Life Drawings Revisited

All drawn in charcoal on A4 paper.
It's very strange how after an intense period of painting such as 'Winter Solstice' and 'Miss Lovely Legs' has left me a bit drained and short of ideas for the present. It's at times like these (because it has happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again) that my only recourse is to turn to my sketchbooks and see if I can find inspiration there. Although I may have no ideas in my head as to what I want to do next it is in those pages that I invariably find something to stimulate my imagination and get me going again. It may not happen immediately but the seeds are sown and ideas run around until the 'Big Idea' makes it'self known to me and off I go again. In the meantime I play around with what I've got like these life drawings trying to give them a new edge that will set me off on a new direction. I can tell you the mists are gathering at present and I know good things are about to happen, but I am taking it easy at the moment and letting the pot come to the boil first. Soon it will boil over and I'll be trying something new for every thing I do is an exploration and experimentation!