This weeks gesture sketches of Lady A

Some of these gestures I would love to have explored as much longer studies.  However, that is the nature of gesture poses, being more dynamic and harder to hold for extended periods of time. 

Lady A reclines

A very nice, relaxed pose.  She has a fun face to sketch.

Huh?

Loved her shorn locks and the turn of her head.  Just couldn't resist doing a head study rather than the whole figure.

Sometimes you just gotta draw what's in front of you

An awkward pose (at least for me).  Still, it has merit and I like how the left foot relates to the mass of the glute and the hand.

The Man of Bronze

Pretty much done with this one.  I'll glaze the shirt when the paint is dry enough, add a couple of highlights and then varnish it.  This will be my companion piece to the George Rozen copy I did last month, "The Black Hush".  Happy enough with this and learned a lot of things, which was the point.  I'm moving on to copying a Nicolai Fechin piece next.  I'm hoping to learn a ton from that and then maybe combine some of what I've been doing into my own work.  We'll see.

Gestures of Lady A

Lady A really takes some great poses.  Sure would like to have turned some of these into longer poses and a shot at some nice drawings.

Lost edges

This pose just slapped me in the face and said "STOP!"... walk away and leave me alone.  I felt that the balance of what was left out to what I had drawn really was just about perfect.  Sure, there are a lot of things I could do with what I have but I just love the simplicity of what was done vs. what was left undone.  In other words I'm happy with this one.

Great pose

Not nearly enough time to even get a good start with this one.  The pose was wonderful and deserves greater attention.  The movement is so dynamic without looking forced.

Progression shots of my James Bama Doc Savage Man of Bronze homage

Still a looooong way to go to accomplish my goal of hyper(ish) detail.  After doing the George Rozen knockoff I wanted to try something that positively scared the heck outta me, copying such a detailed and highly recognizable image.  Sure, it ain't The Mona Lisa but what I can learn from this exercise is exciting.  So plug away I will, making adjustments and wondrous discoveries along the way.

Tayla deconstructed

Short pose that gave me the opportunity to just jot down the big notes.

Gestures of Tayla

We've been really lucky recently with some terrific models.  Tayla gave us some nice poses all night, here are the gestures.

My favorite of the evening

I finally had the time to work a bit into this.  Gotta say that the pose was simple enough to let me breathe a bit and just find the simple shapes.

A drop line for interest

Finally felt comfortable with Lady C and got a decent sketch.  Not perfect but I felt like I was loosening up without going out of control.

The pose was better than the drawing

Lady C takes a stretch.

Five minute rough cut

This coulda turned out to be something fairly nice, given more (drum roll please)... time.

Gestures of Lady C

Finally, 2020 can get started!  First session of the new year and it was a pretty good group even though we got the first snow fall of the year/decade.  Anyhow, here are the gestures of Lady C...

Going back to '16

Mr. D did a lot of good work for us back in the day.  Models and artists often come and go.  Mr. D was both and it has been some time since we last saw him.  Here's hoping things are working out for him.

Something different

I did this Jim Aparo swipe/knockoff/homage as a commission for a mother's son, a returning Vet.  Lot of fun to do.  I'd like to say I learned a lot but the brilliance of Aparo so far eludes me.  The ease with which he creates the dynamics of the pose and the simplification of the figure that looks so detailed is just AWESOME!  Wish I had one of my Windsor Newton brushes to ink with and if this had been on Bristol board and... well, you get the idea.  Overall I'm happy and I hope the recipient is happy.

I really like the pose

Obviously and as always, I could have used a bit/lot more time for this.  Would love to revisit this either with a new model or just try and finish this with no ref.  Would hate to ruin the face as it just looks serene to me.  Perhaps a bit more hair (or not).  Hmmmm... just so many ways to go.  Next challenge is to find this in that pile of drawings.

A little Huston inspiration

The heavy shadows and thick outline are not a natural for me and so I always give thanks to the beautiful work of Steve Huston when one of these comes out of my hand.  His art is so inspirational to me.  This piece is just a start on a better drawing.  Will I ever get to finish this?  Doubtful as I don't have any reference to make sure I don't screw it up.  Sigh...

More of the same in 2020?

I hope not.  Aside from the geopolitical issues that bombard us every waking moment of our lives these days I hope that I can step out of my own way and become a better artist.  Not just technically, although that is a constant goal/struggle, but from a conceptual and accepting manner.  By that I mean that I hope I can, at the very least, give new ideas a chance before I dismiss them as "not for me".  Perhaps I can grow more by allowing other influences to be considered.  At 56 I'm asking the question... "What do I want to be when I grow up".

Better late than never.

So BRING IT ON, 2020!  I'm up for the challenge.  Let's find out if there is something left in the gas tank that can surprise me and maybe make a small difference in this geopolitically challenged world.