Barbara Bradley ~ Teacher and rolemodel for Pompsicle drawing studios
Well, as my friend Eric Joyner said, it's the end of an era. Last week we lost some one very special. Barbara Bradley was an accomplished illustrator and teacher and truly a legend in her own time. She passed on May 2nd 2008 and my sympathies go out to her family, friends and students.
Barbara Bradley was such an inspiration and influence for me. Her approach to drawing the clothed figure, creating apealing characters, directing models and a studio full of artists is what formed the basis (and desire) for my own drawing studio, Pompsicle. Her ideas come through in how I draw and paint, not just from being in her classes, but from the way her teachings filter through the other instructors at the Academy of Art University (many having been her students themselves a generation ago).
I would like to post some of her artwork and recall a few stories in her memory.
I heard about Barbara Bradley often before eventually meeting her. She was (and still is, I'm sure) the model for how clothed figure drawing and illustration was taught at the Academy of Art. While in
Beginning clothed figure 1 with Carol Nunnelly (a life-changing teacher herself) I was told by a former student that Carol is the Obi Wan of clothed figure drawing and Barbara Bradely is the Yoda. She was the wise one; the teacher of teachers.
Barbara may have looked a bit like my Grandma, but the resemblance ended there. Barbara was sharp. She could pick up a peice of charcoal with her arthritic hand and bust out a perfect leg, face, fur coat, whatever, with no reference or underdrawing. She asked if we knew why she could draw so well with a less than nimble hand like hers. "decades of practice?" (well, sure that can't hurt) but the point is she used a light touch and stayed loose in her drawing. This concept of a loose approach is something I am still working on and encourage Pompsicle artists to adopt.
Barbara was not one of those instructors who praises every student's work as "beautiful in its own way, blah, blah." She was a task master and if you were messing up and not creating your absolute best, she told you so. It could be intimidating and scary, but that is exactly what I came to AAU looking for: instructors who would push me to work harder than I was used to. That's how one improves! During one particular drawing session, Barbara made her way to my easel, looked at the tangle of marks I had made to render a dress and said, "What is this, a symphony of folds?!" Point taken. Edit, simplify, make marks that are clear and tell the story and then move on.
Barbara and I have kept in contact since I graduated from AAU. I am glad I was able to let her know where her influence has taken me already, and I know she was excited by what I am doing with Pompsicle. I think she knows it grew directly from her.
Thank you Barbara Bradley, indeed.