Trudy Good
I''ve had no formal training as such- although I did spend a year at Winchester Art School completing a Foundation Course. This left me completely disillusioned; I didn''t need to go to art school to learn how to express myself by throwing a load of paint about- so I left and got a ''proper job''! I then spent years feeling unfulfilled and frustrated with myself and the longer time went on the stronger these feelings got. Until finally- my partner persuaded me to sign up for a life drawing class- and that was it... the rest is history as they say! I''d found my Grail!
I''m a very methodical person and so decided to spend the next few years learning my trade and equipping myself with the tools that I would need to express myself through my work. Through trial and a great deal of error I found my way to wherever it is that I and my work are at today. I feel honoured to be showing with the Belgravia Gallery in London and for my drawings to be hanging there next to such great masters as Rembrandt and Picasso.
I try not to analyse what I''m drawing too much as I prefer to work instinctively. Usually I will begin each piece from a life model- so she will be my initial inspiration. Lighting is really important to me in my work. I love to use really strong directional light which creates mood and drama. I have a pared down approach to drawing; I don''t like to overcomplicate things with props or backgrounds. I want to sharpen the focus on the elegance and natural beauty of the female form. I always say "my works are never narratives; merely moments"- and this can be said to be true through all of the themes that I pursue in my work. The sheer beauty of a single line; the way the light plays on her hair; the feelings conveyed by her body language in an unguarded moment. These are things that inspire me time and time again. Sometimes a sense of peace or misery- the million different emotions that make up human nature- every one of them interests and inspires me.
I recently had fabric bought to my attention- which is something that I was never really that interested in before. I was commissioned to draw the collection of Lindka Cierach- the couture designer for London fashion week. Can you imagine all of those beautiful clothes; the colours the lines? I died and went to Heaven!
The ''Ballroom Series'' was inspired by my memories of watching ''Come Dancing'' as a child on my 4th hand black and white portable TV. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me now)- the set could only pick up BBC2 and so I became mesmerised by the amazingly glamorous couples that Angela Rippon introduced on the show. The way that they seemed to move so completely together- communicating only through body language and such grace (the hours they spent practicing never even occurred to me!) They were unlike any women I had ever seen before. Sorry mum- but you were the more ''groovy'' type! So many years later my ballroom drawings were born on a Sunday afternoon when I was just playing around with some photographs that I had taken a year or so earlier. I wanted to make the images blurred as they would be through both time and the motion of the actual dance- like an old movie still maybe- or as one fleeting moment moves on to the next. The mostly monochrome palette gives them a sense of time passed just as I see those images in my memory.
I love the immediacy of working with charcoal and pastel and being able to move the image around with your hands- nothing coming between the paper and you creating. I try not to consolidate the image too early- rather just let it emerge slowly onto the paper - kind of like conducting an orchestra. I mean you wouldn''t usually want to go straight in there with all your drums and cymbals crashing would you! You maybe start quietly with a couple or violins and build up slowly. Well drawing is the same for me.
When I have a model I will begin many drawings- but prefer to finish them later after she has gone. I find I can work on them in a more creative and uninhibited way when I have only the started piece in front of me and no reference- but I do need her initial presence to get the ''bones'' of the work down and of course for her inspiration. So many of my drawings fail- but I have found that by working on a number of things simultaneously I am not afraid to experiment and therefore do not become precious about a particular piece as it starts its inevitable journey to the bin!
I''m not what you''d call a morning person and my creative juices are certainly not flowing before 10am! The first thing I''ll do when I go into the studio is organise my music. Anything that''s done with feeling- I need my music to create the mood that I will be working too.
During the morning I''ll be working on parts of drawings that require a more studied approach. So for example if I have a commission under way then it will be the face and creating a likeness that I will be trying to capture. Then as the day goes on- and the music gets louder- I''ll begin to work more freely and the work becomes looser – well that''s the idea anyway! Sometimes when I''m lucky I''ll work almost subconsciously and this is when both the best drawings and worst failures occur. I go on the most incredible creative journeys and I have learnt from them that it is actually OK to fail now and again as it is a very good way of learning.
