Connie - Day 1

Connie - Day 1, 48"x48," oil on linen, 2017. 

Sasha - Day 1

Sasha - Day 1, 36"x60", Oil on Linen, 2017

Alison 3/16/17

Alison 03/16/17, Oil on Linen, 36"x 60", 2017

Bernardo's class opened with a lecture on Raphael.

This painting has a real presence to it. I am starting to get the hang of this particular painting technique.

Alison 03/02/17

Alison 03/02/17, Oil on Canvas,  30"x48", 2017.

Bernardo's class opened with a lecture on Michelangelo and Leonardo. They really play off each other thematically. Aristotelian vs. Neoplatonism, atmospheric haze vs. solid form; plenty of discussion to be had. 

Think I'm getting the hang of this painting method. Not closing the shapes is super difficult for me, but I think I did okay with this one. I keep visualizing the painting,  like a net or a bowl where the surface of the form is this shape. Then thin points in the painting read like holes in the net. So each pass of paint and marks becomes trying to fill in those holes.

Anatomical Drawing Long Pose - Day 3

Anatomical Drawing #1 - Reign and Dave, 18"x 24", Graphite on Paper, 2017

Day three of the long pose is all about details.

Dan Thompson's lesson today was all about the knee so it felt only right to focus on the knees of the models. This drawing is great for comparative purposes. There is a lot of difference between the male and female model's knees.

There is balancing act  between what is there observationally and what should be there. The puzzle of observing a body and relating it to a theoretical system individual to the artist. Keeping it interesting is always the challenge of these poses.

Before class next week I hope to get the background nailed in.

Anatomical Drawing - Long Pose Day 2

Anatomical Drawing 1 - Reign and  , 18"x24", Graphite on Paper, 2017

Anatomic drawing with Dan Thompson-- this is Day 3 of class and the second day of this long pose.

Dan structure his class with a lecture then a demo and then a long pose for the rest of the class.

The drawing is progressing nicely. I have the major forms in and now need to work on the details of the smaller forms.

Master Class: Vincent Desederio

The New York Academy offered a weekend of Master Classes. As always, I jumped at the opportunity  and had had a great experience at Vincent Desiderio's Master Class.

I really enjoyed listening to his lectures on the "Anxiety of Influence" by Harold Bloom and now have another book to read. His idea of looking to literary criticism as pointing to viewpoints to art criticism is really intriguing.

Above is about five hours between the drawing and the painting. I'm pretty happy with it

The models were Ryan and Adrian.

LCC Sun Drawing 07/16/16 - Jay

Jay 07/16/16 - Pose 01, 9"x 12", Watercolor on Paper

Heading from New York to Honolulu, I wanted to do more watercolor work. I was in a watercolor fit, working with my two favorite complementary color mixes -- purple and yellow. The dioxazine purple's exceptional depth creates pretty shadows and darkens the Naples opaque yellow in a nice way.

I was trying to make the contours work, making a strong silouhette. I made pools on the page which gives the edges a strong quality where the pigment collects. I was trying to use it carefully where it explains the form and lightens in the center.

Jay 07/16/16 - Pose 02, 9"x12", Watercolor on Paper

Figure Drawing 03/28/16- Naked Folk Dance

Figure Drawing 03/28/16 - Megan - Morning Pose,  Ink, Shellac and Oil Paint on Paper. 18"x 24"    

So I have been playing with sharpies and Shellac, then painting the surface. This Monday's figure drawing class was no different.

In the morning the model was Megan, who has become a regular model this semester. The morning pose was a long 2-hour pose. I spent half the time working on each figure. Going through yellow, green  and then a blue green sharpie.

I am finding the yellow sharpie electric on a white page. To the point it is difficult to look at. Works great with this process because the amber shellac leaves them as a delicate ghostly lines.

This was a standing pose where Megan was holding on to the model stand. I wanted to draw multiple figures and changes to the left hands to make them look more interesting. I had the El Greco hand gesture at one point but choose sometime a little more naturalistic.

When I was done I was originally planning to make  two overlapping figures. Until the model come by and said, "It's like a naked Folk Dance." A fact I did not see or plan for really until that moment. So instead of overlapping figures they became interacting figures.

I have been having a obsession with Gerhart Richter after seeing a few of his paintings at the High Museum. I used a painting trowel to make the background of this. I am happy with it although the purple may be a little dark. I may rework it with a white green scumble.

I am enjoying this process.

Friday Figure Drawing 03/18/16 - Luther

Luther 03/18/16 , Ink, Shellac and Oil Paint on Paper, 18"x24"

Working with this Sharpie, Shellac and Oil Paint process again.

