Paper and Threads

I really liked one of the models last week at the Society of Illustrators.  Between poses I told her that I loved her hair and she laughed.  She said that an artist at one of her previous gigs was horrified by it, and finally said that she was just going to pretend she had no hair!  I'm just posting 5 out of 18 drawings that I did.

Two Minute Pose

Five Minute Pose

 Two Ten Minute Poses

Twenty Minute Pose:  This is the third time that I used a paintbrush and watercolor to draw a figure - and at least I'm no longer scared.  Practice, Practice, Practice!

Posted by Shirley at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Battery Park Conservancy sponsors a free figure drawing session each week May through September.  They provide the supplies and the model and we all gather in the park next to the South Cove (weather permitting).

I really liked the model last Wednesday, and sketched multiple figures on each sheet of paper.  Some of them were sketched with General's Sketch and Wash pencil and then brushed with my Niji waterbrush.

Here are 10 One Minute Drawings:  I don't even breath during these!!

These are 4 of the Two minute poses.  The other one is on the right side of the next page:

There are 4 five minute sketches on the left and the remaining two minute sketch on the right:

We had 2 ten minute poses:

I am trying to "draw" figures with my paintbrush and watercolor paint.  I posted several drawn this way in the past - but they were from photos.  This is my second watercolor drawing from a live model.  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!

My big sheets of paper needed to be photographed, not scanned.  I try to get rid of the blue tinged background in Photoshop using the threshold settings, but can't get back to white!  Any suggestions? 

Posted by Shirley at 6:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Yesterday was my first day this summer at Battery Park Figure Drawing.  The heat wave broke temporarily and it was cool and breezy sitting in the South Cove.  The model wore a strapless, flowing dress, making it hard to see her form.  Here are a few of my drawings.

One Minute Poses:

Five Minute Poses:  I used a General Sketch and Wash pencil and added water. The slightly buckled paper did not scan well.

Ten Minute Pose:  My first attempt drawing a live model with my paintbrush and watercolor.  This was the only one worth showing.

Posted by Shirley at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This week I decided that I finally had to try drawing figures with paint, instead of pencil. 

I go to figure drawing approximately once per month and I feel more comfortable drawing figures with 9B graphite pencils than I did several years ago.  But I watch some of the other artists using only brush and paint.  How was I ever going to develop this skill? 

 It is hard to start something new when I am doing timed poses - in a group setting, so I decided to begin practicing at home.   I used the large Niji waterbrush and my wood, articulated artist's model.  And when I finished, my figure looked like a wooden statue!  Not shown!!

The next day I switched to the small Niji waterbrush and sketched from photos in my Mark Edward Smith's book The Nude Figure: A Visual Reference for the Artist.   Here are practice figures 2-4 - one done each of the next 3 days.  Each one took approximately 10 minutes.

Posted by Shirley at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I'm posting a few of the drawings I did at the Society of Illustrators on July 9th.  One of our models was Blaine - the same very tall man who I sketched two previous times.  He has extremely long arms, legs, and fingers and can get into the most challenging positions.  I sometimes can't keep his arms on the page - so these are a few of the easier poses.

Five Minute Poses:

Ten Minute Poses

Our woman model wore a Carnival Mask - which she then gave to Blaine for the next pose:

Twenty Minute Pose:

Posted by Shirley at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)