Re: INVITATION: Drawing @ the academy | Thursday September 3 |

Reign 09/03/15 , Watercolor, 11"x 15"

Day 3

Opening my email.

Hello Students Staff and Faculty!
The Operations and Student Services Departments would like you to join us for an evening of a long pose drawing, painting or sculpture and beat the heat. Thursday evening September 3rd!
We will be setting up 2 models in the air conditioned Wilkinson Hall starting at 5:30 pm going until 8:30 pm tomorrow night, One pose for the duration of the evening.
Ice Cold drinks to be served along with music. Come on down to the hall and have some fun, make some work and cool off for a bit. See you there.
Hope to see you there!

"In a 3 hour pose I can get a pretty good watercolor going," I said as I read the email. 

The event was a great community building activity centered around figure drawing. 
I went and was impressed by the number of people who came out and their skill level. It was also neat to see many members of the staff there drawing, too. It's nice to know that this place is not only home to a number of great artists but also administered by a number of great artist too.

I am pretty happy with my painting above.

The model was Reign. She wore a collection of necklaces and ornamentation that I thought would be a blast to render in watercolor. I think I managed to get some of the shine and glare right.

I was dreading painting the parasol. Japanese and Chinese brushpainting is full of great renderings of these that look effortless. It is a complicated but delicate form.

She took a pose that was very stiff, both feet planted on the floor, It makes sense from her perspective-- it's a three-hour pose and she has to get comfortable. But I improvised the feet of this pose to make it a little more dynamic.

Horse Skeleton

Horse Skeleton 09/02/2015, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

September 2, 2015 - Day 2
 
So when I saw the horse Skeleton in the sculpture room I was unsure what to think.

"They made a big deal out of this you know," a classmate told me. "Did you go to the open house day?"

I shook my head.

"Yeah, I went and they made a big deal out of it." He then said, " I don't really get what the big deal is."

So today I had to wait around after anatomy class and I decided to sketch the skeleton. A friend of a friend wanted a drawing of a horse skeleton for a literary magazine she was working on. So I figured this was a great opportunity. 

 As I was sketching, my ear bud blaring, someone came up to me.

"It's hard for me to look at that thing," he said as I pulled out my earbuds. "It keeps getting destroyed," the man said looking intently at the skeleton. "I spent all last year working on this. Maybe I should just stop checking in on it."

The man paused in front of the skeleton and scanned it quickly, exhaled once in a gruff disgust and continued on his way.

I continued to sketch.    

Classwork- History/Compositon - Day 1 - Cyrus

Cyrus 09/01/15 Pose 1, Watercolor, 11"x14"

September 1, 2015

So day one at the New York Academy of Art. My First class was History and Theory of Composition which is one  part history class and one part studio. The work today was to gauge our ability levels. The space we are working in is newly-renovated, so there was a bit of time spent getting the area ready for drawing. 

The model in the afternoon session was Cyrus. He was either Persian or Sikh, I will ask him next time he sits, but either way his body type was a real insight into a class I had a long time ago at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, the Art of Ancient India. 

During that class and looking at slide after slide of statues of the Buddha and other Hindu deities, I always thought the shoulders were exaggerated oddly. But Cyrus's body type really illuminated the body shape those artists were trying to capture. As I'm writing this, this seems like an odd point to be making, but it was a real "Ah Ha" moment even though the realization was rather silly upon reflection.  

The afternoon session was two hour long poses. I know from experience I can get a pretty good watercolor in this time frame.

I worked really systematically the first 20 minutes of the pose on the sketch/outline. The next 20 minutes on blocking in the dark light fields and building the dark. I then spent the last 20  Minutes working on the lighted section for the drawings.           

I am pretty happy with this painting, It's spontaneous; it's well-rendered and has a nice mood to it.

Cyrus 09/01/15 Pose 2, Watercolor, 11"x 14"

Pose 2 was a little rushed and the last pose was collapsed to 5 minutes. As such my same plan fell a little short. I kind of like the effect it made though. I'm finding the incomplete/stylized parts of the form is kind of appealing. I may have to experiment with this and specifically how much of the shadow can I define and still have the form readable.

Speaking of Indian art, I think Cyrus was intentionally making a mudra in this pose.

After Asia By Daniel Chester French

After Asia by Daniel Chester French, Ink on Paper, 9" x 12"

After the orientation meeting for school I had some time before I wanted to head home, so I decided to go back to the National Museum of the Native American and draw another of the statues.

This one is Asia.

I had a lot of fun with this drawing. Coordinating multiple figures in a scene is really challenging and these kind of statues offer some really good practice at these skills.

