Dunn-ish head study

Again, I get a bit of inspiration from a Harvey Dunn drawing I admire so much.  I know it's not as quality but that's not the point.  Exploring the darks and lights was a lot of fun in this head study.

Tension

Was very happy with the manner in which I used the medium.  broad strokes while framing with some fairly confident line work. 

Gestures of good faith

Another week of drawings begin. To any who read this I am thinking of having this particular model pose for us in a Steve Huston themed session. The workman as a subject. If you don't know who Mr. Huston is, look him up. Let me know what you think as I believe it could be a great drawing experience.

Last two from last week

The head study turned out well, could be changing up to conté or just that I've been in practice with the head study thing.  Whatever the reason, I like the drawing.  Not as thrilled with the last drawing of the night.  Kind of like the face and some of the modeling, but there wasn't enough time for this particular drawing.  Some new stuff starts tomorrow.

Winding down

A couple more from Thursday.  I really like the back pose with the nice twist to the torso.  The seated image could have used some more time but I think that I was concentrating on the linear aspect and got a bit prissy and slow.  The face was beginning to come together in this one.  Too bad...

The stick

Here's the obligatory "stick" figure. One of our artists loves the stick so we accommodate his odd fetish. Actually, the stick is a great device to create tension and it usually gives us the opportunity to get a "Frazetta" like sketch done.

This pose kind of shifted but I was really enjoying to weight distribution and the manner in which her back swayed just enough to balance her for the duration. Very nice pose.

Head study

I really liked this one.  Even got the right eye drawn in, something I often run out of time on.  I really got into the technique I was using, a lot of broad strokes coupled with some ticky tacky little charcoal pencil work.  Made me happy.

Too cold to come up with a title

Snow everywhere.  Not in the right frame of mind to even write anything intelligent.  Sorry.  Here's the next sketch from the other night.

Five minutes

Another too short effort.  This would have been a fun one to finish.

And so we meet again...

Gestures from last night. Not much to tell regarding these, just warm up drawings. Sometimes I wish that the model could hold a few of these for an extended period of time but, alas, that is the nature of the gesture.

On the flip side...

we find this.  I really like this one, almost as much as the one I posted Monday.  The line work and the lost edges really appeal to me.  Oh, and the second piece?  It was almost like Jeff knew I was doing head studies and purposely turned his back so that I would have to make a choice.  Vive la consistency!  In your, er, face Mister Model!

Looking a wee bit grey

Rooting around the portfolio I found a single sheet of grey paper.  Note to self, hit the art store today and pick up more paper.  At least I (kind of) like the drawing.  We'll flip it over tomorrow and see what I come up with at the bottom of the page.  

Slip sliding away

Unfortunately, the difficulty in holding this particular pose, at least the head portion, was something I didn't take into account when I started.  By the time the pose ended the head had moved a significant amount.  Oh well, such is life (drawing).

Contemplative

This was probably my favorite drawing of the evening.  I love the angle and all of the folds in the face that this pose created.  My linework was exactly as I wanted it and I think if I had more time I just would have ruined it.  Okay, maybe I would have finished the ear...

The theme continues

Another head study, other end of the page.  This will continue all week.  I really did have fun with these.

First in a series

Because I was so low on paper I had to figure a way to maximize my dwindling supply so I decided to focus on head studies.  This is the first.

Thanks, Jeff

You saved the day again. Sometimes it is just so frustrating. Anyhow, to anyone who may stop in and check out these little doodles I do(odle), here are the gesture drawings from the evening. I was running extremely low on paper so I used both sides of this one, hence you can see the other drawing coming through. As the week progresses you'll see that I had to make some choices to preserve my dwindling supply. It actually turned out to be a great choice (in my opinion) as I am very happy with the sketches this session produced.

Last drawing of the night

I really wanted this one to come out well. There was a lot to work with but I couldn't decide where to focus. I was getting into the face but really liked the mass of the torso. The light took care of the details and left a very simplified figure. Where I wish I had a bit more time was the right arm holding her head up. Just wanted more...

Uh, hmmm

I ran out of time. I got a bit hung up on the right eye and time slipped away before I could get the left eye placed correctly. I knew this would happen as I changed my philosophy.

Channelling my inner Lipking

Okay, no way will this ever be confused with a Jeremy Lipking drawing but after switching over to a better grade of paper for the second half of the session I decided to begin with the eye and work my way out. I probably could have just worked the eye and the surrounding area for the whole pose but I always get jumpy about not having enough to support the interest area so...

Anyhow, I enjoyed the process (thank you JL) even if I'm not satisfied with the end product. And the band plays on.

Simple

I really enjoyed the simplicity of this drawing.  Keeping it pretty much linear was hard for me, as I have a tendency to want to shade with broad strokes of the vine charcoal.  Apparently I couldn't resist the cast shadow of the arm.

Trying to believe

I was having fun with this one.  Trying to adopt the new mantra "Make each stroke count" means that I won't always get a complete drawing done.  I am reasonably happy with what I did get down on paper but it will take some time for me to get used to not having a finished product at the end.  Hopefully this will change as I let the philosophy take hold.  Ohmmmmmmm

I got nothing

Just the drawing today.

Return of the Gesture

Small group (4) last night. Most likely due to the fact that it was about zero degrees out by the time we started. Got a late start and I had the model break her gesture poses as she saw fit. Most of them were about 30 seconds or less. Not a lot of time but it got the blood flowing again. The real stuff starts tomorrow.

FINALLY

We are back to drawing tonight.  After what feels like a year off we get to draw again.  Tomorrow, new stuff.  So this is the last of the old stuff and she seems to be turning her back in protest.  Alas, you just can't make everyone happy.

Craft paper doll

Okay, a little cute with the title but what do you want?  Untitled 384?

The 12th Day of Christmas

I always thought the 12 Days of Christmas culminated on Christmas Day.  Go figure that it would start then and end on my Dad's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dad.

As for the drawing, well, a pretty typical rendering.  You may think "He did it again, lopped off the head".  WRONG!  It's just hidden.  Ha, buncha knowitalls.  Anyhow, good construction and basic rendering.  As I posted before, I hope to improve my concentration and keep all of my sketches at a higher level in the coming year.

Back to work

It seems as if she is saying, "Woe is me.  The first Monday of the new decade."  Or maybe I'm putting words into her mouth.

As to the drawing itself, well, I like the pose and the movement of the strokes all leading the eye to the mid section where the heaviest blacks and highest contrast are.  The large shape of her hip creates a fun ride for the eye to take.  This is not a polished or finished drawing but it is a favorite of mine.  There just seems to be a lot going on even if the model gives us a pretty static pose.

Nicholas days

This is from the days before we declared ourselves "The Black Hand Group".  Nicholas Gallery was our original home and the Thursday night group was organized by Max.  Unfortunately the gallery decided to close it's doors.  Unfortunate not only for our group but mostly for the city and region.  Nicholas was the hands down finest gallery in the area.  We had access to some of the best contemporary realists around and also to some of the masters of days gone by.  I still mourn the passing of such a wonderful art haven, but it did provide the impetus for our group today and it gave me access to those same great artists who, to some degree, grace our walls at Gallery Interiors.

A different look

Every once in awhile, I like to try something a little different.  Okay, so I had a couple of pieces of black paper in my portfolio and I just wanted to get rid of them.  This is one of them.  I'm sure I posted at least one other in the past but the past is past and the future's so bright...  Well, if any of you were a teen of the eighties you know the rest.

Happy New Year

... now let me go back to sleep.