Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing 4/27/2015 - Sergio - Short Poses

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 02, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

So the model was Sergio and as always he was fun to draw and paint. I was really on this this night and am happy with almost all of the drawings today.

That night I had forgot my bag of Tombow pens. It was a rather sad discovery, but I did have a Pilot G2 10 millimeter, my favorite writing pen. The fact I have a favorite pen is sign of my mother's genetic expression. It's been a while since I have drawn with these pens. Normally I would draw with a thinner pen, but we make do.
   

Afterwards I went back into the gestures and added Sharpie to the drawings. I am very happy with the results. Above is one of my favorite drawings of the night.

A lot of elements are working in this gesture. The pose is very dynamic. The alternating lines and overall pattern of the ink lines is working very well.

Below are the rest of the gestures from the night. I am really satisfied with them.

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 01, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper.

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 03, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 04, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 05, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 06, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 07, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 08, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

There is a very neat feel to this one. I am a little unhappy with the hand. The darkness and the frantic lines of the gesture are working very well.

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Gesture 09, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Normally when I don't have 10 gesture drawings it means something went wrong. I was late or one of the drawings was just terrible. However, Today's class was a "Field Promotion" day, the normal people who run the class were out sick so it left me in charge of the class. I miscounted the number of gesture drawings I had already done and thus we were one short. 

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Short 01, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

Short poses went pretty well. I need to watch myself when I'm doing my cross hatching especially in these shorter poses. These two five minute drawings show a problem I need to catch: I need to alternate my Hatch marks. The pattern created by them all going one direction is distracting. Above we see a drawing where I alternated the hatching.

The figure seems to have a greater volume to it and the different hatch directions help define the figure.  

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Short 02, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

This drawing shows what happens when I fail to alternate the hatch direction. One of many problems with this drawing.

Sergio - 4/27/15 - Short 03, 9"x 12", Ink on Paper

This was the 10 minute drawing. I like it. The head is a little off.

The Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing class is every Monday at 7 PM. It is located at 1111 Victoria Street. There is a $10 class fee.

Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing 3/30/2015 - Shilo - Long Poses

Shilo - 3/30/15 - Pose 2, 9"x 12", Acrylic on Paper.

Another week at the Honolulu Art Academy. The model was Shilo. I had a pretty great night.

Above is my favorite of the three paintings I did.  It was the second pose of the night.

I focused a lot of effort on the background. My normal solution to the background issue is a simple wall behind model or a nearly uniform color field but I have been finding them more and more dull . The semicircular shape in the background of color is my attempt at altering that a little.  My goal in the future is to  try and abstract the natural forms behind the model into color fields. I have been enjoying the results. 

I am finding these acrylic studies very time consuming. The refinement the paint allows has me spending the week working on these during my off periods however I am loving the results.

I am finding it troublesome to work on older studies from classes past. I feel that I forget what I found dynamic about the pose and I hate the final results. I am also learning that not every one of these studies can work. Sometimes 25 minutes is just not enough time to capture what is needed. 

Shilo - 3/30/15 - Pose 1, 9"x 12", Acrylic on Paper.

This was pose 2. I do love how I rendered this back. Its getting to what I really like about these acrylic studies. Quick and expressive brushstrokes while still rendering the form accurately. I know it's the accurate rendering that often suffers as a do these quick poses.

The Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing class is every Monday at 7 PM. It is located at 1111 Victoria Street. There is a $10 class fee.

"Art isn’t every­thing. It’s just about every­thing."

~ Gertrude Stein

Study of Olomana 03/27/15

Olomana - 03/27/15, 9"x 12", Ink on paper.

I have been wanting to do a few studies of Mt. Olomana for a while, perhaps to do a few more large scale paintings of it. It has been an idea I have been ruminating on.

One of my students had a seizure. I had to hold him on his side till the ambulance came and took his vital signs. We then kept a vigil on him during the postictal phase, where he was unconscious like in a deep sleep. It was during this awkward waiting time I sketched this.

Olomana is a really pretty mountain. There is not much to it but it is a great landmark on the windward side of Oahu. 

Dealing with the emergency situation of students seizure was a jarring and this sketch seems like a strange artifact of that experience.

Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing - March 23, 2015 - Tina - Long Poses

Tina - 3/23/15 - Pose 2, 9"x12", Acrylic on Paper.

It has been a while since Tina was a model at the Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing class. Its been more then a year.

This was a great pose and I love this painting. There is a great balance between the expressive brushstrokes and how well rendered it is.

Her hair is much lighter then how I rendered it here. However there is a great effect to the darker hair. It is doing a great job separating the figures torso from her other arm.

I am getting much better at utilizing the three colors and getting a pretty wide range of colors from them. limiting my palette to three colors and seeing how far i could push the colors hase been a great learning opportunity. I am fascinated by the differences in the flesh tones. How ocher the yellow in her legs look and how pink the highlights on her chest look.     

The Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing class is every Monday at 7PM. It is located at 1111 Victoria Street. There is a $10 class fee. 

Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing March 9,2015 - Tom

Tom 03-09-15 Page 1, Acrylic and Ink on Paper, 9”x 12”

I was working with my three color acrylic paintings (Cad Yellow, Cad Red and Cobalt Blue). There were a couple of odd moments from this drawing session. The most notable is what I thought was rather devastating turned out to be very interesting. I forgot my drawing paper this class and had only my mixed media paper. I adapted quickly as  have done similar to these with my oil pastel drawings.

Overall these drawings look like complete pages and were easier to "complete" but I don't like them as much as my fully painted pages. 

I really like how these pages came out. I do miss my gesture pages with the ink and wash. I may do a combo of the two types of gesture drawing in future sessions.

Tom is always entertaining to draw. He usually takes very theatrical poses playing to his strengths; however this night he was taking very difficult poses. He was balancing precariously on top of furniture and really pushing his (and the classes' for that matter) comfort zone. 

In the above pose he was balanced on a collection of furniture. I like how all the poses are reading in this page. The bleed through on the earlier poses and the incomplete ares of the painting make for very interesting shapes. I think this is the most successful page of the night.

I think the longer poses make for better background drawings. I really like how the sharpie line work reads from under the washed paint.

Tom 03-09-15 Page 2, Acrylic and Ink on Paper, 9”x 12”

Marc Brown's comment for this pose was "what gear are you in Tom?" as he basically created a balance beam and perched himself on top of it.

I really like my use of gray in the arms. It's reading as a cold shadow space.

Tom 03-09-15 Page 3, Acrylic and Ink on Paper, 9”x 12”

This collection of gestures was my favorite and worked really well as a page. The dark spaces and shadows are creating some neat patterns.

This does run into a problem with this particular system. I was really attached to the gesture drawing page and did not want to obscure it with a large painting. I should have probably made the figure larger and turned the page. I was treating the drawings as delicate and then painting around it and that lead to a less effective page.

Overall good night. There were a lot of insights gained. 

The Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing class is every Monday at 7PM. It is located at 1111 Victoria Street. There is a $10 class fee. 

“Come on. I don't have any problem violating my own insights in practice.” 
~ Slavoj Žižek

LCC Sun Drawing 6-22-14 Elaine – Long Poses

Elaine 6-22-14 Pose 1, Acrylic on Cardboard, 10”x 13.5”  

I was on a roll, after I completed the short poses Sunday Morning at Leeward Community College. I really love how I did the last short pose.

I then did four drawings I really like. I went immediately home and finished them all. I had a great morning.

Above is the first drawing of the morning. Elaine likes to stand so her face is just out of the spotlight, it makes the light rakes across her face.  There were beautiful bright highlights on her nose and cheek and dramatic shadows on her face.

I was really interested in capturing the play between the dark/dark nuanced contrast of her head and the dark background and the really dramatic highlights of nose, cheek and torso. The effect is working well.  It draws focus to the center of the page and keeps the eye there.

I like how I rendered the extended foot although I’m a little unhappy with the hand.

Elaine 6-22-14 Pose 2, Acrylic on Cardboard, 10”x 13.5”  

I may have over worked this one. 

When I paint I enjoy breaking forms into flat painted shapes. The nuance and definition comes from the brush work. I really like the fields of color in this painting. I am not bothered by the flatness and I like the design quality of this painting. However, I may have smoothed some areas a bit too much, losing the brush work.

There is a stillness to this painting that I do enjoy. 

Elaine 6-22-14 Pose 3, Acrylic on Cardboard, 10”x 13.5” 

Pose 3 was a lot of fun, the foreshortening was a real challenge. I, in general, think it was really successful.

I love how I rendered her feet in this picture. They really stand out for me as well done.

Elaine 6-22-14 Pose 4, Acrylic on Cardboard, 10”x 13.5” 

This is a very complete painting. I like the space I was able to create in this painting. I may use some color variation in sheet to define the space a little better.

The mass and form of the painting are very solid. Her body has the illusion of real weight to it. I am really getting comfortable working with the Purple and Yellow.

My color palette on all of these this is NaplesYellow Hue, Dioxazine purple, Titanium White and Mars Black.

This life drawing class occurs on Sundays at 10:30 AM. It is located at Leeward Community College in the Drawing and Painting room. There is a $10 class fee.

"Watch with glittering eyes."
~ Roald Dahl

HMoA Figure Drawing 06/09/14 - Honey - Long Poses

Honey - 06/09/14 - Pose 3, 10" x 13.5", Acrylic on Cardboard.

Here are the long poses from last Monday when Honey was the model. It was pretty crowded that night,  so I remember moving to the floor for the last two poses.

Above is my favorite from the night. She was mostly in shadow. She posed right at the edge of the model stand.

I love how much nuance I was able to capture in this painting. The changes in light and shadow on her back and arm look really great. I also like the contrast in the areas that are outlined and the areas of the shadow that rely more on the edge to edge modeling. 

Again, I probably should fix up the horizon line.

Honey - 06/09/14 - Pose 1, 10" x 13.5," Acrylic on Cardboard.

I find myself bothered by little bits of the paintings and that clouds my judgment on the piece. I am really bothered by her face and hand in this painting. Looking back on the painting a few days after the session, I can see it is not that distracting or malformed. However, it just irks me.

