I started going to figure drawing sessions in September 2009, and averaged one session per month over the whole year. There is now a summer break until after Labor Day and that seems a long time away. I think I'm making progress, and more frequently sketch faces during the longer poses. Here are the two 10 minute poses and two 20 minute poses done this week.
A new Matisse exhibit opened at MoMA on Sunday - entitled Radical Invention, 1913-1917. The paintings were somber in color and he was definitely experimenting with the human form, culminating in his painting The Bathers. I sketched faces from one of his paintings and several of his prints for the Prisoners of Bohain-en-Vermandois.
I then use3d one of the drawings to inspire my "Eyedropper Face" which is Lab 13 from the Carla Sonheim book Drawing Lab. I used a small eye dropper and FW acrylic ink to draw the face, then painted it with watercolor.
I'm really enjoying the "labs" in the Sonheim book - and will continue to work through them even though my art buddies returned home after our evening art sessions at our beach week.
There are two weekly figure drawing sessions at the Society of Illustrators in New York City - and in one of them models are partially or fully clothed. Last week was the first time that I was there when two models were fully in costume - a Marie Antoinette type costume for one and a pirate costume for the other. It was the hardest sketching I've done there - a huge challenge.
Here is one of my 2 minute sketches of the woman model - complete with an elaborate wig and full ruffly gown:
Here is one of my 2 minute sketches of the male - in pirate costume, but without all of the braid and other decoration on his jacket, belt, and hat which I just didn't have time to include.
They proceeded to disrobe before the longer poses at the end of the evening. This is one of the 20 minute poses:
Hand Drawing Practice:
I try to regularly draw hands because I'm so bad at them. Last September I decided to also draw the American Sign Language alphabet from photos on an ASL website. I use a watercolor pencil to sketch and then add water to get shading. This is something that I do when I have nothing else to record visually from my life that day - so I'm only half way through the alphabet. It isn't obvious to me that I'm getting any better with faced with hands during live figure drawing. Maybe I need to sketch 10,000 to achieve competency.
Our cousin (see last post) also has a wonderful sculpture collection, and while having my morning coffee, I chose this mother-and-child piece by Ruth Bloch to draw. There were other mother and child sculptures, by different artists in his collection, but I remember being with him one time at Art Expo in New York City when he bought a piece from Ruth Bloch - so I felt a tiny connection with her. The legs of this sculpted chair are as long as the mother - so it is a beautiful freestanding piece of art.
I guess I'm not done yet with my current focus on motherhood.
We stayed with our favorite cousin last evening in Philadelphia and really enjoyed seeing his lovely art collection again. I adore Picasso drawings and like to quickly copy them trying to learn how he captures so much in so few lines. Here is a very quick sketch of one of Larry's Picasso drawings.
I finally finished Chapter 3 in the Bert Dodson book Keys to Drawing!!!!
These two pages were done and should have been uploaded yesterday, but I was too tired after a very long (7:15AM-9PM), but wonderful, day with two of my grandsons. Eight month old Zach is crawling really fast and pulling up on anything, even trying to climb, so he requires constant attention. But he is a really happy baby - and it is wonderful watching his development. Four year old Robbie is a master builder of extremely complex multiple level Geotrax train systems and can build for hours when he comes home from pre-school. He has a wonderful design imagination and is extremely fast - and when he finishes another complex track he usually has 5-6 remote controlled trains navigating the system at once.
The first drawing is of a foreshortened head. I did it using a light grid because I knew it was the only way for me to capture even a slight resemblance to my pretty grand daughter Sydney - who was eating a snowcone when I took this photo.
This page show some emphasis of facial characteristics which is the final page (but not a project) in Chapter 3. These were all drawn from faces in my figure drawing group this week.
There are 5 more chapters in the Dodson book - which is a very sophosticated full course in drawing. I was stuck at one place in Chapter 3 for too long and will try to make more continual progress. But I have no deadline and learn so much from the projects.