Apart from my work I have no life! (according to family and few friends). This is great as I want no distractions (apart from travel)- as what I do is all consuming. I constantly strive to become the artist that I know I have the potential to be. Nothing I do is ever good enough and there is always another precious moment that I just have to get down on paper- so there are quite honestly never enough hours in the day for me!
I''m a very methodical person and so decided to spend the next few years learning my trade and equipping myself with the tools that I would need to express myself through my work. Through trial and a great deal of error I found my way to wherever it is that I and my work are at today. I feel honoured to be showing with the Belgravia Gallery in London and for my drawings to be hanging there next to such great masters as Rembrandt and Picasso.
I try not to analyse what I''m drawing too much as I prefer to work instinctively. Usually I will begin each piece from a life model- so she will be my initial inspiration. Lighting is really important to me in my work. I love to use really strong directional light which creates mood and drama. I have a pared down approach to drawing; I don''t like to overcomplicate things with props or backgrounds. I want to sharpen the focus on the elegance and natural beauty of the female form. I always say "my works are never narratives; merely moments"- and this can be said to be true through all of the themes that I pursue in my work. The sheer beauty of a single line; the way the light plays on her hair; the feelings conveyed by her body language in an unguarded moment. These are things that inspire me time and time again. Sometimes a sense of peace or misery- the million different emotions that make up human nature- every one of them interests and inspires me.
I recently had fabric bought to my attention- which is something that I was never really that interested in before. I was commissioned to draw the collection of Lindka Cierach- the couture designer for London fashion week. Can you imagine all of those beautiful clothes; the colours the lines? I died and went to Heaven!
The ''Ballroom Series'' was inspired by my memories of watching ''Come Dancing'' as a child on my 4th hand black and white portable TV. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me now)- the set could only pick up BBC2 and so I became mesmerised by the amazingly glamorous couples that Angela Rippon introduced on the show. The way that they seemed to move so completely together- communicating only through body language and such grace (the hours they spent practicing never even occurred to me!) They were unlike any women I had ever seen before. Sorry mum- but you were the more ''groovy'' type! So many years later my ballroom drawings were born on a Sunday afternoon when I was just playing around with some photographs that I had taken a year or so earlier. I wanted to make the images blurred as they would be through both time and the motion of the actual dance- like an old movie still maybe- or as one fleeting moment moves on to the next. The mostly monochrome palette gives them a sense of time passed just as I see those images in my memory.
I love the immediacy of working with charcoal and pastel and being able to move the image around with your hands- nothing coming between the paper and you creating. I try not to consolidate the image too early- rather just let it emerge slowly onto the paper - kind of like conducting an orchestra. I mean you wouldn''t usually want to go straight in there with all your drums and cymbals crashing would you! You maybe start quietly with a couple or violins and build up slowly. Well drawing is the same for me.
When I have a model I will begin many drawings- but prefer to finish them later after she has gone. I find I can work on them in a more creative and uninhibited way when I have only the started piece in front of me and no reference- but I do need her initial presence to get the ''bones'' of the work down and of course for her inspiration. So many of my drawings fail- but I have found that by working on a number of things simultaneously I am not afraid to experiment and therefore do not become precious about a particular piece as it starts its inevitable journey to the bin!
I''m not what you''d call a morning person and my creative juices are certainly not flowing before 10am! The first thing I''ll do when I go into the studio is organise my music. Anything that''s done with feeling- I need my music to create the mood that I will be working too.
During the morning I''ll be working on parts of drawings that require a more studied approach. So for example if I have a commission under way then it will be the face and creating a likeness that I will be trying to capture. Then as the day goes on- and the music gets louder- I''ll begin to work more freely and the work becomes looser – well that''s the idea anyway! Sometimes when I''m lucky I''ll work almost subconsciously and this is when both the best drawings and worst failures occur. I go on the most incredible creative journeys and I have learnt from them that it is actually OK to fail now and again as it is a very good way of learning.
Apart from my work I have no life! (according to family and few friends). This is great as I want no distractions (apart from travel)- as what I do is all consuming. I constantly strive to become the artist that I know I have the potential to be. Nothing I do is ever good enough and there is always another precious moment that I just have to get down on paper- so there are quite honestly never enough hours in the day for me!
