Simple

I was happy with just doing a basic construction on this sketch. Well, except for the rendering of the model's moustache. Oh well, we can't be happy all of the time, can we?

Twosday twoday

Eh, I get bored with the titles so I amuse myself.

Here are a couple more sketches for your amusement.

Monday double feature

These are both smaller than I usually draw.  I did the head study first, flipped the sheet and did the back pose after.  Kinda fun compacting the area to draw in.  But still, I wouldn't want to do it all of the time.  Sorry, it doesn't make me yearn for those comic book days.

It's Sunday

I was intrigued by the shadows along the extended leg of our model and really tried to work the long strokes of the charcoal in with the simple structural lines of the rendering.  I'm fairly pleased with this one although I would like to have done a bit more with the arm.

Pieces

I tend to like drawing segments of the figure more than the whole.  It seems to focus me better and I end up liking the drawing more for it.

Back to our regular program

Gestures from last night. This week you may see a little different look to the drawings. I tried to be a bit more intuitive. I'll talk more of this as the posts progress.

Update!!!!

Something new. I finished this piece and thought I'd post it for comparison. A few adjustments and a bit of polishing up here and there. Now to move onto another unfinished piece.

The Trapper

This will be at our gallery soon. I had a lot of fun with it and you'll notice that it is very different in technique from the cowboy painting I posted a couple of days ago. By the way, I think I finished that one last night.

Sunday long pose

I had such high hopes for this drawing. I used a paper that Loren Entz gave to me and for some reason I thought it would be a magical solution. I struggled with the soft, rag nature of the texture and I wasn't able to push the charcoal like I wanted. I'm not done with this piece. I think I will break out the blending stumps (I haven't used them since my first couple of years in college) to see if I can get the tones I'm looking for. I measured and measured and then re-measured the head in relation to the figure and I still am not happy with what I came up with. I'm not sure if it is the slumped pose that is throwing me off or if I am just going blind. Alas, this is how it sits at the moment.

Wiiiiiiild Horses...

couldn't drag me away.

Okay, they probably could but I take any opportunity to quote the Stones. Just a little sketch of, well, a wild horse. Sheesh, what was ya 'specting?

In progress

Something I'm working on.  It should've been done by now but... 

A little late...

so sue me.  Busy day.  Here's something a little different.  I haven't quite figured out if this is done or not.  I really enjoy doing this pen and ink thing, guys.

Last pose

No drawing last night so this will be the last figure drawing until Monday.  I'll put some other stuff up in the meantime.  We will have a Sunday session utilizing a couple of long poses and I am leaning towards long drawings rather than short paintings.  We'll see.

Reclined

I really do enjoy these poses. When the hair piles up on the pillow I get the sense of the "Gibson Girl" from the days of yore. I also like the languid manner in which the body just contours to the pillows and the stage. Should have finished the last eye. Maybe later.

Finally...

a decent likeness.  I've been struggling with getting Sarah's face right and this one worked out.  Funny, because I wasn't really focusing on her face, more on the way the shadow fell on the torso and how it related to the different shifts in the form.  

Don't look back

I really got into this one.  It was a simpler pose, sure.  But I've always had a liking for a back pose.  I like the musculature involved and the way the light usually carries so much of the drawing.  Such is the case with today's drawing.  

Spring forward

The time change always seems to catch up to me on Monday, not the Sunday that it's changed on. Really screws with me for about a week. But that's neither here nor there. The drawing's the thing and I really like where this one was going. The pose was fluid and graceful and I was enjoying the the exploratory lines of this sketch. I really wasn't concerned with even trying to finish this one and that made it even more enjoyable.

A couple more

Sorry, no comments today.

Exploratory sketches

Just getting the feel of charcoal again.  Much different than the controlled feel of conté but much more freeing.  I think I may actually see things better when I'm using this stuff.  I feel... maybe that's the whole thing.  I "feel" when I'm using charcoal.  I can push the medium around with my fingers and I can layer and take away to much easier than with conté.  It feels good.

A gesture of grace

And so it begins again. Friday morning, gesture drawings. I really enjoyed the gesture poses our model took last night. Very graceful and maddeningly short. I would really have been happy to have turned some of them into full blown drawings. Alas, t'was not to be.

Tough pose

As a model who had never done this before this was quite a challenging pose.  Ten minutes with so much tension on various areas all at once.  Tremendous job, Shari.  And I think I kind of like the drawing itself.  Another ten would have been nice, but...

More dueling media

Charcoal?  Conté?  The reclining piece is in charcoal and suffers from not having the face complete.  I may actually go back in on this one just for that reason.  It disturbs me as it seems like a very nice start to what could be a solid drawing.  The little head study vexed me and I was not very pleased with it.  As much as I labored over it... eh, let it go.

Twofer Tuesday

Sorry, couldn't resist the title.  Again, one charcoal and one conté.  Again, I think the charcoal has more life and power whereas the conté has more finesse and control.  When placed together I like the charcoal better.  I guess this means I'll be using charcoal a lot more again.  In order to get the cherished detail I'll pull out the charcoal pencils as well.  Change is good, right?

Switch to terra cotta

I think I have actually shied away from terra cotta recently is because of this blog.  I have a hard time photographing it well and it bothers me to show my work with a yellow background.  I don't have the proper lighting in my studio to shoot quality photos and Photoshop can only do  so much.  However, I was able to shoot these outside using natural light.  Better, but not perfect.

As to the drawing, I am pretty happy with it.  I started the face but it was so loose that it distracted from the figure's more finished marks.  So, I erased it.

Laying around on a Sunday afternoon

or so the sketches would have you believe.  I switched up to charcoal for the first time in a very long time after a critique I attended a week earlier.  Just thought I'd see what I'd given up on.  Well, not so much given up on as took a break from.  The bottom piece is conté, as usual.

  I think I like the charcoal piece best.  The pose was more dynamic, a bit more interesting.  I also forgot how much I liked the easy darks I can get with just a quick drag of the stick.  Perhaps I'll stay with it a bit longer in the future.

A bit out-liney...

but I like it.  The pose was challenging because of the perspective and the foreshortening of the left leg.  With the right shin cutting it's way across the thigh it really presented some difficulty in making the depth believable (at least to my eye).  It left no time for the face (as is usually the case these days).  Five minutes wasn't as constrictive this week.

Another new model

One of our regular artists recommended Shari, our model for last night. Thank you to both. Shari had never done this before and she did a terrific job. As the week progresses, I hope the drawings reflect just that. As always, gestures start the week off.

And so endeth the session

  I just want to say "Thank you" to Sarah for a great modeling session.  The group very much appreciated it and we look forward to working with her again.

  As to the drawings, the reclining pose seems to be a bit academic in approach while the side view reflects how I seem to be doing my final sketches of each evening, kinda linear and heavy handed.  I guess I'm anxious to hit Jake's and have a Red Stripe.

A bit longer

We had ten minutes for the back shot and I think it shows.  I'm not sure if we did ten for the front seated piece or not.  I'm pretty happy with the first drawing and I think the second could have turned out but I'm only please with the left leg on that one.  Very happy with the modeling and the knee.  If I went in on the face I may have a different opinion.

A couple more quick sketches

I started focusing on the torso, which is pretty usual for me, since I wasn't completing nearly enough of the drawing to make me happy.  I am pretty happy with these, however.  A little more form over finish.  

Almost...

a full face.  Almost.  The second drawing was a bit too ambitious for a first time model.  However, she held it long enough to get a pretty good start on it.  We'll keep this one in mind for the future and give it another shot.