water soluble graphite

water soluble graphite - 45 and 30 minute sketches

I finally experimented with water soluble graphite in my attempt to loosen up my style. I've had this Lyra graphite stick for some time and never tried using it as a wash. It was easy to use. I could draw with it like a pencil or rub it with a wet paintbrush to get a gray tone. I recently purchased a pan of ArtGraf watercolor graphite and will soon give it a try.

I definitely need to use larger brushes - maybe a large sumi brush. I find myself still wanting to noodle in the details. I'd like to find a balance between capturing a likeness and achieving meaningful marks with an aesthetic appeal. The portrait on the top left most resembles the model.

Revised painting

I finished the revision shortly after I painted the original version. I like that it has more distinct forms. Perhaps I need to think a bit more about composition before I start painting. Part of me wants to dive right in when I'm outdoors.  After all, the light changes so quickly. Yet, a few sketches beforehand would help clarify the composition of what I want to paint.

Know Your Medium

3 hour pose, Nitram charcoal

I'm starting to notice that my charcoal has some sort of residue. I guess I  overlooked it before, but now it is quite apparent. When I press hard with my Nitram stick and wipe away the black charcoal, I notice a remaining brownish tone on the paper. I tested someone else's sticks and got the same results. It's OK if I leave a heavy application of charcoal, but if I want to do any type of erasing in technique, the brown stays. I'm not sure if this is inherent with Nitram or I need to find a way to work around this limitation. Time to hunt up some information and reviews.

Lovely Luna

During a break from drawing Kathryn (below), parents of this three-year old sat little Luna down for a 15 minute pose. She really could not sit still - squirming around like a typical toddler, but I managed to get this pencil drawing on the second try.

The Eyes Have It

3 hour pose, charcoal

Nailing a portrait requires subtle analytical skills. A couple of millimeters off here and there can add up and eventually make a drawing not resemble the model. Other times, the drawing still looks like the model, yet areas just don't look right. When I completed the drawing of Kathryn, something was off, so I digitally fixed the problem. I generally do not retouch my drawings; the model owns the original and I try to be a purist. But, a tweak in photoshop can help me to figure out ways I can acknowledge the mistake and improve. I made one change - Can you find it? Check out the unaltered drawing below.

First Painting of the Season

Oil on location, 14" x 11"

I haven't painted plein air for some time and thought I'd get back into the swing of things by joining a local group. It was good to see people I haven't been in touch with for some time.

Getting my gear supplies together, I started to remember some of my old must do's like keeping your gear ready to go. I couldn't find my easel's palette. I needed to scrape up some alizarin crimson from another palette because I couldn't find the tube... and brought the wrong yellow... Oh well...

I generally avoid working on a painting after I leave a location, but I think I need to change my thinking. I wasn't liking my trees, so I decided to keep working on them. At this point, everyone left and I kept laboring my painting for another hour  - in the heat - as my paints dried - my mind tiring... The thing is - the trees did not get any better and in some ways are worse. Stop by in another day and see how I solved my foliage mess.

June in July

1 1/2 hour pose, charcoal, June