First Pages of a New Nature Journal

Sunday morning dawned frosty and cold, and I thought of the backpackers I knew were out at Raccoon Creek State Park.  David & I had hiked out to see friends who were camping there on Saturday night, and were amazed at the number of folks setting up for the night.  

We visited with our friends around the cozy campfire until sunset.  Hiking the 2.5 miles back to our truck, David & I had been chilly, and had picked up our pace to warm up.  A cold night to spend outdoors, but our friends are adventurers!

Sunday morning, as the sun melted the frost away, the temperatures rose, and I took my travel chair out to admire a favorite old apple tree.  Our kids named this particular tree the Anna Apple Tree for David's Mom who praised the flavor of its apples on a visit. 

I sketched a branch of blossoms -- just one part of an enormous tree just buzzing with honeybees.

My neighbor's dog had been barking at me on and off as I sketched.  It kept me from falling into a flow state where I could let the bluebirds' songs sink into my soul. So, I moved over the top of  Hawk's Hill to the south side, where I had noticed an abundance of violets and wanted to capture their fresh faces in my journal.  

I had just settled into my chair and started drawing when I heard the galloping of small feet behind me, and turned to see my kitty, Miss Boo. She looked delighted to have found me out sketching, and sidled up next to me for some cuddles.

After getting her chin & back scratched and making me feel loved, Boodles slipped off through the grass to explore.

Wishing you a springtime full of sketching moments to follow the contours of a favorite furry friend or facet of nature!

Osher Figure Drawing with Model Alexx

Model Alexx inspired me and my students on Friday morning with a series of gorgeous gesture poses.  

We began with six, one-minute poses.  I invited my students to group three drawings to a page.  I love how Alexx created varied poses that worked together as a set, and her inventiveness in incorporating a fan.

We moved onto to two minute poses, followed by a five-minute pose (photo at top).

It felt so freeing to draw pose after pose, falling into a flow state, and knowing that with a Sharpie, I couldn't go back and erase. It pushed me to be bold and respond directly to the curves and contours I saw.

For our final long pose (below), I began with a gesture done in vine charcoal, then wiped off the charcoal with a rag, leaving a ghost image of what I had drawn as a guide.  I finished the hour-long pose (broken into 25-minute segments with stretch breaks for Alexx) with my Sharpie.

One of my students, Cathleen, commented that each different medium we use creates different marks, moods, and image styles.  I agree, and I notice that each different medium expresses a different facet of us as artists.

So why not pick up a different medium than what you've been using, and make some sketches? Play around, and see what wants to be expressed within you.

Figure Drawing with Model Amelia

We've been fortunate in my Osher Figure Drawing class to have a different model each week.  Last week, model Amelia brought us fresh new poses, like the one above that she held for 3 minutes.  

In our gesture series, we focused on capturing the interior structure of Amelia's body with a light-colored pastel (yellow here) for the first minute.  For the remaining 2 minutes, we added mass, contours and shadows (purple).

Using complementary colors makes the gestures pop graphically, and expresses the interior-exterior tension in the form.

We practiced drawing hands and feet in this session by doing a 2-minute blind contour in one color -- looking only at our model and not at our paper while following contours (yellow). We used the remaining 8 minutes to draw in our usual style (purple).  

Blind contour drawing, while feeling out of control and uncomfortable, allows us to tune in directly to the contours and forms we are drawing.  I've noticed that my subsequent drawings contain more life -- even if my blind contour drawing look like a pile of messy lines.

We finished with a long drawing for the final hour of class with Amelia in a meditative pose.

Many thanks to Amelia for her elegant and lively poses!
 

Art for Self Care: Watercolors for Breakfast

I had planned this morning to have an art adventure before work took me away from the beauty of spring dawning in nature.  I grabbed my backpack & my morning tea, sat outside, and quickly spotted a scene I wanted to sketch.  

Approaching the grand landscape with a 3" x 5" postcard is a wonderful way to simplify, reduce expectations, and allow yourself to play.  And playing with watercolors is one of my favorite self-care practices.

My kitty Boo joined me at my picnic table in the sunshine.

Wishing you a happy spring full of artful self-care and connection with nature!

Osher Figure Drawing with Model Emily

We had a wonderful Osher class today with model Emily!  We began the class with five two-minute gesture poses, and I encouraged my students to draw rapidly, capturing interior structures as well as exterior contours. Emily gave us active, elegant poses to study.

We moved on to drawing the face using shadows primarily.  David set the camera to transmit a black-and-white image, and we started the first two minutes of the fifteen-minute pose with the camera de-focused. After two minutes, we sharpened the image a little, and after two more minutes, we sharpened the image to tack-sharp.  

This approach allowed us to really see the shadow shapes without getting caught up in trying to draw features, and it forced a technique artists often use in the studio in real life, intentionally blurring their vision.  

 We finished up with an hour-long pose (with breaks for Emily!).  Some students focused just on the portrait, and others drew the entire foreshortened pose.

Many thanks to model Emily for her elegant poses and rock-solid stillness!

Drawing Model Alexx

Recently, I had the good fortune to get to draw model Alexx, who modeled for the Pittsburgh Figure Drawing Meetup's live sessions prior to the pandemic.  She held beautiful poses.  Many thanks to Alexx for the inspiration!

Chiaroscuro with Model Shannon

 

With the number of Covid-19 cases in our area decreasing, we have been able to invite a different model out to my studio for Osher class each week.  Last Friday, we were fortunate to have model Shannon, who held strong, active gestural poses for us to warm up with.

I invited my students to sketch with their non-dominant hand on some of their gesture drawings to loosen up their work and break out of old habits. Even though it felt strange, I was pleased with the results in my drawings.

After gestures, we moved on to a 15-minute, cropped pose that focused on Shannon's muscular back & torso.

We finished up class with an hour-long pose, broken into 25-minute segments.  

We used bold, chiaroscuro lighting and took the subtractive approach to drawing her, starting with  vine charcoal rubbed over the drawing paper to lay in a mid-tone, and then lifting out areas of highlight with a kneaded eraser.  I sketched in a gesture with vine charcoal, then used compressed charcoal to finish my drawing and make it permanent.

Many thanks to model Shannon!