Painting The Red Robe

Couple things you may know about me by now: I love painting the figure, and I love fabric.  Especially patterned fabric, but any bit of fabric will do!

When you draw or paint the figure every week for many many years, after a while it may seem like you are repeating the same pose over and over again.  We, as a figure group, are very lucky to have a huge list of talented models who take a lot of different poses and keep us on our toes.

If you start to see that poses are getting too similar, simply adding a new bit of drapery, a new chair or prop, or even changing the lighting can help you find something new and different to keep to engaged.  You may also try a new material or surface, too.

Last night we had a fabulous model and a couple new elements to add in - a lovely carved chair with a circular back and ornate legs and a bright red robe to incorporate with the model.

I worked in oil on (I think!) an 11" x 14" aquaboard tinted with a thin layer of sap green paint.  I LOVED this view!  The dramatic red drape, the elegant shape of the chair, her hand gesture, the hint of her bare back.  Perfect!

You can tell I was loving that red, but I did try to block in all of the elements as quickly as possible.

Establishing the cast shadow under the arm was important for showing the direction of the light source.

Towards the end I worked on her hand, and her backside to establish the cast shadow from her body to the chair.

Now we just need a new fancy chair every week!

I love that we have an energetic and daring group of artists who come to draw.  By the end of the night the entire studio floor was covered with everyones' work!

All of these fun abstracts in the second photo were created by two artists, who kept passing their drawings back and forth to each other, working over what the other had done.  A great way to get out of your box and try a new way of seeing and drawing!