Written by Stephen Dernocoure – Drawing – Northshore School of Art

“We don’t always see” – written by Stephen Dernocoure

STEPHEN

Written and drawn by Stephen Dernocoure

At that moment drawing became the otherside of looking
and I said yes, now I see it.
When I began to draw the next day I had to start all over again,
how mysterious.

Stephen’s sketchbook.

Life Drawing Workshops – Last Saturday of Each Term

Saturday morning 10am – 12:30pm
29th June 2013
$50 per person per class

Why don’t you join our Life Drawing Workshops? Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the life drawing class. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au / Phone: +61 (0)2 9968 1233 / Download Flyer

“an extension of my heart …” – written by Stephen Dernocoure

Stephen Dernocoure's sketchbook and pens

Stephen always carries his sketchbook and pens with him.

STEPHEN Written by Stephen Dernocoure

I have been thinking how important my pocket sketch book is in my day to day life, indeed it is my companion on the vast savannah of new moments and I am even tempted to give it a name. In truth this small book is simply an extension of my heart, mind, hand and seeing eyes but it provides me with an intimacy where the world observed in all of its grandeur is condensed into that tiny paper space. The scale of our graphic practice is I believe so very important for our developing skill because we need to develope sensitivities for scale, distance and the patterning of forms. A woman carrying her cargo of shopping in the distance might be a worthy subject for the little book where a biro is used to scribble the essentials of form in motion or in stillness. Quickly the eye searches for salient pattern and the hand serves, this is essential experience in the quest of seeing, it strengthens our cognitive functions as it is a logico mathematical process but this is not the end result, the result is seeing and being surprised and realising that we simply interpret this mysterious world.

Life Drawing Class for All Levels

7 – 9pm Mondays
$275 per Term (10wks)
$35 per Casual Class

Why don’t you join our Monday evening life drawing class? If you are not sure, try it out as casual first. Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the life drawing class. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au / Phone: +61 (0)2 9968 1233 / Download Enrolment form

“Two Identities” – written by Stephen Dernocoure

Life drawing with iPad & Procreate App by Ako Lamble

Written by Stephen Dernocoure
Drawing the life model seated in a chair unlocks so many creative and observational possibilities for the drawer. When instructing the life drawing process I have observed that the student may fail to fully consider the chairs relationship with the seated body.

I can think of few structures that carry such specific relationship with the human body, in fat it is no one relationship but several, so let us look at several of these relationship.

Life drawing with iPad & Procreate App by Ako Lamble

Firstly, when I observe the model seated in a chair I am immediately instructed to be mindful of context and relationship. The body is held, suspended, cradled in the chair and if we observe the chairs anatomy with care and sensitivity we may also observe the models postural details with greater context.

Secondly, the concept of a chair advises the drawer to observe two identities the person and the chair. Perhaps this council offered to the drawer is also appropriate to ones engagement in daily life where discernment between one factor and another is essential.

Thirdly, a chair is a most profound sculptural form. Chair design reminds us of our humanity and it further reminds us that we are here now, held and suspended. For when we leave a chair we might imagine something of ourselves still held in the form. Perhaps this could be a duty of design.

Fourthly, the chair and the body partner a story about emotion suspended or fatigue satiated. We might say the chair is our silent double, a sentinel marking our relationship with space and time. The chair metaphorically calls the drawer to see the chair and then the sitter, the here and there all in one gaze or multiple tiny gazes. We might ascribe a kind of duty to the chair indeed a loving duty at least for those of us who have the eyes to draw humanity cradled and held for a while.

Life drawing with iPad & Procreate App by Ako Lamble

Life Drawing Class for All Levels

7 – 9pm Mondays
$275 per Term (10wks)
$35 per Casual Class

Why don’t you join our Monday evening life drawing class? If you are not sure, try it out as casual first. Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the life drawing class. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au / Phone: +61 (0)2 9968 1233 / Download Enrolment form

Ask Our Teacher – Stephen Dernocoure (Life Drawing Monday 7-9pm)

Name: Stephen Dernocoure
Teaching at NSA: Life drawing class (Monday 7-9pm)
Joined NSA since: 2008

NSA: What doodle / drawing / painting did you do in your early life that you were the most proud of? How old were you?
STEPHEN: Speaking truthfully I cannot think about art in this context. I am more desirous of reflecting on my development as moments observed, threaded upon a string of experience and no single drawing holds dominion over my desire to look, feel and wonder.

NSA: Have you been always artistic / creative? if so, in what way?
STEPHEN: Perhaps our being artistic and creative is really a way of life and I am inclined to look for these qualities in many areas. Survival as an artist in daily life is certainly a creative proposition as is our quest to distill feelings and ideas out of paint, words or film.

NSA: What made you join NSA? Where did you hear/find about NSA?
STEPHEN: I became a teacher and a learner at NSA simply because Mike offered me the delightful opportunity to be an instructor in life drawing.

NSA: If you are allowed to have any famous painting in the world on your wall, what would it be and Why?
STEPHEN: Again I am not inclined to think of art in this context. The choice would overwhelm me. I prefer to explore the world of art consign the experiences to heart and mind and then give my attention to this strange and immense world that surrounds me, minute by minute.

NSA: What are you working on your creative activities right now and what would you like to achieve with your art within a year?
STEPHEN: When I am asked about my current projects an easy answer is not available because my art is not related to a project theme. However the one single subject that continues to enthral me is our human condition and this can morph into many patterns and processes. My work as an artist in medical contexts provides me with immense fuel for heart, mind and creativity.

NSA: why do you teach art, or what do you get out of it?
STEPHEN: Teaching is always a condition of learning for me. One can reverse this statement and it remains valid. However, love doing is vital the process.

NSA: Finally, would you design a T-shirt for Mike to wear in the class?
STEPHEN: This is from my sketchings and words for Mike.

mike lamble face Mike said “Reading Stephens words was a good reminder why I asked him to join the Northshore School of Art. Many years ago I attended his life drawing class at another college and loved his way of teaching and interaction with his students, being a teacher myself for more than twenty years I was acutely aware of this, and always wanting the best for my students. decided to share my life drawing class with Stephen I knew we would complement each others way of teaching,broaden my students experience perception and appreciation of art in general Life Drawing in particular. ”

ako lamble face Ako said “I thought I should say something about Stephen. I am responsible for those 7questions to ask our students and teachers but I realised that Stephen had so many things to say which is so sophisticated and doesn’t fit in the questions I prepared. Damn! Don’t worry our dear readers, I asked Stephen to become a regular contributor to our blog, so you will see his sketches, art and words that is interesting and inspiring. I particularly adore his sketching habit. He always carries his sketch book and pen and draws people, landscapes and so forth. I believe that all of us should adapt this habit to be a better artist. Said enough, will show you the teaser sketches and words of Stephen.”

It is often asked when did you first start to draw? The answer given is so often unsatisfying.
Perhaps the question could be, when did drawing first see you?
Ah! I can answer that. It was in the luminous line drawn by a snail and in the lines on my fathers darker face drawn by the stylus of time.
We can draw when we are not drawing, that is when drawing first sees us.

– Stephen Dernocoure

Life Drawing Class for All Levels

7 – 9pm Mondays
$275 per Term (10wks)
$35 per Casual Class

Why don’t you join our Monday evening life drawing class? If you are not sure, try it out as casual first. Please feel free to ask us if you have any questions about the life drawing class. Email: info[at]art-art.com.au / Phone: +61 (0)2 9968 1233 / Download Enrolment form