Judy Fox Master Class

My clay sculpture of Jake. Master class with Judy Fox. Sculpting with a giant piece of wood and a butcher knife.

Man and Beasts - Lulu Reclining

Lulu Reclining, Ink on Paper, 9"x 12", 2016

I got to play with a kangaroo today! Even more fun we got to draw her.

This is Lulu.  She was pretty incredible to see so close.

She reminds me of a giant rabbit. (Isn't that the plot of a Looney Toons cartoon?) The same nose flares and sniffing that a rabbit would do, she did. There are also some structural things about her face that are very reminiscent of a hare.

Her handler let her out of her pen and she explored the room we were in. Almost like a dog exploring the world with her nose first.  But most memorable for me where her arms. Everything in the room she would grasp with her front arms and steer towards her nose. She also tried to eat everything in the room: from the gum stuck on the floor, to coffee cups and bagels.

A student told a story about Lulu eating her kneaded eraser then vomiting up and presenting it back to the student like a gift.

At one point Lulu bolted down the hallway. It was surprising to see how quick she could hop when motivated.  It was after that escape attempt that she was corralled back into her pen for the afternoon. Like the owl that also posed for us, Lulu was tired in the afternoon session making for a steady model.

Man and Beast - Sleeping Eagle Owl

Sleeping Eagle Owl, 9"x12", Ink on Paper, 2016

I had a blast at the Man and Beast class today.

This is an Eagle Owl. This Owl was a character, vocalizing with assorted hoots of all kinds. It also was huge. Its wing span was close to 5 feet. The two feathery "ears" give it such a distinct character.

I drew this in the afternoon, the owl had fallen asleep after an eventful and active morning of visitors streaming through the classroom.

I worked with my fountain pen doing sketches in the morning and in the afternoon switched to a collection of tombow pens and wash.

I love how this drawing came out. I am really working to work the balance between the colors. The black tombow ink is very powerful and controlling that color is really important to making these drawings work.

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.

Man and Beasts 03/22/16 - Leaf Cutter Ants

Leaf Cutter Ants,  Ink On Paper, 9"x12",  2016

So today in the Man and Beasts class we had a lesson from Kate Javens on mounting insects.  Her passion for art making was palpable. 

It was kind of a interesting process. The act of piercing the bug with a needle was difficult. I did a Stag beetle.  Unfortunately the dampening process to make the movable makes them difficult to handle until they dry again so I could not draw the bug I mounted.

I did this drawing of a leaf cutter ant in the afternoon. I think I was able to get a motion from the insect.

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. 

View from a Starbucks 02/26/16

View from Starbucks on Walker and Avenue of the Americas, Ink on Paper, 9"x12", 2016

I was waiting for my class to start and had about an hour of time to do a sketch. So I drew this picture trying to get as much detail as quick as I could.

The store is Soho Pharmacy and is the nearest Pharmacy to the school, So it has become a regular stop for last minute office supplies, toothpaste and umbrellas. It's kind of expensive, but so is most everything in the city. 

I probably should work in a few more colors for these particular sketches of environments.