HMoA Figure Drawing 11/04/13 - Shilo - Long Poses

Shilo - 11/04/13 - Page 2, Mixed Media on toned Paper, 18"x24"

I decided to go back to working with the oil pastel this week. I am drawing on top of older drawings that I am not all that happy with. I am working on a pretty heavy duty paper so it's able to take the repeated abuse I inflict upon it. I used two pages that night.

Above is a magenta page that I used for the second and third pages. There is a lot happening in this page.

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 6, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

I initially did not like this pose, although a couple days later I added the black lines and it made a lot of difference to the figure. Simple changes can do so much to the over all drawing.

Both of these pages I think will need more work.

“You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem.

 It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search.” 

~ Rick Riordan

HMoA Figure Drawing 11/4/13 - Shilo - Short Poses

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 6, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Another Monday at the Honololu Museum of Art. The model was named Shilo and this was the first time I had drawn her. She was very muscular and able to hold some really difficult poses. 

I was trying something different with the gesture drawing in this session. I started in purple to get the basic forms, then added a water wash to make some ink forms. Afterwards, I added orange to create the highlights. I love the effect is created in these gesture and will have to try it again.

Above is my favorite of the short drawings. It is a two-minute gesture drawing and I managed to capture so much of the form in the two minute time limit.

There are some things in this drawing I can improve upon. I dislike how I planned the page and am annoyed I lost her lower legs because of poor layout. This may sound obvious, but I also realize the orange, as bright as it may be, is still darker then the white of the page. I originally thought the brightest highlights should be the orange applied with the thick brush tip. But now I thing the mid-level lights should be the bold brush and the brighter highlights should be the marker tip.

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 2, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

I love this gesture. There is such a wonderful flow to the form and I love how I used the pens in this one.

Below are the other gesture drawings from this session.

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 1, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 3, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 4, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Gesture 5, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

A headstand. Shilo did a headstand for one of the two-minute poses. It's very impressive because she kept remarkably still and because she was able to hold it for two minutes. Very impressive.

Shilo - 11/4/13 - Short, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

Above is the 10-minute pose from that night. I did not like the five-minute poses so i didn't bother to include them.  I did manage to get a lot done on this pose. I struggled with how to render Shilo's very light blonde hair. It gave me pause and I don't think I managed to pull it off here.

I am really happy with the gesture drawings from the night and will have to try the purple/orange pen combination again. 

"Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect."

 ~ Samuel Johnson