Life Drawing July 14th 2011

Tonight we had a lovely young model. Every human form is so different it amazes me. This is one of the privileges of doing this kind of drawing, and one of the treasures each model shares - this view of the variety and beauty of the human body.

I was determined, tonight, not to fall into old habits and draw the way I always do. It was a struggle. Trying to use a brush, ink washes, negaitve space, few lines... I was well outside my comfort zone, and the drawings show that. Most are pretty terrible, though they have moments or parts that taught me something. These are the best two. The smaller one (only 9 x 12), of the model in profile, is done with watercolor crayon and then water with a little blue ink. I dislike the texture - I seldom use cold press paper, and this is why. There are a few good moments in this drawing.

The other drawing here was a shorter pose (15 minutes), done on a larger sheet (18 x 24 - this is a cropping of the right side of a page). I wish the colors here, that almost violet hue on the arm, for instance, and the warm glow of the background, were true to the original, but they are actually improvements made by my camera. Usually these lose something in translation - this one gained. Again, there are some nice moments in this drawing (done almost entirely with a Niji water brush loaded with 1/2 strength Miday Blue Noodler's ink). This is done on Strathmore drawing paper (not really designed for this medium, but it stood up fairly well). I am trying to get away from newsprint. This drawing does a better job capturing the young charm of this model.

Blunt Instrument

To me, a Sharpie is a blunt instrument. So is a 3/4 inch square wash brush. I was seeking something different than I usually do.

Approx 12 x 16 inches, watercolor and Sharpie on Arches hot press. Approx ten minutes.

I see lines I wish I had left out... Next time...

I also see some lines I really like... Next time...

It's all about this time while the instrument is in your hand - then it's all about next time.

Duke Gardens - Saturday

After our usual visit to the Hillsborough farmer's market (Eno River Market) and walk downtown, we headed to Duke Gardens which had been flooded the evening before. The rain came from a storm which diverted my flight home to nearby Greensboro for fuel and to wait for the downpour to pass the Raleigh-Durham airport. Water was still high, and brown in the big duck pond. I parked myself on a step before this spirit house and drew it while Dearest took photos until she was about ready to pass out from the heat.


I've never observed this piece so closely before. Somehow I felt the ornamentation is Western, not from Asia... I can't put my finger on it, but the carving, shapes, proportions, etc. seem too expected, too classical. Does anyone know more about this?


Click image for a slightly larger view. Pencil and pen in drawing pad - 8.5 x 10 inches.

Festival for the Eno - 2011

One of the highlights of Durham's year is the annual Festival for the Eno which runs for three days every Fourth of July weekend. It's a fundraiser and awareness device for the preservation of the Eno river, which flows through Durham and Orange counties for much of it's length. Every year there is a new T-shirt design, and you can pick up reprints of the previous years (except some of the best designs, like the luna moth, or the four skinks, which people treasure). We bought quite a few today, since we have missed the last few years. It's always so hot that we can't go often or stay for long. A wild array of music is played on three stages across the park and artisans and environmental groups have set up booths along the many walk-ways. Though tens of thousands attend, the event is a model of green planning, with over 90% of the trash being composted or recycled. Many people gather at the concrete bridge and shallows to wade, rent kayaks and canoes, and see some of the wildlife up close. It's a congenial, thoughtful, colorful event.

Today's visit seemed really short to me, though, since I spent the majority of it on this sketch of the Grove stage. I recall the music of two musical groups while I drew. I love the cool green of the place, the informality of the crowd that gathers and changes over time, and the painting and old tobacco barn that serve as the backdrops of the stage. Before I knew it, the rest of the family was collecting me to leave.

When I started the sketch (ink and watercolor on cold press paper - 9 x 12 inches) it was less crowded. Early Sunday is a quiet time. It was more crowded (and a less attractive compoosition) when I left and took this photo for additional reference.