Last night I went to Figure Drawing at the Society of Illustrators in New York City. I think some of the people that I see there regularly go twice each week. I'd love to go twice each month, but will probably never go more frequently than that. This time I took my 9B woodless pencil and stumper that I played with when I was reading Bill Rankin's Fast Sketching Techniques book and loved using them for the longer poses. Here is one page for 2 min, 5 min, 10 min, and 20 minute poses. My new sketchbook is slightly bigger than my scanner and the person sitting next to me created charcoal dust periodically that drifted onto my page - so I cleaned them up as well as possible.
Two Minute Poses for each Model (2 of 20):
Five Minute Pose (1 of 4):
Ten Minute Pose (1 of 2):
Twenty Minute Pose (1 of 3):
I had a leisurely Mother's Day yesterday and then joined my NYC children and their spouses for dinner! It was wonderful relaxing in my PJs all day. When we returned from dinner, I decided to draw my art mannequin in pencil (look closely) and then dress her in my PJs to remember this lovely day.
I am slowly working my way through the Dodson Keys to Drawing book projects. I have two more projects in Chapter 3 and five more chapters total.
I posted Project 3A - Standing Figure - in January.
Project 3B is to draw a lounging figure. I used a photo from my book The Nude Figure by Mark Edward Smith.
Project 3C is to draw a reclining figure (foreshortened). I used another photo from my book The Nude Figure by Mark Edward Smith.
Project 3D is to draw a full face portrait. I used a photo of Obama and practiced using a grid system. The drawing can be seen here.
Project 3E is to draw a three-quarter view portrait. I used a photo from morguefile.com.
Although there is a section on drawing profiles, there is no project for drawing a profile in the book. But I decided that I needed the practice. I used a photo from morguefile.com.
I love the drawings of Agnolo Bronzino (1503-1572) and today joined my friend Melly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to draw some of them for the second time. My first drawings were posted here. The exhibit ends April 18th. so I will even have time to return for more. All of the drawings were done with a Caran d'Ache aquarelle pencil (Mahogany).
Study for his painting Jealousy - and for me More Hand Drawing Practice:
Head of a Young Woman - and for me the challenge was getting the correct angle for the head:
Study of Crossed Legs - and for me lots of crosshatching for shading
Last night was my monthly session at figure drawing. Since they are held twice each week, I can usually find at least one night to go each month. The format remains the same - two models in ten 2 minute poses, four 5 minute poses, two 10 minute poses, and three 20 minute poses while sketching with wine and live jazz. I sat in a different area of the room last night and wrestled with the angle during most of the 2 minute poses. Here are a few from the 5, 10, and 20 minute poses. I'm still sketching with plain graphite.
5 minutes:
5 Minutes:
10 Minutes:
20 Minutes:
20 Minutes:
We took our 6 year old grandson Henry to the 3rd Young People's Concert in this year's series at the New York Philharmonic and a fabulous Spanish guitarist was the soloist with the orchestra. We were sitting too far away for me to see his hands, so I sketched him from one of his website photos for my daily sketch. His hands really were in that position, but it reminded me that I need lots more practice drawing hands. I am slowly drawing each letter from photos on an American Sign Language website and I decided that it was time for J and K. Pablo Saenz Villegas was drawn with my water-soluble Pilot Varsity pen and then brushed with water.
American Sign Language letters - drawn with a watercolor pencil from photos on a website.
I love watching the Winter Olympics and spent large blocks of time glued to the coverage. Probably because of my lifelong interest in dance, and specifically ballet, figure skating is one of my very favorite events. As I was getting ready to watch the Women's Short Program, I was surfing the NBC Olympic website and found this photo of Mirai Nagasu. I fell in love with this perky, skilled, 16 year old while watching her skate at Nationals several weeks before. Although she was being considered the US hope for the future, she appeared to be in a group with other world class skaters already. I loved the entire coverage of the Women's event and have never been so impressed as I was with Kim Yu-Na's free skate on Thursday evening. But I was even more thrilled that Mirai finished in 4th place!!
I thoroughly enjoy my monthly figure drawing sessions - and last evening one of the two models was the lovely pregnant woman from my last session. The fast, i.e. 2 minute and 5 minute sketches are the most fun for me, probably because I get bored during the 20 minute poses when I think I should add faces and hands. Feet are rarely an option because I can't see them from where I sit.