It irks me so much that I almost miss the things that are working in the painting. I love her leg and thigh as well as the arm and shoulder. Her flexed leg is so solid and sculptural I really looks great.

If I focus on what works, it encourages me to keep working. 

Honey - 06/09/14 - Pose 2, 10" x 13.5", Acrylic on Cardboard.

Above was the second pose of the night. I remember having to move to the floor for this painting as the night was crowded enough that I couldn't see the model from the second row.  I almost just did a painting of her feet but then thought twice about it. I do really like how I rendered her legs in this one.   

I need to color the space between her legs and make the drawing horse dark purple.

This life drawing class occurs on Mondays at 7PM. It is located at the The Honolulu Museum of Art School, formerly the Academy Art Center at Linekona. There is a $10 class fee.

“Artists exist to show us the world. So do windows.” 

~ Jarod Kintz

HMoA Figure Drawing 06/02/14 - Quantae - Long Poses

Quantae- 06/02/14 - Pose 2, Acrylic on Cardboard,  10"x 13.5".

Quantae is always fun to draw, or paint in this circumstance. I am really happy with these three paintings, two of them I think are amazing.

I am starting to really get a handle on what I am able to capture in a 20 minute pose. The greatest strength of these painting is their spontaneity.  It has been a challenge to refine details at my studio while maintaining this strength. Sometimes it feels like trying to contain quicksilver, mercury, when you think you have it, the magic of the brushstroke can be destroyed.

I had managed to get most of the figure in this pose. It was a rather straight forward pose. I moved to the ground of the studio in order to paint this. There is a slight foreshortening going on that is making Quantae look like a giant.

I tend to like large fields of paint filled by dynamic brushwork in a picture. I did that in the white wall and shadow behind the figure. I could maybe work some other colors into the shadow.

Overall,  I am really happy with this painting.

Quantae- 06/02/14 - Pose 1, Acrylic on Cardboard,  10"x 13.5".

This was the first pose of the night. I think I overworked it. I probably could spend a few hours and destroy the overworked areas and recreated it, but the joy of these paintings is next week I will have a new set to play around with.

There is a problem with the areas I retouched and the original work. 

There is a lot of problems with the cushions he is leaning on. They are rendered a little sloppy and are confusing.

I do like how I rendered his face.

Quantae- 06/02/14 - Pose 3, Acrylic on Cardboard,  10"xd13.5".

This was the last pose of the night. It really is looking great. There is a nice balance between the work I was able to capture in the pose and the work I was able to refine in the studio afterwards.

The figure was basically complete in the 20 minute pose. I may have just darkened some of the outlines after adding the background.

I like how I rendered the sheet he was lying on. It looks almost like a cut out while the detail brush lines are very strong. I also like how I used the different colors of paint on it, it creates a nice effect. That is definitely something I will have to do again.

Overall, great night.

This life drawing class occurs on Mondays at 7PM. It is located at the The Honolulu Museum of Art School, formerly the Academy Art Center at Linekona. There is a $10 class fee.

"Rembrandt painted portraits, The Karate Kid painted fences, 

and I paint my toenails. But I’m not a snob, 

I still consider those other two guys to be artists."

~ Jarod Kintz

HMoA Figure Drawing 06/02/14 - Quantae - Short Poses

Quantae 06/02/14 - Short 2, 5"x 9",  Acrylic on Cardboard.

Quantae was the model this Monday over at the Honolulu Academy of Art.  It was a crowded day with almost 40 people in that tiny class room.

Today I tried something different with the 10 minute pose. I have been using my Tombow pens and working on paper for the short poses, but I have discovered a good use for the half sheets of cardboard in the box Robert let me use.  I am going to paint with them and try to block in as much of the figure as I can in 10 minutes. It has been a great warm up for the longer drawings. 

Above is the first one of these 10 minute paintings. I am really liking what I was able to get done in the time frame.  The figure is defined well and there is a great play in the background and the foreground.I really liking the area around his head, the purple shadows, and the yellow highlights look great against the gray/purple arms.

Pretty good for 10 minutes, but I know I can do better.

Below are the gesture Drawings from that evening here too. I had a pretty good night.

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 1, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper.

 

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 2, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper. 

Quantae's day job as an actor is showing through in some of these. I call this one "Naked Prowler." 

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 3, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper.

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 4, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper.

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 5, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper.

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 6, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper.

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 7, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper

I like how this one came out. The wash flattens nicely to make a simple shape but the shape is nuanced enough to define the form nicely.

Quantae 06/02/14 - Gesture 8, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper

Quantae 06/02/14 - Short 01, 9"x 12",  Ink on Paper

Above is one of the 5 minute poses. He was posing with the staff and I managed to get the figure pretty defined in that time frame. This is a pretty straight forward pose but it looks good.

Tomorrow, the long poses, I am really happy with them.

This life drawing class occurs on Mondays at 7PM. It is located at the The Honolulu Museum of Art School, formerly the Academy Art Center at Linekona. There is a $10 class fee.