Paper and Threads

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.

Posted by Shirley at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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. 

Posted by Shirley at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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. 

Posted by Shirley at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 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.  

Posted by Shirley at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had a new, lovely, elegant, balletic model at Battery Park City on Wednesday.  She wore a simple dress and had bare shoulders, and legs which made it easier to see her body positions.  The following 5 minute sketches were sketched with a soluble graphite pencil, and then clear water was used to spread the graphite to add some color/shading.

I used the same "Sketch and Wash" pencil for these 15 minute poses, but sketched the model on pre-painted watercolor paper.  It is fun to see the random places where the drawing overlaps the paint - as an unplanned exercise.

Posted by Shirley at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)