or the participants is rarely considered. It’s all about the art… the line shape light contrast… the marks made on flat paper that bring the subject to life. I know you’d agree.
Can’t wait to see your sketches from the south of France!
Hi Jean, your sketch is great..very nice lines!
As you know, my eldest is doing a Fine Arts course and her ongoing ‘major work’ assignment is to sketch 16 different nudes throughout the year long course. This troubled my girl immensely as she is only 17, but the fact that she had to sketch adult men was a full on problem for her and she really struggles with it. I reassured her by introducing the thought that she was there to discover the human form as a whole…not just gender identifying ‘bits!’. I know she has taken it in her stride, but she is still not happy about it! I did some modelling for an art class years ago (when I was about 16) but did not bare all, I wore a black leotard. The hardest thing was to not move around and hold my pose. It was an interesting experience seeing at least a dozen different perspectives of me. Some were fabulous and made me feel quite good about myself, the others made me wonder if there had been another model in the room! It was fun though.
I grew up with a brother and a sister, so had equal amounts of male/female dynamics, but I always preferred being with my brother (playing cricket, touch football and catching frogs and yabbies!) my sister had the unwanted responsibility of ‘looking after me’ (which we both resented!) while my mother was at work (my siblings were 7 and 8 years older than me) so her role of ‘2nd mother’ did not go too well for either of us – the last thing a teenager wants to do is look after an 8 yr old!
I worked solidly within the ‘world of men’ for nigh on 20 yrs, shearing sheds, packing sheds, orchards and paddocks. It was when I was a rouse-about (throwing shorn fleeces and sweeping the floors, penning up more sheep) working with 8 shearers, one other rousie, 2 wool classers and one wool presser (all men!) that I was truely tested. The first week was hell and they pushed me to my limits with the onslaught of dirty jokes and sexist puns (as well as playing the task masters!), but I came back with jokes that made them laugh and I more than carried my weight when it came to the workload. By the end of the season, I was their precious girl that they all looked after and protected…I also made it very clear that I had a serious boyfriend!!! It was good and I treasure those memories.
QUOTE … but the fact that she had to sketch adult men was a full on problem for her and she really struggles with it… UNQUOTE
Yes I guess it’s something that requires quite a bit maturity and an ability to look beyond the detail to the big picture. That’s what life drawing teaches… especially in the timed sketches. There’s only time to grab the essence of the subject… which I guess is what we’re after anyway. Figuring that out requires a mental shift in understanding the process. Sometimes (if I don’t like a particular pose for instance) I will choose to focus in on a face or upper torso or an arm or some line or shape that I think is particularly beautiful. It’s all about filtering for the artist’s requirements and needs. Knowing how to filter takes time.
Some models don’t help in this either. I don’t like the flambouyant show-offs (whose sole purpose is to shock and draw attention to themselves) preferring instead those who take a professional approach giving us “usable” gestural poses within the normal range of human movement… not contorted into some weird dynamic that could never be used again in a subsequent work. And the odd sarong never goes astray either… to cover up between poses. A bit of consideration keeps everyone comfortable.
Sometimes I think it might even be more useful (and challenging) to sketch people fully clothed. Why no-one offers “clothed” sessions I don’t know. Maybe it’s too hard. LOL