Drawing my Muses

Drawing has always been an important outlet for my creativity and a way for me to learn about shape, form and texture. Portraiture soon became my favourite subject, as I enjoy studying a face and recreating a recognisable image of that person. I feel it challenges the artist in the highest way, requiring intense observation of shape, proportion and perspective, as well as the ability to translate feeling and emotion in relation to the person being portrayed.

My muses offer an additional challenge in that I do not have the sitter in front of me. Instead, I research paintings and photographs of the intended muse, sketching and drawing her in order to establish a likeness. However, my aim is not simply to copy her features, but to recreate something of the vision that originally inspired the artist. For that reason, it is just as important for me to study the artist and his work as it is to understand the relationship between artist and model.

These are undeniably enjoyable tasks, as they involve reading art books that stimulate my imagination and allow a sense of storytelling to emerge within the drawing, making the whole process deeply satisfying.

The Portraits

Simonetta Vespucci, Botticelli’s muse

_{To read caption, click on image.}

Frida Kahlo

Lisa Gherardini, Mona Lisa

Dora Maar

Jeanne Hébuterne

Marie Thérèse Walter

Leonora Carrington

Leonora Carrington in later life

Suzanne Valadon

Drawings in pencil and charcoal of the young Suzanne, then known a s Maria. By Marina Elphick.

Teha’amana, Gauguin’s Tahitian muse and first wife

Emilie Flöge

Jane Morris

Sylvette David

Olga Kaira, Miss La La

Lydia Delectorskaya

I look at my drawings in the mirror to see if there are any irregularities or glaring disproportions. The one on the right is mirrored.

Fanny Cornforth

Fanny Cornforth, Pre Raphaelite muse and friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Drawings on paper in charcoal.

The Girl With the Pearl earring

Preparatory study for ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ muse, pencil on paper, by Marina Elphick.

Marie Spartali

Marie Spartali, later Spartali Stillman, was a prolific and talented female Pre-Raphaelite artist as well as model. Charcoal portraits of her by Marina.

Georgiana Burne-Jones

^{Georgiana Burne-Jones, charcoal on rag paper, by Marina Elphick.}

Gabriele Münter

Charcoal drawings of Gabriele Münter by Marina Elphick.