Some "finished" stuff

 This page is the result of three different poses.  All three major models are represented.  The upper right image is of Stephan leaning on his hoop, the prop he uses in his act with Cirque du Soleil.

I spent 3 fabulous days at The Figure Society symposium

 Here are some of my gestures.  We worked with three outstanding models in the main studio all three days.  Two of them are Cirque du Soleil performers.  Spectacular opportunity.  These gestures may not make a lot of sense to everyone but I can see exactly what I was doing in this mess.  I was limited on what I could get to the symposium so I was working on a 14x17 pad and was trying to conserve my paper, hence so many poses just overlapping one another.  Anyhow, the gestures, in no particular order...

Forty five head study

 I got pretty caught up in noodling the face and hand (a bit too much attention to the hand).  Still, there's some stuff I'm pretty happy with.  Not my best effort, though.

Twenty minutes and all I got was...

 ... a little shadow and an unfinished hand.  I am happy with how the arm rests on her left hand.  A bit more work on the drapery might pull this together.

Fifteen minute study in shadows and shapes

I was really enjoying this pose and I think I got what I needed to from my 15 minutes.  Probably my favorite sketch of the session.
 

Ten minutes with conté

 I wasn't on my A game this last session, taking a bit too long with each drawing and not really getting the results I wanted.  This feels a bit rough and it was a really great pose, so I guess it was just another lost opportunity.

Gestures of Samm

 Samm graciously stepped in for an ailing Patience this week.  As always, a great job from out stalwart model, and these are the gesture drawings to prove it.

Forty five minutes

 This was fun to draw.  The hands, the cloth and the languid pose made for some wonderful challenges.  

The third quarter hour sketch

 Ah, I was so reminded of Frank Frazetta's "Ghoul Queen" that I just couldn't separate myself from that image.

 

The second quarter hour sketch

 Such a classic pin-up pose.  Coulda been a pretty nice had I had more, you guessed it, time.

The first quarter hour sketch

 Lost edges and lines.  

Gestures... just gestures... always gestures

See the title of this post.
 

40+ and still coming up short

 So many interesting aspects to this pose and I just couldn't concentrate on a singular direction.  This became very academic and that's unfortunate.  Her hand was pretty interesting but I really loved the knees and lower legs.  I made a mess of her face so I erased it and spent a bit more time trying to be accurate.  I only got so far.  Ultimately this is just a practice sketch.

15 or so

 This was a lot of fun to draw.  So much movement with forms and lines creating such a fluid image.  Another one that would benefit from more time.

10 minute missed opportunity

 This might be my favorite of the session only because it was coming along so nicely from a structural standpoint.  Could have been 30 minutes at least.  C'est la vie.

5 minute torso...

 ... or at least a partial torso.  Hey, whatcha want for five minutes?  

Thursday's gestures on Friday

 Our models put a lot of thought into the poses they present us with.  Very much appreciated.  This week is Patience.

40 minute study

 

Charcoal in forty.

20 minute study

 

Charcoal in twenty.

10 minute study #2

 

Conté in ten.

10 minute study #1

 

Charcoal & conté in ten.

Gestures from Thursday

 Yep, one minute sketches.  Movin' on...