We have 2, 5, 10, and 20 minute poses in the Battery Park City Figure Drawing sessions on Wednesdays. I love the challenge of drawing quickly, and the 2 minute pose drawings are almost the most lively of the afternoon. Here are 4 of them from this week. I used a Sketch and Wash soluble graphite pencil, and then slopped water on parts of the drawings.
On Wednesday afternoons, from May through October, there are models for outdoor figure drawing in Battery Park City South Cove. Last week Claudia was our model and I especially like her short poses - they are a great challenge. She wore a halter top and jean shorts, and posed in the middle of a circle of the 40+ artists. Each of these 2 minute poses were drawn with a 6B graphite pencil on newsprint. I was pleased with my attempts and decided to post these warm-up poses instead of the ones I did in 5 and 10 minutes.
I've admired Anne Watkins impressionistic watercolor figure paintings for almost a decade and was thrilled when her workshop was included in the 10 X 10 NYC Urban Sketchers program. I tend to be a detail oriented person, which was a valuable trait as a physician, but I'd love to be able to loosen up when drawing and painting. The back-to-back classes with Marilyn Rose and Anne Watkins were a perfect combination for last week. We met Anne in Bryant Park - the same location as Marilyn chose, and the park was full of sitting, walking, and ping-pong playing people.
This was Anne's quick demo for us to see how she painted the ping pong players and a link to her website.
annewatkins.com/ Look especially at her wedding paintings.
I painted many passing figures during the workshop, and loved the experience. But I will need lots of practice before attaining any mastery of this style. These were the best of the ones I painted.
Larson's Fish Store in Menemsha, Martha's Vineyard: Terrific tuna for dinner!
Figure Drawing: Regina in a Venetian Mask This was a 20 minute pose, with one of the more common masks we saw in Venice weeks before.
Mail Art for Henry, Sydney, and Callum - Summer Camp Letters. These drawings were inspired by camp photos which I can see online. Henry was being pulled on a tube behind a motor boat. Sydney had braids for the Camp talent show. Callum was photographed playing tennis.
I like figure drawing, and when there are live models, I try to draw hands, and sometimes feet on the longer poses (10, 20 minute poses). But I need to continue to draw both hands and feet from photographs, and save photos from magazine advertisements for that purpose. I have one sketchbook devoted to these deliberate practice drawings, and these are 3 that I did so far this summer.
I search for photos of hands holding smart phones, and here is one with these other drawings.
I like to draw hands in normal positions - but I liked this hand holding a hat too.
3. 