Figure Drawing Using The Buddy System

A friend and I use the buddy system to get ourselves out to a local life drawing session, and I show my sketches. It’s great to get out to a life drawing session. It is a bit like going to the gym in that I find it helps to keep my hands and eyes in shape. Just […]

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Loving Life, Drawing

I have to admit that this most recent life drawing session was a lot of fun. How to explain, just good people having good times. Well, enough said, the pictures can speak for themselves.

20 minutes

Ok, I can't resist making a few comments, these are all still so fresh at the time of this writing. I felt a few things coming together tonight, not just the good people, but on the drawing board too. It just seemed like I was able to concentrate on things like composition, on line quality, and center of focus.

1 hour

I have to admit that I am proud of this drawing. I feel like the pose says something along with the quality that the drawing seems to have. Don't ask me what it's saying, but it's saying it.

45 minutes

This was the final drawing of the night. Here I had some fun with splitting the pose in two. This is a tactic I may explore further some other time as well.

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did making them. As always, feel free to leave comments and to share your own observations.

To see more figure drawing posts you can go { here }

Cheers

Figuring It Out, One Drawing At A Time

5 min warmups

Sometime here in the recent past I realized that I hadn't been posting any drawings from a figure drawing session that I attend. I also realized that my posts can be a bit... hmm shall we say "wordy?" In that spirit, I'll keep it brief, and.. here we go.

20 minutes

I don't suppose one can over state how important regular drawing, and regular figure drawing is for an artist. As some of you may know, it's simultaneously like working out at a gym, as well as incredibly liberating.

20 minutes

20 minutes

1 hour

20 minutes

Stay tuned for more drawings and paintings. Also, if you feel like putting in your comments, I'd love to hear what you have to say about the work here.

Also, to see my other figure drawing blog posts, check them out {here}

Thank you

Portraiture in Watercolor

I am super happy to post this painting. I was honored to complete this portrait for some friends of mine who commissioned the piece after seeing the Paintings for Presents that I posted.

The concept to use their daughter as Max from "Where the Wild Things Roam," was serendipity at it's best. I'd been thinking about how to make this a piece that would be something different than the classic portrait. One of the places that I found inspiration was with Gustav Klimpt, in that he often uses the 2d and the 3d to great effect. So initially, I thought it would be something like a Klimpt, in that there'd be a bold shape, and the the figure would fit in it. As I went through some sketches, I happily stumbled upon Max. From there it was shooting reference pics to support the idea. Knowing that the images we'd taken at the playground would be my only reference, I shot many pictures, and endeavored to match one or two to a scene.

Technically speaking, the painting was challenging to work on. After arriving at a drawing that I liked, moving to a painting can sometimes be an opportunity to flub things up, but good. This is of course always the case, but we must persevere through those moments. So, I prepared the board, and smeared Cobalt Blue over everything but the Max suit which was to be white, and set into painting.

I tried my best to keep the momentum going for the painting, and to not allow myself to be bogged down in details to early. Following the 3 rules that I learned when first learning to paint in watercolors: Work big to small, back to front, and warm to cool.

In the end I enjoyed the concept and the process from gathering reference pictures, to drawing and painting the finished piece. There's just no way to express the feeling of making a blend happen 'just so,' or working life into the face. It is just a joy to paint, and to have others enjoy it in the end.

It Figures...

Well, so in this post, I am making up for a little lost time. These first three drawings were done on Oct. 7, two weeks prior to the time of this posting, and the rest of the drawings were created on Oct. 21. (My Uncle's B-day!)

While I do think that there's tons of stuff that's awkward about these drawings, you know some of the proportions are off and so on, but there is a feeling that is starting to emerge from within the process of drawing.

2 - 10 minute studies

40 minute study

40 minute study

Some of this feeling can be attributed to just making drawings for a long time, in other words, confidence is starting to seep into the work. That's a slippery slope right? Certainly I don't want to become over-confident, or over-confident's cousins, arrogance and ol' big head. There's no faster way to kill a drawing than a huge dose of ego. That being said, there is a feeling of... "goodness" that is happening during the process of drawing, a certain sense that the pressure is off, and the drawing is happening for the love of drawing. Because through this looking and observing there comes an understanding, or if not that at least an effort to understand what is being drawn.

