October 8, 2012 Part Two

Same situation as the first, a bit stiff, not quite accurate, but developed more color - what a challenge! I struggle with the desire to depict the figure accurately AND do so with expression. The battle continues . . .

October 9, 2012

It is a challenge to draw even one figure sometimes, two figures can be overwhelmingly complex. So the thing to do that works for me is to simplify, simplify. This drawing was the second of three - the first was a 20-minute charcoal, this one was 30 minutes (?), and the last was about an hour with a break in the middle. While this drawing is stiff partly because of the inaccuracies and partly in the apprehensive rendering, I do like the simple blocks of color. - Not too much finish, or too much detail.

Fallen Angel

This week's drawing was uninspiring until we did this pose. Still not a masterpiece (what IS???), but some interesting things are happening - particularly the way the complementary colors glow when side by side. And except for this one which is interesting, a not great night for me.

9-25-2012

Trying to not smooth out pastel marks so much - let them speak on their own, just trying to be a little freer, simpler. This was a salvageable drawing - the rest are headed for recycling!

Throw caution to the wind!

And fire away! I was worried I couldn't get the color to read the skin tone right, I was worried I couldn't get the figure on this small (16x20) format, I was worried blah, blah, blah . . . so, I said the heck with it, let's just do it and if it's worse than the first - we'll just scrub them off and have at it again - just like drawing!

And I really like this red sheet, too!
I am happy with this one.

First time oil of figure drawing

Last week the weather was so bad, I missed one of our favorite models. But this week we had an excellent, new model and hoping he will return again soon!
I started out the night very apprehensive - I was out of my comfort zone and plunging into something I had not done before - oil painting with a live model. I've painted the figure in watercolor, pastel, oil stick, etc. but not with dollops of paint and medium before me, and a bristle brush in my hand. I've painted oils in the studio, even ultra-mini oils which are like playthings. I've painted en plein air (not too successfully very often) in oils, but not the figure in oil. So this first one seems rather tentative, making it look stiff and inaccurate, with a kind of dull sense of expression. - Not what I wanted! -How to move beyond this?

Drawing for 8/21/2012

We had a great model last night and for previous poses I did not do what I wanted to do. Admittedly, I have a mental block when it comes to standing poses - maybe it's harder for me to see, scale, and properly position them on the paper? I don't know - I know I just don't enjoy them. But give me a collapsed, foreshortened pose anytime! This one didn't start out great but ended up better - I think the "abstracted-ness" of it sparked something interesting.