New Drawings for Sale

Every few months I look around my studio and realize I have been spending WAY too much time drawing and painting and not nearly enough time selling my work.  The selling part is a necessary part of the art process...how else can I afford to buy guacamole at the taqueria across the street from my studio if I don't sell my work?!?  (The accompanying margarita that makes it's way into the rotation once a week ain't going to pay for itself, either!)

So I am finally finding myself catching up!  I have recently listed a bunch of charcoal drawings in my Etsy shop.  Browse...enjoy...shop...feed my avocado addiction...

View all of my original drawings on sale on Etsy!

Portrait of a Redhead

I'm not going to lie to you.  This painting was painful.  I started pretty enthusiastically - I mean what's not to get excited about?  A beautiful picture with great lighting of a pretty girl wearing my FAVORITE color (purple BTW) and I get to PAINT it.  Nothing wrong with that!

So I started out by working from the photo in black and white - there was so much fun color to play with I felt I needed to just look at the light and get all the proportions and composition right.

I am working on oil primed cotton (for those of you keeping track!) First wash has blues and blacks with thinner.

I had a break in between painting sessions so the black was nice and dry when I went back and blocked in some local color.  

I blocked in the darkest darks - not really trying to get the right chroma, but the correct value.  

As I worked, the areas I addressed became smaller - face, shoulder, etc.

Continued to work into the details, such as the hands and the jewelry.  While I was happy with it overall, I never really thought the length of the neck was right, and I kept going back and forth with her jawline.  

At this point I almost called it "finished" - but the look on her face wasn't quite right.  She was more pensive in the source photo, and here she looked angry.

I was very happy with the hands and the purple shirt.

But the face was just not quite right yet.

So I scraped off the face and started working on it again.  For about 12 hours.  Paint was completely scraped off several times.  I was hitting a wall, I couldn't "see" the issues anymore, there was no progress being made (this is where you feel sorry for me...go on!)

Finally, I was getting closer.  The nose is actually now where the eye on the right used to be.  The jaw is slightly turned up, tilting her head a little.  I softened the eye on the left.

I adjusted the edge of her cheekbone too many times to think about.  Finally, it was much much better.

The adjustments to her head ended up pushing the composition a little closer to the top of the page than I had originally intended, but I think it still works.  

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work on so many portraits in a row lately.  Although I never feel like I have enough time in the studio, as I look at a group of paintings I can really see where my strengths and weaknesses lie.  I'm enjoying one amazing journey in front of my easel!

Charcoal Sketches from the Live Model

I know I haven't been posting a lot of my art lately.  It's not for a lack of productivity.  I have been drawing and painting quite a bit.  But my mind, when not actually holding a brush, has been elsewhere.  I am very concerned about my son's diet, in fact the diet of my whole family.  I am incredibly depressed to see how much junk food children are allowed to eat in the classroom every day, and what a huge negative impact it can have on them mentally and physically.

SEE?! There I go again!  I'm here to show some drawings and back I go to ranting about the junk food!

So... FOCUS! Here are a couple recent black and white drawings from the live model.

This is the very beginning of the charcoal portrait below.  I find it helpful to block in the largest areas of light and shadow first - getting proportion and a sense of the light source before getting caught up in the tiny details.

I think this was just about an hour of drawing.  I used vine charcoal and then switched to charcoal pencil. 

This drawing is built up mainly from charcoal lines, similar to cross hatching techniques.  This was partly due to the paper.  I think this is a Canson drawing pad, and I find that I can't "smudge" as much as some other drawing papers.  It doesn't erase as cleanly, either, which kind of forces me to get it "right" in fewer strokes.

This figure drawing in charcoal was done in 30 minutes from the live model. I love compact poses like this, especially in short periods of time.  Strong lighting, a good pose, you can get a lot accomplished in a short time period if you look at the big picture - the largest areas of light and shadow first - and then work in to the details. 

It's all about environment

I'm working on a couple of figure paintings, both started during some wonderful sessions centered around my friend Matt's newest sculpture of the standing nude female.  I'm working on a tall painting, and I started out with a very blue-purple background.  But as I kept working, I felt like the blue was too strong, and I wanted to surround her with a more sophisticated purple.

This is not a great shot for showing color, but you can see that most of the blue has been covered, and I can now get a better sense of where I need to work on her flesh tone as well.  (Doesn't the sculpture look awesome!? If you've followed the last few posts you can see subtle changes in the pose from day to day. )  It's difficult to make a change like this on such a large scale, but it will be worth it if I can achieve the right balance between her flesh tones, the drapery, her hair, and the environment.

But that's not the only painting that got an environment make-over.

I started this back study during one of the live sessions, and added the dark red background later on.

While it was dramatic, I thought it was too obvious: like I was trying too hard to make it look sexy by painting it red.  So I went completely opposite, and tried a green.

Again, not a great photo, but I like the palette much better.  Her flesh tones are complimented by the green background, and the chair that she is sitting on is not getting lost in a dark background.

