Conté redux

 At last, a sketch I'm pretty much okay with.  I'm happy with the lost edges and the edges that merge into shadow.  The play of the figure against the fabric was a lot of fun to do.

Back in black

 Finally, a drawing I am happy(ish) with.  Coulda used a few more minutes...

Back in red

 Shoulda started this a bit further to the right side of the paper.  Poor planning.

Imcomplete studies

 A couple of conté studies.  The top one was on newsprint and the other on bond paper.

Gestures on newsprint

It's been a minute since I used newsprint.  This stuff had a tooth to it and I used to use end rolls from the Gazette which were considerably slicker. This was kinda fun...

Best of the evening

 This ended up being about 22 minutes and I used all of the allotted time as best I could.  So, only one decent sketch from the night.  Not my best evening.  Need to do better.

Disappointment

That seems to be what our model was thinking and I agree... this long drawing ended up being a big disappointment for me.  I like how his head turned out but I just couldn't get a hold on the rest of it.  I seem to have issues whenever that staff is involved.  I may have to keep a straightedge with me so I can just place the object correctly and work from there.

Better

 More time for this one.  Hey, I even used two types of conté!  Evolution can be fun...

Five minutes to get just enough...

 ... to be frustrated with a great start to a drawing that will forever live in limbo.  I loved the gestural movement in this and the mass that I was about to build up.  Just not enough time (by far).

Gestures of Mr. M

 Our model always takes such dynamic gestures.  It's a shame that they are so fleeting...

45 minutes and I'm not sure what I accomplished

 Again, the proportions are correct but that right leg, as it leans across her other leg, created such a foreshortening problem for me.  It may have been the strong lighting that worked against me (just on the leg) but I just have an issue with how it comes across on the paper.  Otherwise, I like this sketch.

My favorite of the night

 This turned into a 22 minute drawing and I was grateful for every one of them.  I like the focus of the image and just got lost in the whole process.

That shadow

 The drawing is a bit rudimentary but I really loved that shadow draping her chest.  I may revisit this and see if I can work it out a bit better.

Stretch

 Cecil posed Lady S in a challenging manner.  This drawing may not show the stress and tension created but our model powered through.

Lady S returns... The Gestures

 This page of scribbles may not show it but S really put her all into the poses.  Would love to have turned them into much longer drawings.

The long pose

 Oh boy, this was a mind breaker for me.  I spent a lot of time measuring and remeasuring the arm and leg and trying to make sense of what I was translating into line and shading.  I've come to the conclusion that my problem is simply that I was too close to the model and it created some perspective issues.  The arm is, obviously, closer to me.  However, being so close, physically, to the subject just created a distortion of sorts.  Everything is correct, I just don't think it looks... right.  Still, I like the drawing from a technical standpoint.