2 minute Pose
2 Minute Pose Left and 5 Minute Pose Right
5 Minute Pose
5 Minute Pose Left and 10 Minute Pose Right
I realized that I chose to upload only the drawings that I did of the pregnant model. (there are always 19 total) She is just glowing - with a beautiful calm face and lovely smile.
Last night, The Society of Illustrators had two lovely models, one of whom was 6 months pregnant. It was a joy to sketch them - trying to capture their lovely poses and bodies.
A Five Minute Sketch in Graphite
Two twenty minute poses - with watercolor pencil in a new Daler Rowney sketchbook. I'm not sure yet how much I like it....
20 minute
As I started 2010, I finally overcame my block in the chapter 2 exercises in the Bert Dodson book Keys to Drawing, and now I'm working on Chapter 3. This is a great set of exercises re: measurement since I often have trouble fitting figures onto the page.
Here are two figures drawn by marking the top, the bottom, and then the midpoint. Then a quick drawing was done and the actual midpoint measured by sighting before working further on the drawing. This is very different than my usual technique of starting with the head and then hoping that the feet fit on the page!
I went to Figure Drawing last night, in spite of the incredible cold in the City. We had two models during the entire time, one of whom wore an elaborate head dress with devil horns and 3 large silk flowers. I'm posting a few of the 19 sketches I made - all were done in graphite in a 9 X 12" sketchbook.
This is one of 10 two minute sketches:
These are 3 of the 4 Five Minute Sketches:
This is one of 2 ten minute sketches:
You can probably tell that I was sitting in a place where I couldn't see the models' feet. But my skills sketching hands and feet are so weak, that is OK with me for the moment. I'm still concentrating on drawing the basic position - head, shoulders, and hips.
There were 3 twenty minute poses - but I don't like my drawings as much as the shorter, less overworked poses. I just purchased a new figure drawing sketchbook that will take water media and may try to draw with a watercolor pencil and then add water for shading during the 20 minute sketches in the future.
Last night was my 4th monthly figure drawing session at The Society for Illustrators in New York City. It is a 3 hour, drop-in session - no instruction - but there's great live jazz and wine! I'm posting one of 10 two minute sketches, one of 4 five minute sketches, 1 of 2 ten minute sketches, and 1 of 3 twenty minute sketches. We had another bald model - and I would think I'd be used to it because I sketch figures from posemaniacs.com. But I'm not.
I see some of the same people there every time I go. Since my date is random each month, I have to think that they never miss - and sketch every Tues and every Thurs! That is dedication!
Last night was my 3rd figure drawing session at the Society of Illustrators in New York City and I came home with 19 sketches, even though I really didn't like one of the two models. This was a new experience and I had to convince myself that I didn't need to like the model or their poses - it was all an opportunity to practice drawing.
The standard format is 10 two minute poses, 4 five minute poses, 2 ten minute poses, and 3 twenty minute poses, with breaks, over 3 hours. I'm posting one from each group.
This is the other model - small, really skinny, shaved head except for a circle of bright yellow short hair in a circle on the top of her head. However, it was the contorted positions that she took which I didn't like, except this one.
I loved the setting, really enjoyed the live piano and double bass music throughout the evening, and appreciated the glass of red wine while sketching.
Here are 3 more journal pages - I'm on a roll!
I love watching Project Runway and periodically like to sketch the winning design the evening that I watch it. Here is the oversized sweater and paper-bag waste pants by Althea that all of the women judges wanted to wear, right then.
The following day I thought alot about my own love of design and specifically two outfits that I made when I was a senior in college. The one on the left is a suede suit that I made with 5 skins that my boyfriend of the time gave me for my birthday. I had enough suede to make the skirt and front panels of the jacket. The jacket sleeves, back, and front button panel were made from a wool-silk tweed blend that matched the suede. The dress on the left was made as a final exam in a semester long flat pattern design course that I took (after my premed requirements were done and I was already admitted to medical school). I selected a dress from a NYTimes newspaper advertisement and made the pattern and then the dress from a green wool tweed. The top was a blouson style and the skirt had a deep inverted pleat and slant pockets. I don't have photos of either design - amazing now that I have 10 photos of everything with my digital camera.
