Figure Drawing Update: David

Our scheduled model last Friday came down with a fever and was unable to work for our Osher class, so David stepped in with creative poses and strength to save the day.  We wish our model a speedy recovery and will plan to have him back when he is well.

We did several exercises to prepare us for dealing with foreshortening, including wrapped line drawings,  in which we followed the cross contours of David's body with our charcoals to help us to understand the way that body parts stack up visually as they come forward in space or recede.

We also turned our charcoals on their sides to create mass drawings.  This technique encourages us to draw the whole body, including the inner structure and shape of the body mass.

We finished the class session with a long pose.

David and I recently sorted through the deep stack of drawings in our living room Zoom art studio.  This is a sampling of what we have created during the last few weeks!

Painting the Lakeside Woods in November

 

David & I took advantage of last Saturday's bright sky and unusual heat to get out to Raccoon Creek State Park.  We hiked in a picnic lunch, and some paints, and enjoyed lunch by the glassy, calm lake.  Later, as I painted, David read the news aloud to me that the election had been called in favor of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  The sky seemed bluer, the day more colorful and full of hope. 

A Relaxing Evening with a Fistful of Micron Pens

Often in the evenings, I want to do something artistic, & relaxing.  I saw this idea online, and was inspired to fill several pages with pen & ink textures.  The power of working within a tiny grid block and having lots of rectangles to fill -- 35 per page in this instance -- is that there's no risk in trying some new pattern or design.  You fall into a playful mindset as you experiment with varying line widths, shapes, and mark-making approaches.

 

The Benefit of Living with an Art Model

One of the benefits of living with a model is getting to draw him while he works.  During a recent college class Zoom session, David held one long pose for an hour and a half.  Once I got the camera and lights set, I got to draw right along with the students.  But one key difference:  I peered around the camera and computer set up and drew David from life.  Lovely to get to do that again!

A Rainy Sunday Sketch

What do you do with a sleepy, cold, rainy, quiet Sunday morning in Autumn?  Sip a pot of hot black tea, and sketch the essence of fall -- a colorful leaf.  This bristle-tipped oak leaf caught my eye on a recent hike, so I scooped it up and set it on the table where I have my morning tea.  Finally a moment to sketch it, I fell into that timeless time, the meditative state we drop into when we draw.  Art connects us to nature and heals us.

Nature Journal Update: A Walk in a Closed Campground

The last sunny day before a rainy, cold spell luckily fell on a day off for me, and I took a backpack loaded with art supplies out to our local state park.  Sunny autumn Saturdays are often busy in the park, but I found that tucking away into the closed campground gives me a quiet space I share only with the White-Tailed Deer and oak trees.  Peace abounds, and picnic tables offer easy places to set up my supplies to sketch or paint the afternoon away.  

Lately, I have needed more peace in my life with the stress of the election coming up.  Nature & art feed my soul, ground me, and create an oasis of calm.

Back at home, I sketch my familiar friend.

 

Nature Journal Update: Autumn Sketches

A sunny day, a journal and a backpack full of painting supplies sounds like bliss to me.  Here are the results from such a day out at Raccoon Creek State Park.