Art After Dark 08/30/13 - Kat

Art After Dark Kat 1, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

So the Monday drawing class I attend was invited out to draw at Art After Dark. The model was Kat. I have been really loving my Tombow Pens. In this last group of sketches, I again used them for the gestures and the short poses.

Above is one of my favorites of the night. It was one of the 5-minute poses. I think I have created a fine balance between gesture and details in this one. Doesn't she look like she is able to walk right off the page?

I have been playing with various colors of Tombow pen to create forms on the page. I am finding it variously successful.

Art After Dark Kat 2, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

This was the second of the 5 minute poses and I do like how this one came out, too. She was mostly in shadow because of where on the stage she was standing. My goal was to define the form with the black and create a strong dark light contrast. I thought it would work well as the shadows on the figure were almost monolithic. 

Art After Dark Kat 3, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

This is the 10-minute pose. I don't know what it is about this pose but she looks like a figure that is part of an architectural embellishment. It's probably the way I have her perched.

If you go check the link out you can see the Vespa she was sitting on. Jared, the man who runs the drawing class, it was his Vespa, and he was so happy with the number of compliments it received throughout the night.

Below are the 3-minute gesture drawings from that session. Kat was rocking a cute dress and it actually made the work so much more difficult.  I made the stunning discovery that high heel are really hard to draw. If you make a slight error they look completely off.

When adding the washes I had the decision of to wash her skin or her dress. I think I made the correct choice in most of these.

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 01, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 03, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 04, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

This was my least favorite of the gestures until I added the wash. Now it is one of my favorites.

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 05, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 06, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 07, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 08, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

Art After Dark - Kat - Gesture 09, Ink on Paper, 9"x12"

HMoA Drawing Class 08/26/13 - Sergio

Sergio: 5 minute pose 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

This week Sergio was the model. I have really wanted to work more with the Tombow pens. I have really liked the effect I have been able to get with them. I really like how much work I am able to get done within the short poses.

Above is one of my favorite drawings of the night. It was the second of the 5 minute poses. I was really impressed with this sketch. There is a neat feeling with the shapes I was able to capture. I am liking the way I have used the three colors to create the various forms of the figure. It is creating a nice mood to the piece.

Sergio: 5 minute pose 1 , Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

This was the first of the first of the 5 minute sketches. Again I am having a lot of fun seeing what I can get done in these sketches.

Below I have the gesture drawings from that day. I do like some of them very much. 

Sergio: Gesture 01, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

Sergio: Gesture 02, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

This is one of my favorites of the night. I am really surprised how much I was able to get done in the two minute time period. Crouched figures are always a little difficult because of the length of the torso and the legs and getting that proportion right.

Sergio: Gesture 03, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

Sergio: Gesture 04, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

Sergio: Gesture 05, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

This is another of my favorite gesture drawings of the night.  I did manage to get a lot done and the figure looks surprisingly complete. I think the pose in this case added to it as my view of it was pretty simple.

Sergio: Gesture 06, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

Sergio: Gesture 07, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

"Be yourself. The world worships the original." 
~ Ingrid Bergman

Vampire the Masquerade Portraits - Davin

"Davin", 2'x3', Ink and Wash on Paper, 08/10/13. 

So I have been taking to drawing at the local Vampire the Masquerade game that I regularly attend. The player above is Caldon "Riki" and is playing a scared/burned Nosferatu.

There are a lot of things about this drawing that I like. I like the way I started to play with the ink lines, creating the 'drippy' edges in places. I also like the line quality, especially in his over-shirt.

I started having fun in his undershirt and making the gasping maws across it. The pattern looks ravenous like they are burrowing out of him. If I continue to do drawings at the game in pen, I will have to do similar things.

"Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult." 

— Anne Rice

HMoA Figure Drawing 08/19/13 - Blithe - Short Poses and Gestures

Blithe 8/19/13 - Pose 2, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

Its another Monday drawing over at the Honolulu Museum of Art. The model today was Blithe, the ballet dancer. She is one of the favorites of the class.