2 - 5 minutes
20 minutes
20 minutes

1 hour

I feel like I am approaching the room that my first figure drawing teacher told me about. He didn't call it a room, he didn't call it a state of mind (although it is both of those), he simply uttered 4 words into my ear when he saw that I was struggling, trying to make the drawing just so perfect that I was all locked up, he looked over my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Just fuck it up."

Now, it's taken reams of paper and years of drawing to begin to approach that place. From where I'm at it is a place where there's no hesitation, a deliberateness of mark making, a facility and a joy of drawing. A place where the judgement is suspended, and there's no time or space for self doubt. In short a place and a time where Fear has no place; Fearlessness. Who hasn't at some point had to enter a situation and had to put fear off to the side and just do it the best way you know how. It's a powerful place to come from. I don't know if it's a place we ever fully arrive at, there may still be those nagging critics in the back of our minds, but it's as good a place as any to aim for, and that's all we can do.

The Return of Figure Drawing

I am so happy to say that the figure drawing sessions at CCA/ Illustration have resumed. One can never over value the power of drawing from life. In this particular instance I made three 20 minute drawings, submitted here for your perusal.

The following image was cobbled together in photoshop, just to give a sense of the page. While the patchwork of scans isn't the greatest, this image is only to give a sense of the whole page.
Prior to the drawing session, earlier in the day, I was in conversation with a friend regarding the work of Kent Williams. While we both agreed that there is some merit to doing straight master studies from an admired artist, that in the end that is only an exercise in seeing. While we both professed a love of his work, we both also agreed that there was already a Kent Williams in the world and that there really isn't a need for a second. Thus we were encouraged to follow our own paths. As my friend succinctly put it, "there is enough room here for all of us."

Having been thinking about what it is about Kent's work that I really like, one thing that came to mind is how he lays in his lines. No doubt after A LOT of life drawing that the artist grows accustomed to the form and can be more bold { or subtle } about their comments on the page. With this in mind, these drawings endeavor to be bold, more direct and then to allow the drawings to adapt over time. This of course can lead to distortions and misproportions, but after all these are drawings not photographs.

Final Figure Drawing Friday

Well, all good things must come to an end, and what an end it was. My post is two weeks after the fact, but the final drawing session was another one that amazed me. For what ever reason, there are some days when we feel like we couldn't write our name well, and then there's the other days. The days when all is well in the universe and we are in harmony with that. This is how I felt about this past session. 

Maybe I'd eaten well that day, maybe my mind was relaxed, maybe the planets were just lined up just so, but whatever the reason I felt confident in drawing. Also, the drawings were remarkably free of the usual mental strain that I put on them. Maybe simply allowing them to be what they are was enough to release that critic that resides in the dark corners of my mind.

These first drawings are just that, the first drawings. Almost immediately I liked the model, enjoyed her poses and figure, especially her nose. Weird right? Anyway, this first page is obviously very loose, 1 minute drawings.

These next two drawings are moving into the 5 and 10 minute range. Somewhere in here the pencil started to live a life of it's own. Really, there's sometimes no other language but poetry to describe the feeling when drawing is happening well. That's not to say drawing is happening "accurately," or "precisely" these are, I think, the ideas that need to be removed from ones mind. 

It's an important fact to remember that we are not cameras, that we are not creating photographs, but drawings. An impression of not only that which is before us, but as in the case of master works, that ineffable feeling that a drawing can allude to or call for from with in us.

I feel that the beginnings of that are what is going on when an artist is surprised by their work, or something "falls off the brush," this it is the case when the drawing is leading the way.

These next two pictures are an interesting set. I think it is of note to talk about how I created these. Basically, I am drawing and painting on a semi flat board. The foot of a drawing horse set on end. I mention this only because after looking at these pictures, the dis-proportion starts to make some sense.

The first pic is how the drawing looked to me while I was working on it. Notice that there is perspective, evidenced by the convergence of the the edges of the paper at the top of the image. All seems to be well or well enough with the proportions.

Yet.... when I look straight on to the piece... whoa! She's got a mondo head. This one had drawing creep from the start too. Notice the extra paper that's attached to the top. Drawing/ painting with watercolor is a little like being a train conductor, once it's moving forward, there ain't no reverse! This pose was about an hour, and probably 30 minutes of that time was spent wrangling the proportions around. Clearly the drawing won that match.

