Zwick Studio - Martha 12/21/13 - Week 2

Martha - 12/21/13 - Week 2, Watercolor, 9"x 12"

This was the second week with Martha at the Zwick Studio. I arrived late because of some poor planning on my part.

I took a seat on the floor across the room from last week and began to work.

I am very happy with this watercolor. It has so many things going for it. The page composition is interesting; I really tried to keep it amorphous, so the attention was on the figure.

The figure looks great too. I managed to get a very good flesh tone.  The purple in the shadow also looks very good.

"Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts."

~ Rita Mae Brown

HMoA Figure Drawing 12/16/13 - Sergio - Long Poses

Sergio 12/16/13 - Pose 01, Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

I had a great night on Monday with the long poses.

I used the tombow pens and then added watercolor to the pages. I was able to get a neat couple of drawings.

Above is the first drawing of the night. I think this is the weakest of my three drawings of the night. I do like how the torso was rendered and I am enjoying the cool shadow against the warm wall. Everything is rendered pretty well and the wash is hiding a lot of the details, giving it a painterly effect.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Pose 02, Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

When Sergio took the above pose I was struck by the light dark contrast he was standing right under the spotlight and the harsh shadows were very dynamic. I decided to exaggerate the highlights in this drawing.

The end result is a drawing that looks almost like a marble statue. The purple and the blue are creating a neat mood. I am really happy with this sketch.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Pose 03, Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the last pose of the night and I am amazed at how well it came out.

I had a great night with the long poses. I wish every night could be like this. 

"Creativity goes beyond what you already know. 

What you know is just knowledge."

~ Ernie J. Zelinski

HMoA Figure Drawing 12/16/2013 - Sergio - Short Poses

Sergio 12/16/13 - Short 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Sergio was the model this Monday at the Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing Class. As always, Sergio did some complex and fun to draw poses.  These are the short poses for the night.

Above is my favorite of them. It was the second 5 minute pose. I really had a good night. The way I rendered the head in that sketch. This sketch has a great balance between the wash and the cross hatching. There was some serendipity in there as well, I doubt I could recreate that head even if I tried.

I am enjoying the effect I am getting from the complimentary colors in these shorter poses. The blue and the goldenrod is a neat color effect.

There is a lot of movement in this drawing. He looks ready to dart of the page.

Below are the gestures from the night. I did 5 with the brown Tombow and then 5 with the Olive green and pink color combinations.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 01, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the first of the gestures. It is surprisingly good for the first pose. Normally I  have a few terribly sketches before I warm up.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

I like how much I was able to get in this sketch. 

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 03, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 04, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 05, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 06, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

 The green and to orane/pink look great here. I was a really like these next couple sketches.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 07, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 08, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 09, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

I swapped to a lighter pink because I was a little unhappy with the lack of light dark contrast between the orange/pink and the green. I am a little unhappy with the coldness of the pink.

This drawing has a sickly monstrous feel to. He looks like he is hunched over in pain slowly morphing into something.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Gesture 10, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the last of the gesture drawings and it is the weakest of them. I always have a scale problem when the model hold their hands above their head. I will have to focus a little more on that.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Short 01, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This sketch came out amazing. It was the First of the five minute sketches and I am having so much fun with the tombow pens and wash.

Sergio 12/16/13 - Short 03, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the ten minute pose. I am a little unhappy with it. I got a little confused by the foreshortening but there is some good things going on in this drawing. I got the overlaying shapes of the body blocked in very well.

Good night overall.

Zwick Studio 12/14/13 - Martha - Week 1

Martha - 12/14/13 - Week 1, Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

After going back last week I really wanted to get back into the habit of going to the Zwick Studio on Saturdays.

The model for this session was Martha. I just drew her over at Leeward Community College on Sunday.

I decided to do something a little different for this set of poses: Every week I will do a completed watercolor of the scene and move around the studio week to week.

I was all ready to do a watercolor painting today, When I got into town and looked at my things, I had forgotten my watercolors in the car. Luckily, Fishers was nearby and had a sale on watercolors.  The colors were a little off, but they are doing what they need to.

The background is a landscape quilt Billy has put up behind her.

I am pretty happy with this painting. Beside the problems with the color mentioned, it still is pretty strong. It is a very good portrait of Martha. 

"Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm."

~ Earl Nightingale

HMoA Figure Drawing - 12/08/13 - Shilo Short Poses

Shilo 12/08/13 Short 02, Ink on Paper 9"xn12"

Shilo was the model at the Honolulu Museum of Art's Figure Drawing Class this week. This was the second time she modeled for us and she again impressed with her muscular and toned body. She apparently is a yoga instructor. She again did a hand stand as one of her gesture poses. I was not very happy with the drawing, so I didn't post it.