The Friday figure session was a single long pose of Luther.

My red Sharpies died in this drawing. So was working with the green in places.

I really like a couple things about this painting. I like the contrast of the white of the page and the off white of the background and the table he was leaning against is really compelling to me.

I also really like the play between the yellow orange of the shellac and sharpie mixture and the purple of the shadows I used.

It is a simple painting, but I like it.

Anotomical Drawing #2 - Devin 03/16/16 - FINAL

Devin 03/17/2016,  20"x30", Graphite and Shellac on Paper, 2016

Day 4 and Final day of this drawing.

Devin was unable to come for the morning. Amaya did a lecture on toning paper with Shellac. there then was a period of drawing where I really was able to work on the background. Adding the details of the  heater and the other room details.

As I was working on the drawing the main parts that had to get punched up really started becoming obvious. I created a checklist for when Devin came in.

Job #1 was the feet. The lighting had changed over the week so they were brighter in this pose but I decided keep with my original thumbnail.  It actually took a while to draw them. The foreshortening of the right foot was a little maddening. 

Job 2 was the face and neck.  Devin has a lot of ornaments. I really wanted to get the details of them as done as a could. Glasses were already done. Nose ring and cowrie shell necklace check and check.

The final job was to really push the half tones of the drawing.

I am really happy with how this drawing came out. I'm looking forward to start next week's drawing.

Anatomy Drawing #3 - Devin Week 3 - 03/10/2016

Day 3 of the Drawing.

The model was late today and then there was a long demo. I was eager to start drawing.  

I took a photo of the background to work on the setting during the week. The shapes of the background are starting to crystallize. The are really useful in the drawing as the shadow of the heater is darker then anything else on the body. So it allows me to adjust his shadows against the shadow of the heater.

I had to buy another lead holder for 6H Lead. That is the hardest lead I could find in a lead holder format. I'm finding the lead holder is really dark for a 2H or maybe its just my heavy hand. That means im working on this drawing with 3 lead holders: The main one is the 2H lead (Blue), A 6b for the dark shadows (Yellow) and now a 6h (Red) for Half tones. It is allowing me to build a system for the rendering.

The Chalk is the highlights and then all the light parts of the body are rendered with 6h lead. In the shadows and turning (transition) I use the 2H pencil. Then Where i need the punch of a super dark i use the 6b. I am really happy to be building this system for myself it should make the future drawings for this class easier.

Amaya was showing me her work.  She doesn't fear the mixture of the white chalk and the graphite. She actually uses it for the turnings. I may try this in the next drawing. The model's complexion is not really conducive to this method of working. It was an insight. I have always been taught to avoid mixing graphite and chalk as the blue it creates is unpleasant. Its probably why I am so reticent to use chalk generally.

When I was starting off drawing. I used to have the bad habit of  using chalk to recover the white of the paper in intense drawings.  It took some convincing but I finally dropped using white chalk for that purpose, instead I would build line weight over time and it was not needed.

It is a natural adaptation to working a paper so much that you cannot erase the mark any more. It is actually a common stumbling block for heavy handed drawers like me. I actually have encountered others in drawing classes with this problem and it is something that you grow out of like I did. As you get more familiar with the materials and mark making this is less and less and less a problem.

So with that stumble I am a bit gun shy about white chalk. This will change.

Figure Drawing 2/29/16 - Experimenting

Mark 02/29/16, Mixed Media on Paper,  18" x 24". 

Figure drawing class today and I was fresh with the inspiration from Vincent Desidario  (I choose an image of his mountain of amazing work that utilizes this process) Working on the paper with a drawing material, shellac, the surface then building back into it with paint.

I have been using sharpies a lot for drawing, I bought a large colored sharpie pack from staples because they were on sale. There were some odd colors i thought I would never use until now. 

This piece was part of an afternoon pose. I drew the model three times rotating around the room to create this image. I liked how the layout of this page worked then shellacked the surface. The Sharpie began to run and smear, tinting the shellac with the sharpie ink. 

This made sense in hindsight. I remember doing craft projects with sharpies and using alcohol to turn them into a wash. Shellac is an insect excretion that is thinned with alcohol. I stumbled into this but I really like the result. I will try how a few other colors to see how they react with the shellac. 

The painting is working on many levels. I am liking the interaction with the drawing then the painting the toned shellac. 

Anatomy Drawing #2 - Devin Week 2 - 02/25/2016

Melvin Day 2 of 4, 20"x30", Graphite and Shellac on Paper, 2016

Day 2 of the drawing.