I like that I was able to add the wash behind the figures and the architectural element on the right.

"Knowledge of divine things is lost to us by incredulity."
~ Heraclitus

After America by Daniel Chester French

After America by Daniel Chester French, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

So I'm calling this sketch sightseeing. I think that is the term I will use to describe my copying famous statues in areas. I think it describes the activity well.

For some setting. There are 4 statues in front of the National Museum of the Native American or the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House as a quick Wikipedia search of the location and statues informed me. The Statues were done by Daniel Chester French, who also carved the statue of Lincoln and was called the "Dean of American Sculpture in the 20th century."

I really like the four continent statues. The kneeling male figure in the foreground really caught my eye. It looks really stylized and almost art deco to me. Just the structure and the exaggerated heroic pose.

I spent a while drawing this, I think I will try to do at least parts of the other sculptures.

I really have been debating going into the symbolism of this statue. It is worrisome and dated in the "grandma's racist" sort of way. The other ones are notable worse.

I still had a lot of fun with this drawing. I am mainly enjoying the challenge of multiple figures in a scene interacting to each other. I also love how French's chisels rendered the fabric in these statues. While not the most realistic. It is really stylized and dramatic. It was also a lot of fun to render. 

Jimmy and the Brooklyn Library

Jimmy 08/29/2015, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

I have been keeping up with my sketch booking when I met up with a friend who has been living in New York.  This is Jimmy and I sketched him as he smoked his e-cigarette.

He says my sketch doesn't have much of a likeness.

On his left I drew a portrait of a woman I saw reading on the subway.  I like how quickly I was able to capture the odd shape of her hat.

At the Brooklyn Library 8/29/15, Ink on paper, 9"x 12"

I was exploring a bit and wandered into Brooklyn.  I was having a good time walking until the heat got a little unbearable and I took refuge in a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. The place reminded me of home and the libraries there.

It was a weird collection of prominently used dated technology, "Read" posters, strangely worded signs, kids quietly enjoying themselves, and some kids goofing off in the corner-- obviously there against their will.

I began drawing the kids playing on their phones before their mom took them home. Mom was carrying a large stack of books. Talk about a flashback. I have been in the same position as those kids many a time in my childhood.

"Books, the children of the brain."
~ Jonathan Swift

Self Portrait - Fountain Pen Ink

Self Portrait 8/28/15, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12"

August 28, 2015

So on my first day in New York, my landlord was gracious enough to show me how to get to the Art Academy on the subway from the house. It's an easy trip, the ferry is nice, and both the bus ride to the ferry and the subway trip are super simple.

While I was out and about I decided to do some art supply shopping. I brought both my fountain pens, but I had no ink. I felt really uneasy packing my 3 oz glass Noodler ink bottles. With my luck, and the way baggage is handled, I would landed in New York with two broken bottles of ink and a suitcase full of ink stained clothes, I figured I could buy ink in New York.

So for a few hours I went to art supplies stores and asked the workers for fountain pen ink. Then this process would repeat itself: 1) They would look at me oddly 2) Bring me to their ink section and finally 3) suggest a bottle of ink "they think" would work with fountain pens. Being unfamiliar with the ink, I would google "X brand use with Fountain Pens" and then it would link to to a forum where there is all capital letters saying "NOT FOR USE WITH FOUNTAIN PENS."

This literally happened three times before I thought to just google "Noodler Ink NYC" and I got the location of the "Fountain Pen Hospital." The store is impressive (And really fancy) and they had every variety of ink for my pens.

I spent a bit before deciding on the colors "Antietam" and "Walnut." Antietam is a red that is darker and bluer then the more orange red ink I have been using, The Walnut is a pretty nice and rich brown.

The lady who rang me up was really cute and reminded me of my mom.

"You need a bag?"

 "No," I said pointing to my messenger bag while placing it on the glass display case, I unfastening the clips and looked up.

There was a look of  knowing worry in her face as she said simply, "Use the bag, you'll make me feel better."

I nodded yes for the bag. I saw that I had no choice but to obey.

"They're gonna be banging up against each other in your bag. They're glass and if they break..." She paused as I placed the two boxes of ink in the bag, "At least if they break in your bag the plastic bag will keep it"

With that I raced out of the store.

So with a new sketchbook, new ink and new City I decided to do a self portrait.

It was pretty quick sketch, It's kind of unflattering and my lip is a little off.

I look tired.  Packing my life and moving 4000 miles was not easy. It's been a long couple days.

