Figure Drawing with Model Denise

My Osher students & I were fortunate to have former natural bodybuilder and creative model, Denise pose for our class recently.  

She held physically strenuous and artful poses, like the one below, balanced in the center with arms and legs raised up in a V-shape.

After warming up with gestures, we moved on to practicing drawing Denise's face, using the subtractive method with vine charcoal.

Many thanks to the incomparable Denise for a wonderful class!

 

Nature Journal Update: Spring Birds!

I have a bird feeding station just outside of my art studio window.

I set out a bag of stale cashews for the birds,

and a troupe of Blue Jays swooped in to gobble up the bounty.

After the nuts & the Blue Jays had disappeared, a Rufous-Sided Towhee appeared just outside my studio window, and began scratching the earth to find fallen seeds.

The bird that has been called "The master of the two-footed scratch" charms me with its bright whistle, its bold colors and curious nature. 

What a gift to get to sketch it right from my studio!

I began with a Pitt Artist Pen, and then added Neocolor II watercolor crayons for intense color.  I used a wet brush on some the sketches of the Junco & the Blue Jays to mix the colors and brighten the colors.

A lovely way to start my Sunday morning!

A Video Sketching Visit to England

I've recently discovered the YouTube channel of British artist, Melanie Chadwick, who shares her drawing on location sessions.  I was taken by the seaside scene in her recent "Winter Sketching Tips."  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LCCS1wsyVE&t=30s

I decided to still the video about 30 seconds in and use the image as a reference photo, so I could create from the same scene as Melanie.

I followed Melanie's technique, beginning with a watercolor sketch of the scene with my Winsor & Newton Watercolors.

Melanie then added color and texture with Caran D'Ache Neocolor II Aquarelle Crayons and Derwent Inktense Colored Pencils.  

Both of these media allow you to lay in dense color and then touch in a wet brush to create a watercolor effect.

I followed Melanie's method for the most part, using my Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons to layer in more intense color.  I added in some India ink details with a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen.

I used a Payne's Gray Inktense colored pencil to lay in the dark seaside stones in the hillside and other dark values.

This is the final version of my painting.  I enjoyed being an armchair traveler and trying Melanie Chadwick's technique for drawing on location.

What part of the world would you like to visit?  

Try starting with a video sketch vacation!

Sketchbook Wanderings

 

I've been enjoying Koosje Koene's YouTube channel & book, and find that she's right in saying that even the most mundane thing becomes interesting when you draw it.  

Here are a few simple subjects I picked to draw, just for practice and the joy of drawing!

I hope you find a cozy moment to sketch your pet, your snacks, or anything in your life!

Osher Figure Drawing with Model Jamie

We had a new model last Friday in Osher Figure Drawing class named Jamie.  She's quite skilled and creative, and she helped us to sharpen our ability to draw foreshortening.

We started with two-minute continuous line drawings of Jamie's expressive gestures.  Her poses were alive and sensitive, and we could see her background as a dancer shining through in her movements.

We moved on to two-minute foreshortening gestures.  Our goals were to

1) Find a foreshortened limb to focus on.

2) Draw the bone structure underneath the foreshortened limb and supporting area, 

noticing the shortened appearance of the foreshortened bit.

3) Draw the outer body around the bones.

We built Jamie's foreshortened body from her skeleton up.

We were warmed up and ready to deal with more complexity.  Jamie took an hour-long pose, with breaks of course, and we delved into expressing her pose, foreshortening and all.

Many thanks to model Jamie. I could see the way her creativity inspired my students to draw lively, fresh compositions.

Watercolor Flowers Class: The Power of Play

 

The sight of fresh, colorful blooms and foliage inspired my students & me in my Watercolor Spring Flowers class at the Community College of Beaver County. 

We began the class by playing with our new watercolor supplies.

The painting above is a demo I made in class, to show how to pick up paints and lay them down, how to create the background after the first washes had dried, and to show the power of putting color opposites next to each other.

I wasn't trying to make anything in particular.  I was just playing.

After class, I added more watercolors and used Posca paint pens for details.  I plan to make color copies of this painting to create greeting cards with.

Below is another demonstration painting I made in class to show the steps in painting flowers. I notice I like the parts best where I was just messing around and listening to the little voice of my intuition.

Color at this gray time of year (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) can lift the spirits and give us a way to express our feelings. 

I hope you take the time this week to pick up your art supplies and play with color!

Figure Drawing with Amelia

Model Amelia kicked off our first class of the semester at Osher with athletic, artistic poses.  

We jumped right in with rapid 5-line drawings to warm our hands and eyes up.

 

Turning our charcoals on their sides, we created mass gestures from Amelia's expressive poses.

As we warmed up, we added a few contour lines.

We finished the class with a lovely pose for our long drawing.

It felt good to be back in the studio drawing again.  

Many thanks to model Amelia for her inspiring poses!