Figure drawings from the live model. Inspired by my Aunt's abstract nudes.

WON-derful figure drawing session on Wednesday evening! I was excited to draw the whole day...then even more so when the fabulous miss "T" walked in and I realized she was our model - GLEE! I up-loaded my photos backwards...so starting with a few shots of my fab fellow artists' work! This is a just phenomenal watercolor done by - we'll call her "H". I like that she's working in this media- she got a great initial drawing done in charcoal, capturing the form and proportions, then just washed in the shadows. I forbid her to work any further on this piece (yeah, I'm a real pain in the ass that way) and she went on to create two more fabulous watercolors. I was inspired :)

Another amazing artist working on an oil painting. The skin tones were wonderful! Our model has the creamiest skin that just glows and has a wonderful array of soft colors.

A few other works in progress! As you can see - we all had some great success! I am so lucky to work with such a talented group. (artists and models! The paintings in the background are by Shane McDonald, whose website you can find on the right - his work is incredible!)The first drawing I created was in pastel on Cranberry mat board. I hadn't worked on this color alot before, so I had to discover what colors worked well together and what didn't. I love starting on a dark surface - colors almost immediately "pop". The blues worked especially well - I love the turquoise and cranberry combination. When I moved to a new vantage point for my second figure drawing, the lighting was a little less dramatic, and I sat thinking for a few minutes how to make the most of the figure. I started to think about my great Aunt Barbara's work, shown above, and how she would draw the same figure several times, each time making slight adjustments to the most important lines of information until she got it just right.

So while drawing the model, I focused on only a few important moments - the light catching her cheek and her shoulder, the curve of her spine, and the lines of her leg. I limited my palette to just a few colors. When we took a short model break, I stepped back and thought about adding a little bit more - but several of my fellow artists said STOP so I did. (thanks!)

The last drawing I did still ventured into abstraction, but with a much brighter palette. This was a cranberry piece of pastel paper, and again - the blues just popped! I think there's a nice rhythm in the drawing.

You can see more of my pastel figure drawings in my Fine Art on Etsy shop.