Life drawing at Poldrate Mill

Last Saturday was typical of the sort of weather we have been enjoying in East Lothian, bright winter sun and very chilly. Just the sort of weather to get your kit off. Not me, but the model in the Life Drawing class, held in the high roofed and chilly Poldrate Mill. The temperature wasn't a problem due to the strategically placed heaters, one of which appears in the drawings. The drawings were done in charcoal and a bit of chalk. Unlike other Life Drawing sessions I have been to, this one didn't have a tutor. We just got on with it ourselves. This free approach is a good way of doing a session, but I do like to have a critical eye cast over my work and I have learned a lot from various tutors at the Pitclay gallery, Footscray Community Arts in Merlbourne and at the National Gallery. Everyone has their own approach and I would say that there is no 'right' way of drawing, but there are 'good' and 'not so good' drawings. I think it comes down to looking really deeply at the model. Getting proportions right in relation to each other and going for it. These drawings were done quickly for practice and are not the finished article. Like everything in art, practice is the route to improvement.

Poldrate Mill, Haddington

Poldrate Mill was built on the site of the mediaeval Kirk Mill. The present buildings are largely 18th Century and include the mill itself reconstructed in 1842, the granary, maltings and a range of workers' houses to the rear. Their conversion for use by the Lamp of Lothian Trust began in 1968, and the 19th century iron wheel and some of the machinery have been preserved on the site.
Milling operations ceased in 1965, but what remains is the only one of Haddington's three mills, which still displays much of its traditional form. The Mill is located at the southern boundary of Haddington on the River Tyne and provides an important community facility, providing arts, crafts and youth club facilities run and owned by the Lamp of Lothian Trust.