Life Drawing July 2, 2011

I joined another drawing group (on Meet-up) and they happened to have a session in my town today. It was great to get there in less than 10 minutes. But I was nervous, as well, for several reasons. First, I hadn't met any of these artists. This group tends to meet in people's homes (as today) and that can be more intimate, and (for me) a little more awkward with strangers. And the entire group attending today were women. I've been drawing with a group that has been all male, by coincidence. Today I knew I would be the only male in the room.

When I arrived I met the model outside. She was beautifully full figured, carried herself like a dancer (which she is) and was African-American with gorgeous skin tones. I caught myself smiling happily at her poses (including some challenging yoga positions) and the lovely way the natural light from the big windows illuminated her strong curves.

We set up in a large narrow livingroom space, which was a little difficult. Since I stood at my easel I moved to the back, and looked over the pads of several ladies who were seated. But I could see most of the poses well enough, it was a good group, pleasant, and I can learn a lot from many of them. Some have extraordinary ability to capture the pose, and do it expressively. Several create particularly beautiful lines. Unlike the sessions I attend on Thursday evenings, where no one shows their drawings, this group shows their best at the end, while everyone offers encouraging observations, and the organizer of the session photographs them to include several (without attribution) on the group's site. This encourages others to join us... Seeing the drawings (of the same poses you just drew in a quite different way, perhaps) can be amazingly instructive and inspiring. A few of us talked afterward about materials and getting back into this after years (several of them resumed only a few months ago). It was wonderful.

I still have so much more I want to do with these drawings, and I can't seem to get to a different place yet. Today, with all the other strangeness, I stuck to my usual ways. But I want to work with pen, brush, and watercolors. Eventually I want to paint figures with acrylics. But I need to loosen up more, see the lines I'm ignoring, and get more expressive.

The two red/orange drawings are Nupastel on newsprint. The other was done with a watercolor crayon - also on newsprint.

This last drawing was done before the session, to warm up a little before I headed out the door. It was done from the models/poses DVD I got for Christmas. Pen and colored pencil on sketch paper - about 13 inches high, from head to foot. I love the curve that starts in her neck and runs all the way to the inner contour of her right thigh.

Life Drawing June 30

After an interesting interlude in the land of the pencil, I am back to working with charcoal, pastel, and charcoal pencils. Today I even availed myself of china markers (which probably aren't even light fast) because I like the waxy devil-may-care way they inspire me to handle them.

I went into tonight's session determined to get loose and work almost entirely with the side of the chalk (which I managed) and to get away from former ways of seeing and drawing the figure (which I did not manage much). These are more free than others, and my journey through pencil-land may have helped with my use of the pastels - I don't know. I do know I was happy to get back to the chalky way of making marks.

We had one of the regular models who inspires me. She has beautiful shoulders and grace. She refers to herself as a "big girl" - and she is above average height for a woman - but I think her poses are elegant and femine. She also holds her hands in lovely ways. Some of these drawings show her age (she is in her sixties, I think) but others do not. She has thick, lovely straight hair, cut in a simple bob.

I really enjoyed tonight - and I did struggle a good bit with unfamiliar means and methods. Several of the drawings (not shown here) are pretty terrible, actually, but they are well outside my comfort zone, and so I'm actually pleased with them. The work I did tonight has me reaching for a different way to see and draw the figure. Right in time for another session on Saturday.

These are all on newsprint except the final one, which is on Strathmore drawing paper (a pretty smooth sheet which held the pastel better than I expected). The first is a 2 minute pose, followed by a 5 minute pose, two 10 minute poses, and finally a 20 minute. Click any for larger images. I'm content with all of these as showing progress and as fairly good records of what I felt and saw in each of these poses. I can do a lot more, though, and that's what is making this nearly an obsession. I haven't been this passionate about learning something in a long time.

Playing with my Food

We went to the farmer's market Saturday and I bought a tomato that required some play. I decided he needed a sweetheart.