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

Back on track

 

Getting over a case of bronchitis, I missed several weeks of drawing. I found myself losing attention and energy drawing the portrait, so in order to keep going, I decided to do a quick sketch of the group.

Take Two

1 1/2 hour pose, charcoal

One hour pose, charcoal and pastel

From charcoal to pastel

Pastel, 3 hour pose.

Last week I attended the Drawn and Quartered event at the Hedge Gallery in the W.78th Street Studios. All the life drawing groups from the Cleveland area gathered together for a night of fun doing either the short wacky drawing sessions or the long pose. I decided to do the short poses because that's where the fun was. I realized last year, that color made people notice. So my tote bag of
drawing goodies and tools did not have my usual charcoal and pencils. Instead, it was set up with pastels - cheap ones - so that's what I used this week while drawing in the bar. I enjoyed drawing the model. Lesson for the day - avoid drawing in a dark corner with color and don't expect miracles with cheap supplies.