 

Finally we come to the last piece. There was some extra time at the end of the session that the model sat for about 20 minutes. In a flurry I decided that the earlier drawings utilized the pencil well, and that I would do the more traditional approach of pencil first watercolor second. (Off the top of my head, I do believe all the other watercolors were done just with a brush, in other words, no under-drawing.) So, quickly, lightly I worked around the figure for about 7 minutes, then for the remainder I painted in a semi-planer way. With a short time to go, I charged the brush with the Windsor Blue (red shade) and popped in the background. There wasn't any logical reason at the time, or at least none that I was consciously aware of. 

I was stunned at my own audacity at that moment. I felt it was a bold risk, and one that paid off in the end. Heck, you decide.

Figure Drawing Friday

A few weeks of figure drawing have gone by without any posts of the drawings. I don't know if any of these will throw the Art world on it's ear, but the function of art was definitely served here. That is Art as a verb. The following drawings are, to me, more about my experience at that time. Read what you will.

I have to say that the past few weeks have been pretty intense, and of course it shows up in the drawings. These are a far cry from sensitive light watercolors. I brought out the charcoal, just to keep the drawings skills sharp, and look for my elusive 'black'. 

This is a series of 5 minute warm-ups on one page. I guess sometimes good drawings happen when we're not looking, or is it especially when we are looking? The main drawing here really benefits from the previous work on the page. I like the economy of line here.

I really started to feel for the model here. She was really putting her energies into a 'Spring' theme, light music, little garlands, etc., and I was charging into a more physical, agitated state. Here she was the water giver. If you know your Major Arcana, she reminded me of the Star card. 

This was one of the final drawings from that session. You can see that the actual drawing moved on the page quite a bit through corrections and wiping out. I've totally departed from the vibrant, hopeful, spring theme of the session, and moved into a Frances Bacon state of mind.

This session and the next session I will post soon, are more to me like going to the gym and working out on a punching bag more than a ontological search for ethereal beauty. I guess some days are like that.

Figure Drawing Friday

Ahh, another Figure Drawing session Friday. 

I am really loving these occasions to draw for a few hours.

Today's excitement was that we did without a model. For those of you who've ever had to make due, you know the drill. It's portraits of the people around you, or people start to volunteer to be the model. We opted to model ourselves.

Myself, I did a 20 minute pose for the group. It was fun to walk around afterwards to see what people had created from it. After that brief stint as a model, I have a renewed appreciation for what models do, it ain't easy, that's for sure. If you ever want a challenge, be still for 20 minutes, then see how you feel!

These drawings ended up being quick and simple, no big deals today, just doing the work.  The two pencil drawings are a gal whom I went to school with. It was nice to see her again and a surprise to draw from her for 20 minutes or so. It is something of a challenge to draw people that you know. I found that early on, I was just trying to draw a portrait of the person, focusing in on the face. Noticing that, I decided to use a little exaggeration to help me work out of that. Thus the head shot that's a little wonky.

The color image is another student who attends these sessions. She had a really great triangular-floppy-doll-pose that I enjoyed working from.

Figure Drawing Friday

Today's figure drawing session was extraordinary. We were fortunate enough to work with a jazz musician (who's name escapes my mind right now.) He was positively wonderful to work with. Essentially he performed for about 2 and a half hours off and on, with n'er a dull moment. Absolutely great! He played a bass clarinet, a musette, and a flute-ish recorder. At times he worked in a bop-jazz way, and in other moments he played like an autumn leaf on the wind. A very spirited performance.

I am happy to say that this got me thinking about the figure in a refreshing way. By tone, and color as not only representative of the physical before me, but also of the tone and color of the music he was playing. In reviewing the images they seem less like drawings, and more like moments or events on the page. It is so energizing to change one's perspective. Especially in that I've been working a lot from photo's as of late, and there is the pitfall of the flattened image that can occur. It is nice to come at these problems in a robust way again.

Again today, the company was exquisite, I enjoyed seeing some old friends and meeting a few new people too. Watch out for more images from these sessions.

Figure Drawing

Ahh, for the love of Figure Drawing! There can be no other activity that, for the artist, is so crucial and at the same time so nourishing. It has the potential to be so exhilarating as well as so frustrating, all within the span of moments. 

As it turns out there is a life drawing session on Fridays that I am starting to go to. The price is right and the company exquisite. Here's some drawings from the first two sessions. The colors are enhanced, the originals are so light on the page that they didn't scan too well. In the future I'll work on the boldness of marks. But for now...