Above is the 10-minute pose for the night. This is a really great quick sketch. I managed to render the forms very nicely and my solution to her very light blonde hair was to treat it as another tone and it worked in this particular sketch.

The two shapes on either side of her add a lot to the drawing. The green mass that is her robe lying on the chair and the blue mass that is her shadow against the wall both look really great in this drawing. There is a nice tension between the almost cut out shapes of the two masses and the detailed figure. Next time I should try something like this I should use watercolor or another wash to create the shape as I am liking the water marks in the green shape.

For the gestures I again used the the cerulean blue pen with a goldenrod for the highlights. I am satisfied with the results here.

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 01, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

Gesture one is surprisingly good. Normally there is more of a warm up to these.

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 02, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

I love the shadow behind her. If only drew the figure better.

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 03, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 04, Ink on Paper 9"x12"

This is one of my favorites of the night. It is a great gesture; the figure seems to be mid-dance. The pen strokes and the wash have a beautiful speed to them. The wash behind her creates such a lovely shape. The goldenrod doesn't look patchy, as is sometimes the problem. I am really happy with this gesture.
 

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 05, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

The wash went a little bad in this one. She looks almost monstrous in this drawing. Not my best. I do like how her should and legs look though

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 06, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

I am pretty happy with this one, especially considering she is holding her hands above her head and I have been having so many problems fitting the whole figure on the page with those.

Shilo 12/08/13 Gesture 07, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

This was the last gesture of the night. I did like this one.

Shilo 12/08/13 Short 01, Ink on Paper 9"x 12"

This was the first of the short poses for the week. There is a nice feel to this one.

I enjoyed my short poses much more then the long poses from the rest of the night. This was a pretty good night all in all though.

"Creativity is a quality that we give to every activity that we do."

~ Osho

Zwick Studio - Kat 12/7/13 - The Waterbucket

Kat 12/7/13 - The Waterbucket, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

At LCC on Sunday that Kat was Modeling at Zwick Studios with a large bucket. It sounded both interesting and incredibly painful for Kat. I had to go see this.

So I arrived at the Zwick Studio on Friday and there was Kat, modeling, and she had to carry that big bucket during the pose.

I worked with my Tombow pens and am pretty happy with the end result here. The skin tone is a little off. Though one of the students at the class commented she looks like a "golden idol." Which I guess is a compliment?

A good couple hours of work.

“I do not qualify to be a model. I lack the necessary obedience.” 

― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

HMoA Figure Drawing - 12/02/13 - Kat - Long Poses

Kat 12/2/13 - Pose 2, Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

Monday was drawing at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Kat was the model and I had a great time and have some great pages from the night.

Above is my favorite of the night. It was the second pose of the night and it came out really nice. I really like how I rendered her skin in this picture. The pen strokes and brushstrokes are free but still defining a lot of the form. I love the blue and the red.

The maroon pen I bought on a whim in North Carolina is running out of juice. I had a great run and did some great pictures.

Kat 12/2/13 - Pose 1, Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the first pose of the night. It is good but a little too static for me. I also thing the color of the yellow was a little off from Kat's skin tone.  It is still a good drawing 

The way I rendered her knee in this drawing looks very good.

Kat 12/2/13 - Pose 3, Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 9"x12"

Reclining poses are always a challenge with the foreshortening and the unusual perspective. I am pretty happy with this one. I like how I rendered the bedding in this drawing.

I have been playing with how to render the bedding, chairs and other elements in these sketches. I do like the outline with selective shading and shadows. I do think it works well because I can get a contour line drawing of the bedding in during the time frame but often cannot render there shadows properly. It allows me to define the shapes quickly and plays into my strengths, contour line drawings.

The torso and the legs look a little separate. Looking at them individually, it is even more clear. Although I think it is more the product of the well defined torso and the not as defined legs. The watercolors ran oddly in the left leg, but that is part of the joy of watercolor. It almost always requires a loss of control, which sometimes works and other times doesn't.

Good night over all. I really enjoy all three of these drawings.

"To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage."

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

HMoA Figure Drawing 12/02/13 - Kat - Short Poses

Kat - 12/02/13 - Gesture 03, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"defined egdes and implied edges

Kat was the model at the Honolulu Museum of Art this Monday and as always she was a blast to draw.

This particular session I was on fire.  I had so many sketches that I liked it was difficult to pick on for the top of the page. Above is the third gesture of the night and I am very happy with how this drawing came out.  I am probably going to use it for a larger painting.