And as I continue working on the model in the garden, I keep adjusting values in the background and on the figure.

There is so much information in this painting, and each little puzzle piece needs to fit with the one next to it. 

I also did this nice oil study last week from the live model, and I love the way the environment and the figure work together.

Because it is a small painting, 8 x 10, I was able to work the environment and figure at the same time.  By keeping a limited palette of warm pinks, peaches, and purples, it helped to unify the entire piece.

And, speaking of great environments...while Matt worked on his sculpture over the weekend we both brought our kids to the studio (our very understanding spouses deserved a break!) and it was SO cute to watch our little line up of artists hard at work!

A good environment for Creativity.

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!

Classic Nudes, Modern Portraits. Lots of Painting.

In my studio for another long stretch of time today (many thanks to a friend who wanted a play date with Ari after school today!)

I started the day trying to finish up a small oil painting from last week.  After an hour of trying to finish her profile (a section that is only 1" square, let me add!)  I finally wiped it off and decided to go get some Mexican food for lunch.  I felt much better. I didn't take a photo of the current state of the painting.  I still hope to resolve it!

But as it sometimes happens, I decided it was time to move onto another piece and step away from the mess I was making.

I started to added color to the modern portrait I began yesterday.

I am starting with the color a little bolder than in the reference photo I took last year.  Working with a large brush I started blocking in some of the shapes on her face.  The face will be the focus, and the only area of the painting completely developed.

I also added another layer of color to the environment.  At this point I am not using any media except thinner - no liquin or other materials.

The challenge will be to keep this fresh and painterly, but still capturing her beautiful features.

I also finished up a couple paintings that were started during our session with the live model last night.  We have had this wonderful woman a few times before, and I love working with her.  

The first painting I worked on was 12" x 9" panel in oil, 40 minutes.

This is not a great photo, but you can get the idea: bold colors, limited detail.  If the sun is shining tomorrow I'll try to get a better shop of those lime greens and purples.

The second pose was longer, about 90 minutes, and we incorporated some drapery into the pose.  I loved the geometric shapes formed by all of the elements - her head, the drape, her leg, the bench.  The energy and dynamics move across the 14" x 11" panel perfectly.

My goal is to get these finished and listed in my Etsy shop soon!  

Drawing and Painting the Female

Another wonderful night of drawing this week!  I quick 25 minute drawing in charcoal.  Mostly blocking in bold sections of light and dark.

It was challenging to draw from this angle, looking right at her extended legs - the foreshortening was pretty severe.  I also wish I hadn't tried to indicate the features of her face - just used the light and shadow to show which was she was looking.  But I like the bold lines and dramatic values.

Our long pose was really beautiful.  She took a reclining pose accented with a beautiful turquoise robe on top of a deep aubergine blanket.

I was so absorbed in my painting that I forgot to take a picture before this stage, which would have been good to show you.  I actually did everything BUT the model when I started.  Her pose was very complex - reclined with lots of angles.  So by blocking in the large ottoman, the drapery, and the background, the model became the last piece of the puzzle - in the correct size and position.

I was painting on a Clayboard designed for watercolor.  I can't remember when I first tried this, but I like using the surface for quick oil studies.  The paint soaks in pretty quickly, so I can apply a couple layers without getting too muddy.  However - it does reach a saturation point pretty fast - you end up just moving paint around rather than applying paint layers on top of one another - if you do too much in the first sitting.

I was lucky to get a reference photo and I look forward to finishing up this painting.

Another beautiful drawing from that night by my friend Shane...

A lovely pose from multiple vantage points!

Capturing the Conversation on Canvas

A few weeks back I worked with a new (to me) model, (E.) and thought she was fantastic.  She had wonderful gesture poses and great stage presence - she reminded me a lot of one of my other favorite models (C.).  In fact half way thru out modeling session I started thinking "I have to get E. and C. together!"

So I scheduled both of these lovely ladies for a special Sunday afternoon modeling session.  I had in my mind that I wanted them in some light slip dresses, so I brought in two with similar colors, but not too "matchy".  After a few 5 minute warm-up poses, they settled into this conversational pose on the couch.

I was painting over an old painting - which I love doing because there's already some color and texture on the surface to play with.

I tried to keep it loose and blocked in the larges shapes of light and shadow, focusing on getting the right proportions and relationship between the two girls.

After blocking in some cool grays and dark browns, I moved into fleshy oranges.

The light changed a little as the afternoon went on, but luckily it was an overcast day and there wasn't a strong window light that dramatically moved across the room.

I'm very happy with the pose - the two girls were chatting the entire time, so the painting captured that energy - they were amazing at holding the pose but also engaging with each other - and I think that translated onto the canvas.  The model on the left feels like she is just sitting down, not stagnant and posed.

While there are some color adjustments to be made, I don't want to get much tighter with this piece.  I love the atmosphere and painterly quality.  I will post the final result...soon? we'll see!