"If you must live in a city, New York is the only city in the world."
~ Katherine Neville

Honolulu Museum of Art Figure Drawing 6/08/2015 - Sergio - Long Poses

Sergio 06/08/15 - Pose 2, 9"x12", Watercolor

These are the long poses from this Monday's figure drawing class at the Honolulu Art Museum School. Each of these are the 20 minute poses from the session.

Above is my favorite of the night. True to form it was the second pose of the night. I have been finding the second drawing/painting of the night is my favorite. It is becoming a very common trend.

I like extreme foreshortening in reclining poses. I actually usually move to the floor like with this drawing. I like how most everything reads except the left leg, it bugs me a little. I do like the other leg and foot.

Sergio 06/08/15 - Pose 1, 9"x12", Watercolor

This was the first pose of the night. I think there are some elements that are really working, but there are some elements that are really not working.

Sergio 06/08/15 - Pose 3, 9"x12", Watercolor

This was the third pose of the night. I do not thing is came out that good. I may reuse this page.

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 6/08/2015 - Sergio - Short Poses

Sergio 6/08/15 Short 03 , 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

These are from the Monday drawing class at the Honolulu Museum of Art

I just bought some new watercolor brushes and was really desperate to try them out. So I was using Burnt Umber and Cobalt Blue watercolor for these. I like these two colors because they create a nice range of warms and cool tones and they cancel each other out very nicely to create a chromatic gray.

I really like these three short poses. So much so its that I wanted to make a separate post for them on the blog.

Above is the 10 minute pose. It was a pretty straight forward watercolor technique. I did a quick contour line drawing of the figure then added the watercolors starting from light then working to the darks.

The left hand is a little big. But other then that I really like this painting.

Sergio 6/08/15 Short 01 , 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

For the two 5 minute poses I drew a contour line drawing and then added the watercolor on another day. These actually came out very nicely. I may have to try this technique in the future as I am really satisfied with these two paintings.

This painting shows a lot of what I like about using the burnt umber and the Cobalt blue. The warm of the figures shoulder and face contrast nicely against the cool of the cobalt blue shadows. The chromatic gray that is created when the mix really makes for interesting shadowed tones.

Sergio 6/08/15 Short 02 , 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

This is the second of the 2 minute poses. I think i spent too much time getting the ears just right in the drawing phase. The watercolor looks great.

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 6/08/2015 - Sergio - Gestures

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 08, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

Monday was figure drawing at the Honolulu Museum of Art; I had a really good night.

I came to the session a little late. It's graduation season, and parking around the Art Academy was terrible. So I was walking into the class about 7:15. Apparently others also had this problem and when I walked in they were only starting the first of the gestures. 

I was kind of in a panic to start. So I started with what I am really great with, the Tombow pens. However by gesture four I realized this wasn't really going to help with what I had planned for the rest of the night. I just went to Fishers Hawaii earlier that day and bought new watercolor bushes that I really wanted to try. So I switched to a thin pen to mimic the contour line drawing I would have to be doing for the rest of the night. 

I really like the above gesture, number 8. It was an unusual pose, but I managed to capture a lot in the brief amount of time. The way the figure is splayed across the page is very dynamic. I also love the balance of the shaded areas on the page. I also find the differently weighted lines and their interactions very interesting. 

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 01, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

I was using the gray Tombow then adding the black and the water afterwards. The effect created by this is really a lot of fun.

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 02, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

This is a great pose and great gesture. The difference in tone creates a difference in the weight in the two legs. The darker back leg pushes deeper in the composition and the lighter leg pulls forward.

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 03, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

This gesture has a Keith Haring feel to it. It could be the pose but it also could mean I over did the outline,

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 04, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

This pose is hilarious. Looking at this gesture makes me laugh just remembering it.

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 05, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

It was here I switched to the thinner pen. I focused on the figure's contour outlines and then with any remaining time I tried to block in the major shadow ares. This is to try and imitate the process I would have to zip through in the later poses.  Afterwards, like a day later, I added the crosshatching to the shade regions.

Above Number 5 is very dynamic. This is a great gesture.

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 06, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

I like this gesture too. His arms are a little odd in this one but it's working in my opinion.

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 07, 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

I do not like this one at all.

Sergio 06/08/15 Gesture 09 , 9"x12", Ink on Paper.

For the last one I used the black Tombow and water to fill in the shadows. It creates a nice effect but I actually prefer the crosshatching.

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.

"See, when I paint, it is an experience that, at its best, is transcending reality. When it is working, you completely go into another place, you're tapping into things that are totally universal, completely beyond your ego and your own self." ~ Keith Haring