I have been using watercolor for the long poses and Tombow pens for the shorter poses. I have been really liking the results.

Above is one of my favorites of the night. The way she was standing in the light the shadows were very dark and uniformed on one side of her body. I tried to capture this with the black ink and wash. I really like how this picture looks. It has a crisp clean watercolor look.

Blithe 8/19/13 - Pose 3, Ink on Paper, 9"x12".

Above is the 10 minute pose.  I managed to get a lot of detail into the picture.  I do like how I rendered her pointed toes.

Below are the gesture drawings from the night.

Asheville Trip - Canton Trainyard with factory behind.

Canton Train Yard, Watercolor on Paper, 11"x14"

So throughout my time in Asheville I kept saying to my mother, "Can we go to a train yard?"

There were lots of trains going by in Asheville but the consistent motion made it difficult to draw. So Mom thought a bit and drove about half an hour to Canton, North Carolina, where there is a huge paper factory and lots of trains and tracks.

We sat and I worked on this watercolor until it began to rain.

"Trains, like time and tide, stop for no one."
~ Jules Verne

Asheville Trip - Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway, Watercolor, 8' x 11"

This is the second painting I did for my Aunt Dana to raise money for the Mustard Seed Mustard Seed Charity. 

This was a great and beautiful day. A truly glorious day in North Carolina. The sky was clear and the sun was beaming. The original plan was to do yard work that day, but Steven, my step dad, looked at me and said, "We have to go hiking."

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We went up with Kolo and she was in heaven. It was a little crowded on the trail and everyone had their dog.

I sat down for an hour and painted this landscape. The ridges of the mountains were impressive, very different from Hawaiian mountains.

I like how this painting came out. The different depths of the ridges were inspiring and difficult to capture. 

"I never saw an ugly thing in my life: 
for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade, 
and perspective will always make it beautiful." 

~ John Constable

Watercolors left for my mom

Asheville Trip - Bent Creek

Bent Creek -Asheville, Watercolor, 11"x14"

My mom's good friend, Aunty Dana, wanted a painting for a charity auction for the Mustard Seed that does a whole bunch of really cool charity work around the world.

So in an effort to help her out I did a few paintings to give to her for her cause.

This one was a Sunday afternoon trip to Bent Creek in Asheville. That place was a hub of activity with continuous kayaks and canoes launching into the French Broad River. We even saw a white truck hit and run another car.

It took awhile to paint this watercolor, but we had a great seat under the tall trees. The river is really beautiful. I had a lot of fun setting up this drawing and it came out pretty great. 

"Art is as important to the access of knowledge as any text ever written." 

~ Laura Kruger

Quiet Bent Creek Moment

Kayla on her Cell Phone - Final

Kayla on her Phone, Oil Pastel on Paper, 18" x 24"

So here is the completed drawing of my sister reading on her cell phone. I really like how the background makes the figure spring forward. I also like the shadows under the chair.

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties." 

~ Erich Fromm

Asheville Trip - West End Bakery

View from the West End Bakery, Ink on Paper, 8"x10"

It was a hot afternoon and I was relaxing while drinking a iced tea at the West End Bakery in Asheville. The sun was hot and the iced tea was great.

Across the street there was construction going on in the service station and I had a good time sketching the cement truck that was parked there.

I wished I put some of the workers in the sketch. 

Asheville Trip - The Gourmet Chip

Asheville Trip - The Gourmet Chip, Ink on Paper, 8"x 10"

After a mid morning of window shopping in downtown Asheville, we, Mom, Kayla and I, went to eat at the Mellow Mushroom Pizza Parlor. While we ate some delicious Buffalo Blue Cheese pizza on the front porch, I drew this sketch of the adjacent street, Broadway.

The building I drew was The Gourmet Chip a potato chip restaurant. There was a very neat lamp planter in front of the place.

I had fun with the shapes in the building and I think I did the tree well. It was fun to lighten the details near the border of the page. 

Waiting for pizza...