A bit more of a serious Santa

 Less of a fun Claus and more of a "I think you're on my Naughty List" Santa.

Just gimme that wink

 Santa being a bit sly.

Frosty

 This was a little 2x3 that I thought turned out quite fun.  Kinda have to see it in a frame to appreciate it.

Thanksgiving wiped out The Black Hand Group, so...

...I'll post a few more of the Christmas sketches that are currently up for sale at Roots.

Measure twice, draw once

 I should have taken that advice.  So many false starts and so so finishes.  This one should have turned out better.  Sometimes things just don't go as planned and I knew I should have put this aside and start a new drawing.  Being bull headed sometimes just doesn't pay.

Let there be light

 This was a really nicely lit pose.  Made for a fun study.  Only ten minutes to get it all down, though.  Made for some focused decisions.  That's not a bad thing.

Probably my best effort of the night

 I wish this had been the long sitting.  Although if it were, I might have finished the arms and other aspects.  I think I like this just the way it is.

Sometimes it just doesn't work

 This one was just a meandering mess.  About the only thing that works is the chair.

Head study

 Quick little study of Lady S.  Pretty happy with the likeness.

Gestures of Lady S

 Last session before Thanksgiving break.  Just a few gestures before we got started.

45 minutes of great lighting

 The highlights.  What else is there to say?  Just such a great pose to work from.

Stretch

 Sometimes the human body surprises me.  That bit of latissimus dorsi looks odd, but it was so interesting that I may have gone a little overboard with the shadow.

Torso study

 Another pose that deserved far more time and attention.  Just the time to get the left arm and shoulder correct, especially with the way it crosses over his right thigh.  Great tension in this pose.  Really deserved more time.

Quick (unfinished) back study

 Not enough time to get this to the point I wanted.  Still, I love getting lost in the details.

Gestures of Mr. M

We let our model determine the length of each pose.  Some were only 30-40 seconds, others about 2 minutes.  A great way to do gestures, not knowing how long you have so you need to determine what's important to capture as it may not be there in the next moment.  I may try to implement that for the regular drawings.
 

Conté strikes again!

Long pose and the only one I was happy with.  Very dramatic lighting created some pretty cool shadows and highlights.  This was fun to work on and worth the struggle with the other images.

Another bistre conté drawing

 I wish I had used a charcoal pencil for this one.  I needed some delicate lines and I just wasn't getting it with this conté crayon.  Alas, twas not in the cards...

Bistre conté drawing

 A bistre conté crayon sketch.  I really got held up on her upper back and shoulders.  Would like to have gotten to her right foot.

Two techniques in one

 I did the figure first and then started the head and face.  I wish I had worked the torso in the same smudgy style that I used for her head.

Gestures of the Lady P

 A decent evening of drawing.  I'll post the results starting Monday.

The most fun image I did

 The show consists of 18 framed drawings, two framed oil sketches and one canvas tapestry (like the witches and ravens I did for the Fall shows).  This is the most whimsical image I did.  Mounted in a simple red, small profile table frame, this drawing gives Santa the feel that he's pressing his face against a window while checking to see if the good little boys and girls left him his fee of cookies and milk.

A little oil sketch

 Leyendecker oil copy on a small 5x7 canvas.  Love playing with the simple strokes and big shapes.