One Gorgeous Model, Three Drawing Techniques

The wonderful Maureen was our model for figure drawing group last night, and I tried three different techniques over the course of the evening

Of course we always warm up with gesture drawing - and I grabbed a red nupastel similar to the color I used last wee. The Nupastel is pretty dense - providing nice, crisp lines as well as easily blocked-in shadows.

The last drawing of the evening was a ten minute sketch using a black Sharpie marker on a canvas pad. I've never used a canvas pad before, but I like the feel of the surface.

Rumor has it that sharpies are not "archival", so I'm going to investigate and play around with adding layers of colored glazes, hopefully to add interest and to help preserve the image.

The bulk of the evening was dedicated to the blue drawing, which is a mixture of Nupastel and water on a gessoed masonite board. (I am not thrilled with the surface...the board was a store-bought gessoed panel, and I added an extra coat of gesso. AS I was drawing, the layer of gesso I added was scraping off of the original gesso - leaving little scratches in the surface. Next time I'll prep my own masonite panels, or sand the prepared surface in order for the gesso to stay on better)

Of course now I am experiencing a familiar debate in my head...do I add color? Do I glaze? How much further do I take this drawing?

While I love the blue, I have a painting very similar to this already...I will keep you posted as I finish it up!