When each line makes up a life

KOCHI: For three days, the people at Cabral Yard were engrossed in human anatomy, trying to sketch the features of a live model sitting before them. The Kochi Biennale Foundation hosted a workshop on ways to sketch human form using any medium of one’s choice.

Artist P S Jalaja conducted a course, which gave training on creating images of women and men in various shapes and postures. Titled ‘Life & Line’, the workshop aimed to teach students on ways to pay stronger attention to drawing techniques on proportion, gestures, expression and tonal quality.
Jalaja, who was an artist in the inaugural edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2012, says the workshop was designed for everyone interested in the human figure and was looking for a strong foundation in drawing it.

On Wednesday, the students were guided to draw prominent human features such as eyes, noses and lips by looking at the model. She went on to explain where they faltered and the ways to rectify the mistakes. “Basically, the exercise is on what all one should keep in mind while working on a life drawing,” said Jalaja, a member of the artist collective Kala Kakashi which uses art as a medium to support the public struggle for existence.

In the beginning, the artist instructed children not to use erasers. “If you use the eraser, you won’t understand where you have gone wrong,” said the 35-year-old, who did her masters from RLV College of Fine Arts, Tripunithura. “You should, instead, draw the same thing a second or third time to understand the earlier mistakes and thus keep bettering one’s skills,” she said.

“This was a very interactive workshop,” says Fathima Nazi, a Class VIII student of Our Lady’s Girls High School in Thoppumpady. “There is a good focus on the essentials of realistic painting from life and learning to keep one’s brushwork expressive,” she said. 

Chipping in, Fathima’s friend Kalyani V Menon said the workshop helped her understand the basics of drawings and the importance of lines. Jalaja’s objective was to make her students understand the basic procedure to represent the human body accurately from the anatomical point of view as well. “The first day was about the proportions and volumes. The second day will focus on gesture, which is the key to successful drawing,” said the artist, who got one of the art room volunteer to be the life model for the kids.

The workshop began with a discussion and demonstration of still-life drawing and painting strategies. 
A native of Keezhillam near Perumbavur, Jalaja’s works show a deep concern for social and political matters even as they make sensitive artistic responses using local school of thoughts. From childhood, she has been fascinated by people and their mannerisms, leading her to watch them closely.