Friday, November 13, 2009

Pastel Drawing of an Elegant Nude Model...with LOTS of teal!

Last night our figure drawing group met in our usual lovely studio in Downtown Woodstock and set up a lounging pose for our very popular model....we were her third group of the day!  She brought this yummy shiny teal fabric that created beautiful reflective light on her figure and some wonderful hilights and shadows.




I wish I had my camera so that I could show you pictures of my pastel drawing in progress...we worked for over two hour on this pose, and I utilized ever second.  But I had a pretty serious issue develop as we approached our final drawing time - I had yet to establish a clear "point of focus" in my drawing, and althought it had a nice "feeling" overall, it was just one of those "well.  That's...nice" kind of things. 



I started to focus on the atmosphere, toning down the pillow on the left which was a lot brighter at first - competing with the figure in size and value.  While that helped a little, it still didn't help the viewer find a focal point.

So right now, it is in limbo...do I define one spot further, or soften elsewhere? Do I darken the pillow more, or remove it completely? I am open to suggestions!

By the way...this is pastel on Wallis paper, 12" x 18".

3 comments:

Pegi said...

I'm at work, so I cant right now..but First seeing it my eyes went right to her face.......then I thought the shadow cast from the arm resting on the pillow back might be a little deeper, as across her face. Okay, must run, and that was a quik take, okay?
I love the pose and the colors your using here.
Later, have a splendid day!!

Caroline said...

I love the colors... they're very soothing. I'm not sure what I'd do about the focal point, either...

Krystyna81 said...

Thank you for looking and telling me how your eye circled the page - makes me think a bit more about the pillow - it detracts from her face.

I love the colors, too!!! Teal has so many blues and greens coming together :)

Thank you!