There are so many good things about this page. I like the two purples and how they play off one another in this pose. The pose is dynamic and the shadow behind her adds a lot to the drawing. The figure is pretty well rendered and I like the play between defined edges and implied edges: the left leg is created by a quick outline while the right leg is created by a wash and the gentle outline of the shadow form.

The two purples are actually because the deep purple pen was running low on ink last week and I looked for a replacement color and found a mauve colored pen at Fisher's this weekend.  I am happy with the new color as well as the play between the two colors.   

Below at the rest of the gestures of the night.

Kat - 12/02/13 - Gesture 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

Kat - 12/02/13 - Gesture 04, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

I really like this gesture too. I think I'm drawn to the two shades of purple. It's creating a neat effect with the cool and warm purple.

Kat - 12/02/13 - Gesture 05, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Kat - 12/02/13 - Gesture 06, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

Kat - 12/02/13 - Gesture 07, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

This is another nice gesture. These are becoming a blast to do.

Kat - 12/02/13 - Short 01, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This is the first of the five-minute poses.

The play between the two complimentary colors is amazing in this one. The purple shadow and yellow skin tones are playing off each other very nicely in this sketch.

Kat - 12/02/13 - Short 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This is the second of the five-minute poses. I think I spent a disproportionate amount of time on the face and it kind of shows in this drawing. The figure has a nice movement to it. The contra-position of the figure is capture nicely.

Kat - 12/02/13 - Short 03, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This was the 10-minute pose for the night. It is an interesting drawing. It has an interesting in-flux look to it. It has pockets of definition that make for a dynamic sketch.

It was a close to being my favorite of the night but I do really like the top gesture.  

"A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament." 

~ Oscar Wilde

HMoA Figure Drawing 11/18/13 - Victoria - Long Poses

Victoria 11/18/13 - Pose 1, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

So I was trying something a little different with these poses. In the above drawing, I started in a light pink ink. This means I could obfuscate the planning lines a little easier. So the drawing looks much cleaner then I am used to.

I am not sure if I like it or not

I do like well-defined shapes and all, but I really like to see the brushstrokes/lines in drawings. It is a physical marker of the draftsmen. Or that's why I like it in my drawings.

However, the really clean shapes have something really appealing to them. There is a static finished nature that I like as well. I will have to try this kind of drawing a few more times to see what it think of it.

Victoria 11/18/13 - Pose 2, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

This is another drawing I am on the fence with. My initial effort was to use the blue in the shadows of the drawing. I am a little unhappy with the blue. It looks a little odd. However I made a really cool discovery with the blue and the pink in the shadow under her arm. It creates such a nice purple and makes for a really great reflected light.

Victoria 11/18/13 - Pose 3, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

This was the last pose of the night.  It was a foreshortened reclining pose; I am really happy with how this came out. Again I did the initial drawing in a light pink so a lot of the planning lines are not visible.

I think the red shadows add a lot to the figure.

I should rework this page a little bit more. I think I could make something really neat out of it.

"I do not judge, I only chronicle." 

~ John Singer Sargent

HMoA Figure Drawing 11/18/13 - Victoria - Short Poses

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 04, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Monday was another session of drawing at the Honolulu Academy Art and I am so happy with the gesture drawings from the night. This purple and orange thing is working out so well. I am honing my process for them and am really happy with how they are coming out.

I was really trying to capture the light and dark forms as quickly as I could. I think I  was really successful in a number of these gestures.

Above is my favorite of the night. I got the dynamic nature of the pose and managed to get some of the details into the gesture. I am really having fun with these gesture drawings.

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 01, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Of the 10 drawings, I consider this my least successful. In this sketch I tried something different. I did the initial sketch in orange instead of the purple. So when I added the purple the washes got muddied. I find the orange in the darks more distracting then the purple in the orange shapes. 

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 02, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

 This is another great gesture. I like how I rendered the weight shift on her feet.

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 03, Ink on Paper,  9"x12"

The shadow really adds a lot to this pose.

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 05, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 06, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 07, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 08, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Victoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 09, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Vicoria 11/18/13 - Gesture 10, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

This is such a dynamic pose. I am really happy with how it came out.

Below are the two short poses. 

Victoria 11/18/13 - Short 01, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

Above is the first 5 minute pose. It is a good quick sketch. I did manage to get a lot of information down. 

Victoria 11/18/13 - Short 02, Ink on Paper,  9"x 12"

This was the 10 minute pose I do like the mood of this drawing. The pink and the purple together create a really nice feeling. Victoria was wearing an interesting knotted necklace that was a lot of fun to draw; I had more fun with it in the longer drawings.

"There is no must in art because art is free."

~ Wassily Kandinsky