15 minute sketch #2

 I need more time these days.  My style has gotten much more detailed and careful, hence I am slower.  As much as I love my Thursday evenings with The Black Hand Group, I'm finding that I yearn for a more one on one drawing experience in a studio setting.  The Figure Society has reawakened my passion for the figure and the act of drawing from a live model with my direction and no time limits.

15 minute sketch #1

 I would have been very happy to have sketched this for a longer time but given that the twist, as so often is the case, changed subtly, I finished with a different perspective and so the drawing is an amalgamation.

Gestures of the fabulous Miss Samm B

 Lovely evening with our stalwart and faithful model, Samm.  

10 minutes to start the night and it didn't get any better from here

 My strongest effort of the session came right out of the gate.  Strong shadows and nice shapes made for a nice drawing.  So, in summation, my two best drawings from the last week are back sketches.

15 minutes and coming along

 As minimal as this is I'm pretty happy with where this sketch stands (or lies, as it seems).  I really would have liked to have explored her face a bit more, however.

Last drawing of the symposium. Saved the best for last

   I cannot believe that I finished the three days with my strongest drawing.  This may be the strongest drawing I have ever done.  I'm judging this in terms of what I wanted and what I achieved.  I feel I exceeded my expectations for this one hour pose (which, with breaks was more like 45 minutes).  My line sensitivity was at its peak and the gentle use of the shading and multiple build ups of said shading created something I just wasn't prepared for.  I give all the credit to the previous 14 hours of drawing that led to this last hurrah of charcoal and paper.  This was everything I could hope for coming out of this creative maelstrom.  

  Thanks go to Shane Wolf and his wife for everything they endured to bring this to life.  The sponsors who helped defray the costs and give promotion to the symposium.  I'm still on a high from this and feel sad that I won't be getting such an intense experience again for over a year.  This showed me what could be and I am now trying to figure out how to keep this level up try and move forward.

15 minutes

 An unrealized conté sketch that I spent too much time on trying to be delicate with the lines.  As the evening wore on I realized that I must invest in better paper or I won't get maximum results from my efforts.  A lesson I accidentally learned during the symposium.