Hmph!

So much for my love affair with terra cotta! I struggled mightily with this drawing and, ultimately, failed. Not sure what the problem was but it started bad and never got on track. It happens.

Twofer

The head study is okay but I'm not thrilled with the seated sketch. Should've put some effort into the head and defined the fact that she was leaning against the wall. On poses such as this one it doesn't help that I have a profile view unless I put some work into defining the wall itself. C'est la vie.

Best Drawing of the Night

Best drawing in a long time. I loved this pose during gestures, but I am even more pleased with this result. Simple, strong and elegant. Hey, the lost edge at the navel is pretty cool too.

Last Night at the YAM

The gestures from last night. Pretty hit or miss for me the whole evening although tomorrow's image is one of my favorites from probably the last couple of years at least.

Last coupla scratchin's

eh

Last decent drawing of the night

Another one I was pretty happy with. Love the terra cotta look. Tomorrow you'll see how I fell off the beam for the last couple of sketches.

My favorite drawing of the night

White charcoal accenting the highlights seems to work for this one. I had a blast doing it.

Monday's duo

Got a little enamored with the left hand of the charcoal sketch. Shades of my desire to be like J C Coll. Solid enough drawings, nothing great.

Seeing double

I thought that I liked the top image but when it was all said and done I hadn't accomplished what I intended so I just did the next pose at the bottom and now I regret that. I kind of like the second drawing and feel I would have put more effort into the head had I felt I would have had a singular image to keep. Oh, well, that's the way the charcoal crumbles, I guess.

Minimal

I enjoyed the minimal manner in which I rendered this drawing, concentrating on the lights and darks rather than any linear marks. I am especially happy with the arms and the way the right arm disappears into the lost edge of the right leg. One of the better images of the night

The return

Jeff graciously filled in for us as model and did his usual great job.

Final sketch of the evening

I was pretty happy with this one even if I went back to charcoal for it. The long lines and the cast shadow give this the look of a preliminary sketch for a sculpture (in my mind at least). Simple drawing to end the session with.

Relaxed

Again with the conté! Oh, well, if it works...

A coupla more

Really blew the charcoal but I am very happy with the conté drawing. I go in spurts and right now the conté crayon is giving me the best results. No logical reason that I can think of, they are both just sticks in my mitt. Go figure.

A Monday duo

For some reason the conté seems to give me a nicer look these days. I'm becoming enamored with the terra cotta on newsprint look again.

Gettin' warmed up

Still letting the surface dictate my technique. Later I start to impose my will a bit. I'm interested to see how this goes.

Some gestures

Thursday night saw a bigger group and, I think, a better set of drawings from me. Here are the gestures.

Hmmm, not bad if I do say so

This one made my night.

Back to basics

Pretty happy with this one. Nice big shapes and pretty simple shading. Better placement on the page would have helped.

Black Robe

I really loved this pose. Wish I had done it justice. Again, Angry Hanks plus drawing equals a very hazy experience.

A little tighter

but still pretty basic. This stuff reminds me of Burne Hogarth's approach. Not in the dynamics but with just seeing the large shapes.

What was I thinking?

There were a number of reasons for my very loose work last Thursday night. I didn't have my glasses. It had been a month since I last drew from life. I switched back to newsprint. Oh, yeah, I had three Street Fight Red's at Angry Hanks before I walked in. Sheesh, not a good idea. But it did help to create a much more "free" interpretation of the figure (for me). Not saying that I will be doing that again but maybe I can learn from this and take my work in a different direction. Or maybe not. We'll see.

Nice pose but...

I seem to have had a problem centering the drawing on the page. Too bad, it was a really good pose.

New stuff for a new year

Sara was kind enough to open 2011 for us. Here are the gestures from last night. I have gone back to newsprint, as you may be able to tell.

Another supine pose

I just think the models get tired of standing. I believe this was our most often drawn model, Deb.

Unfinished #...

heh, too many unfinished drawings to ever be able to put a number to. This model was named Cassie and she may have been the most perfectly proportioned model I ever drew. Quite petite in stature but she had a perfect hourglass figure. Her red hair and pale skin really made her quite intriguing to draw, although that never came through in charcoal. She eventually moved on but while she was with us we got some terrific art out of her.

Sinew

Long and lean body on this male model really gave the artists some great shapes to work with. The connections between muscle and bone are very prominent and made for some interesting choices. I chose to amplify the sinewy nature of the figure where others decided to simplify the shapes and draw in a more impressionistic manner. I think whenever I have the time I tend to travel the road most detailed.

Untitled #9

Ambiguous title for an ambiguous pose. I've always liked this pose from our models. The perspective makes for an almost landscape image. Fun to draw.

Lost

Jenny again. That haircut is so recognizable. I always had fun drawing her. As for the drawing itself, my illustration tendencies seem to come out as I look for lost edges to play with. I also seem to have had a problem finishing faces even then. I know that the poses were longer when I did these drawings so I can't blame lack of time. I guess I just got caught up in the figure more than the face.

Happy New Year

Something old to ring in the new year.
This model, who posed for us for a couple of years, had a wedge cut coif that was nigh unto impossible to ignore as the starting point of any drawing of her. The graphic shape was just too tempting but it ultimately served as a great point of reference for measurement and correct placement of the features.