Got a lot blocked in today. I worked on the model breaks to add the background of the drawing.  I think the semi organic shape of the cloth pinned in the background adds a lot to the drawing.  I really want to give more space for the model to exist in.

I worked today mainly on the half-tones of the drawing.  Half tones are all the areas of tone between the highlights and the shadow shapes. That is probably what I am going to be working on for the remaining 2 days.

I also added the highlights with white chalk to key the lightest light parts of the drawing.  This method of drawing operates on the fact that marks are relative to there surroundings. So having a representation of the lightest lights of the figure allows you to gauge them and adjust them slowly.

These classes zip by when im in them. I feel like the 6 hours of drawing evaporates like it was nothing. I'm sure that's not the case for the model.  

Anatomy Drawing #2 - Devin Week 1 - 02/18/2016

Melvin Day 1 of 4, 20"x30", Graphite and Shellac on Paper, 2016  

We are starting a new pose this week in the Anatomical Drawing class.

I got new paper with a better tooth for this drawing and it made a very big difference

I also toned the paper with Shellac. I bought the Shellac for painting and Amaya said it may be too potent for drawings. As I began to draw with it, I instantly understood what she meant. In the shaded a part of the leg, the shellac is keeping the graphite from being easily accepted by the paper.

The Drawing process is very Bargue Method I did manage to get a lot done in this class period. I completed the contour drawing and began to block in the shadow shapes.

This drawing is going pretty well.   

Dana and Jacob - Painting Day 1

So added Amber Shellac and then dove in to the painting. I'm loving how the paint is resolving the background and creating a space.

Jacob is looking flat I need to go to a richer Brown in his flesh tones.

The window is looking crooked.

I need to do a study of boots and the side of a bed.

I am debating leaving Dana unpainted. Is it too much of a gimmick? Is this an action just based on the fear of not tucking this painting up?

I like the idea of a figure separated visual from its sorroundings. The space is intimate but the figure is disjointed and apart from everything. I will have to sleep on this.

Classwork - Figure Drawing - Dana and Jacob - Day 2

Second day on the is drawing.

The boots are Dana's. I asked her to throw them in front of her so I could draw them.  The work in that corner.

I am eager to paint on this.

Classwork - Figure Drawing - Dana and Jacob - Day 1

Class work for figure drawing. This is large. We have one more day on this assignment.

The models are Dana and Jacob. This is the first time I had Dana as a model she is fun to draw.

There is one more day to this pose. So there is more work I can do.

Goodstuff/ Badstuff

Goodstuff
-I like the composition and the poses. The is a mood to the drawing that is looking and feeling very nice.
-Dana's portrait is looking great. Jacob is working. As he's background there is reason for the lack of focus or rendering.

Badstuff or things to fix tomorrow.
Need to define space in the forground.
Background? Either even the tone or make some space choices.
Probably need to work on jacob.

So Vincent Desidario has a work method where you shellac the page after working on it with charcoal. The it acts as a semi closed ground for painting. The charcoal remains as a ground/under painting. I think I will go back into all the large drawings with this method. I am kind of eager to see what comes of this. I'm looking forward to playing with the drawing and painting interplay. While tomorrow I'm going to draw. I think all of the large scale drawings I did are going to benefit from the process.

Classwork - Figure Drawing - Comparative Anatomy

Luther and Karen - 11/30/15 - 3'x5', Conte on Paper

Figure Drawing class and working big again (36"x 48"). The overall goal was to compare the anatomy between both sexes. The class was two long poses. The first with Luca, and then the afternoon with Karen.

I wish I took a photo with just the Luca pose in there. My goal was to get the whole figure in the page. I covered up a great right hand with the second pose.

I am pretty happy with this drawing. However the lament is that to get this drawing finished will take a few more hours of work. There is a great feeling of space between the two models. Used a chamois to smudge the earlier drawing of Luca to the background.

Things to fix when I get some time to work on this:

• I think the room perspective is a little steep.
• The highlight on Luca's stomach is popping to the foreground.
• A little more dark shades in the figure of Luca. The chamois took away a little too much of the darks in places.
• General focus on background forms paying close attention to straightening the lines and even out the dark to light transitions.

Classwork - Structual Anatomy - Watercolor

Classwork - 11/11/2015, 18"x24", watercolor 

So, the écorché exercise went well this morning. In the afternoon, we had to do drawings of the back of our model. I did the above watercolor. The focus was on the large muscle groups of the back.

I think the painting works, but I think I'm moderately successful at defining the muscle groupings. The value of the ecorché exercise and learning anatomy is being able to add that knowledge to a piece when the visual information is lacking.