New Nude female drawings - A productive night of working from the live model

I had a great time drawing from the live model last night! The Marietta Cobb Museum of Art hosts Figure Drawing groups once a month. Last night there was a male and female model, but I was working small, and just focused on the female nude. The first drawing is very colorful, perhaps even a little busy. I think I may darken the background so that the highlight on the leg is more dramatic. I was about to do another colorful drawing when she took this pose, but it was so dynamic, I felt like too much color would interfere with rather than enhance the drawing. So a stayed with black charcoal and only added a little bit of light turquoise accents. I don't know how she stayed in this incredibly difficult pose. I was sitting and drawing, and my a$$ was killing me when I finally stood up! I have a great deal of respect for our wonderful models.

A study of her back in charcoal on white paper. She had a beautiful twist in her spine, and I loved the position of the hand on back of the stool. Great lighting also.

I drew the same pose from the front, and I was very happy with the first few lines I drew - capturing the shape of her jawline and neck, down to her breasts and to her hand resting against her knee. I added a little more color and suggested some light and shadow, but had to force myself to not add too much information. I really liked the light, airy quality of the drawing.

I wasn't the only artist busy yesterday. My 2 yr old and 4 yr old invaded my studio while I was working on my latest Angel painting, so I set them up with some pastels and old mat board and put them to work. This is Jack's drawing of his little sister. If you think the drawing is cute, you should have heard Jack teaching Ari how to draw a person. "First you make a circle. Then you put the eyes," etc. Very entertaining.