Watercolor Explorations with Model Rikki

In the final session of my Watercolor Explorations class with Osher at CMU, we had the privilege of painting model Rikki.

We began the session with 4 gesture poses of 5 minutes each.  I invited everyone to make quick watercolor sketches using only one color.  Of course, I couldn't help myself, and added Ultramarine Blue to my Cadmium Red washes!

Rikki's gestures were wonderfully expressive.

By the last one, I felt like I was tuning in to her proportions, especially in her face.

After a break for Rikki, we practiced mixing skin tones, and

I demonstrated the process of composing the making a pencil sketch, then erasing any dark lines, and laying in the first washes.

Each of us experimented with composition, color, shapes, light & shadows to create our own version of Rikki.  Below is my painting from class.

Here is David's painting.  Notice how his expression of the shadows on Rikki's face, her dress, & the drape over her chair create a feeling of dimension and depth.  What a remarkable development for a new watercolorist!

 

Many thanks to our wonderful model, Rikki!

Self Portrait in Watercolor

 

The other day, my photographer husband and I did a photo shoot by window light.  I liked one of the resulting photos so much that I decided to paint a watercolor self portrait from it.

I decided to use  purple hues of the fabric for the cool shadow colors.  I find that repeating a color throughout a painting unifies the composition.  Of course, I happen to love this particular purple -- Permanent Blue Violet by Van Gogh Paints.

Painting a self portrait is a great way to practice your art skills, whether you're drawing or painting.  And, it's a great form of self-expression. If you don't have a selfie you like, a small mirror is a great help in capturing a live image of yourself.  I hope you give it a try!

Osher Figure Drawing Class with Models Keira & David

Last Friday, our Osher Figure Drawing class had the good fortune to draw traveling photography model Keira Grant, who had come to our farm for a series of outdoor photo shoots.  

We began with ink to paint Keira's three-minute gesture poses.  I used a light wash of watered-down India ink, adding darker contours and shadows after getting the mass gesture in.

Keira's poses were vibrant and elegant, and she held them rock steady.  We were swept away as we tried to express each pose swiftly, fluidly with our brushes.  

Keira turned the stage over to David and left to greet her photographer.  

We picked up our watercolor palettes, and set out to find David's flesh tones.  I mixed Burnt Sienna and Alizarin Crimson for David's skin tone, and added Ultramarine Blue for the shadows.

We familiarized ourselves with David's proportions with these five-minute poses.

We finished the session with one long pose. It felt freeing to splash loose washes in without an under drawing.

Many thanks to models Keira and David for an amazing session full of variety and professionalism!

Osher Figure Drawing with Model Kathryn

I like to present different ways to approach figure drawing in my Osher class, so that we don't fall into the tedium of one known -- yet rutted -- way to draw the human form.  Friday, I suggested my students join me in using a brush and ink or paint to capture Kathryn's lively gestures.

How freeing to let the brush's sweep follow Kathryn's contours! She gave us a series of elegant, powerful, dancerly poses, ideal for the medium.

We moved on to tackling the challenges of drawing hands & feet. I presented two different ways to look at capturing  these intricate parts -- a gestural approach and a more blocky technique I call "Robot Hands."  Below are my brush paintings.

Gestural Hands:

Robot Hands!

I used a combination of both techniques in the feet. I think I got too excited about drawing toes, because they grew larger on my page than in reality!

I was enjoying the freshness of the brush and black paint, so I created two different versions of Kathryn's long pose.  The bold strokes of the brush produced high contrast images, with a few light washes for shadows. The brush seemed to have a mind of its own, creating stylized images I didn't expect like this:

I noticed that the new medium inspired my students, too.  These gray winter months, anything fresh feels like spring!

Figure Drawing Update: Kathryn

 We had the delightful experience of drawing with color in Friday's Osher Lifelong Learning Figure Drawing class.  At my students' request, and with Kathryn's willingness, I extended the long pose to 2, 25-minute segments.  It almost felt like we were back to in person classes again with the longer pose.

More Figure Drawing & Painting

My Figure Drawing page is filling up with images, and I thought I'd stash a few new ones here in the main blog.  Attending open studios organized through the Pittsburgh Figure Drawing Meetup, has kept my hand in practice.  I was inspired by the artist Sarah Davis, who paints the figure with a simple set of pan watercolors and a water brush, and so painted the model Joanna with watercolors.  These are from March 16th, 2019.

Joanna had spoken of missing her "Intended," a soldier who was in the desert and was due back later in the spring.  I could sense her longing for her beloved, and the close relationship they had in spite of the distance. She seemed to pour everything in her life -- her joy, her loneliness, her love -- into her poses, and the emotion and energy swept us all away.

Joanna finished with a powerful long pose -- we would later deem it her "Starship Captain" pose.  Elegant, professional, poised.  Thanks for the inspiration, Joanna!