Yesterday my husband and I went to the Fall Impressionist and Modern Previews at Christies and Sotheby's Auction Houses in New York City - one of our favorite semi-annual activities. We start at Christies, then have lunch at Dos Caminos and end at Sothebys - and in the process see well over 500 pieces of art that will be auctioned on Nov 3rd and 4th. I loved a work on paper by George Grosz and sketched a detail from it - a man's head.
I did several "play" exercises before I left last week for the Quilt Festival.
Prepainting a Page Background: Roz http://rozwoundup.typepad.com/roz_wound_up/ recommends prepainting the background on some pages in your sketchbook and then just drawing and painting over it. I prepainted every other double-page spread in my first sketchbook (2003) based on exercises derived from the Gwen Diehn book The Decorated Page, but have not done it since. My daughter found a new leather pencil case for me and I wanted to draw it with one of each category of tool I carry in it. To make the background more interesting, I decided to prepaint it, let it dry, and then proceed with my drawing.
Anatomy for Action Figure Drawing: Angela Gair and Anthony Colbert, in their book The Sketchbook Kit, recommend that you "amuse yourself by drawing little sketches that show how the skeleton moves, in order to understand how the joints operate." I love this concept and finally tried drawing their little skeletons, just in time for Halloween.
I went to my second figure drawing session last evening at the New York Society of Illustrators with my friend Istar. On Tuesday evenings the models are nude, on Thursday evenings the models may wear parts of costumes. I wanted to experience both - and liked both evenings equally well. The setting is wonderful and there is live music during the entire 3 hours. I came home with 9 two minute, 4 five minute, 2 ten minute, and 3 twenty minute sketches. I'm just going to post examples of each.
The models posed with multiple hula hoops - the male model in yellow harem pants and the female model in a red bra and black leggings. The addition of the hoops made the 2 minute sketches more difficult, but fun.
Two models and a hula hoop even made 5 minute sketches a challenge.
I wanted to remember the costumes in this 10 minute sketch and colored parts with watercolor pencils - but the paper didn't take water well and buckled slightly. For this pose, he put on a black hat and soft ball necklace and she put on an umbrella hat. And she really did have dyed shocking pink hair!
A ten minute pose, with one sitting and one standing - and in different costumes:
Both disrobed, but the male model wore his black hat and brown boots for the final 20 minute sketch. I continue to have trouble fitting everything on the page when I'm working quickly (just one more thing to work on in 2010!), so you can't see his boots.
I retired on July 1st and last night finally went to my first Figure Drawing session. If you follow this blog, you know that I was practicing for this moment by sketching figures as 90 sec. sketches of posemaniac images, or 5 minute figures from one of two nude figure photo books for artists that I bought. I'm very glad that I did the prep work over the last several years because I never felt overwhelmed last evening.
I met my dear friend Istar at the Society for Illustrators so I would be with someone who knew the location and process. The setting is lovely - very open space, live music, a small bar for a glass of wine during the 20 minute break, and hundreds of inspiring illustations lining the walls on all floors. We had two models - one short and full figured, the other tall, thin, and beautifully coifed. I frequently couldn't see below their ankles, but on the short poses, I didn't even have time to worry about it.
The 3 hours flew by - and I did all 19 sketches - 2, 5, 10, and 20 minutes in length. I'm just so thrilled to finally sketch live models that I'm uploading a total of 7 to this page. All of the sketches were done with a Koh-i-noor Progresso 6B pencil on 8 x 11" paper in a Working Class Studio, bound, sketchbook that I bought for half-price at Barnes and Noble. I have no idea where I got the pencil, but it was smooth and wonderful on the paper.
Two of Ten 2 minute sketches:
Two of four 5 minute sketches:
Both 10 minute sketches:
Two of three 20 minute sketches:
