Figure Drawing: We were rained out for another week in Battery Park City, but managed to go to another site yesterday to draw. These are 5, 10, and 20 minute poses using a GENERAL Sketch and Wash pencil and a NIJI large waterbrush to spread the graphite for shading.
Yesterday was a gorgeous day near New York Harbor. We had a cool breeze while sketching the model and the rest of Manhattan was really hot.
We did 10 one minute sketches to warm up, and I actually liked one of them more than usual.
The warm up sketches were done on newsprint with an 8B graphite pencil. The rest were done with a General brand Sketch and Wash pencil (soluble graphite) and then finished with a Niji water brush.
These are the 5 and 10 minute sketches.
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These are the 20 min poses:
The flowers in Wagner Park were amazing this week - probably because of the amount of rain we've had. I'll post them after I finish the painting.
I haven't been to Battery Park City as often this summer, but still really enjoy the setting, visiting with others who regularly attend the sessions, and drawing really good models, in a program that is sponsored by the Battery Park City Conservancy. These models are clothed because the session is held outdoors in the Park.
Five minute poses: I recognized this model from prior venues when she let her hair down." These and the 10 minute poses were drawn with a General Sketch and Wash graphite pencil. The graphite was then spread with a Niji waterbrush.
Ten Minute Poses
Twenty Minute Poses: I switched to a Mahogany Caran d'Ache watercolor pencil for the final poses.
Urban Sketchers Gathered for Lunch: We met on 5th Ave opposite the Guggenheim Museum, and had lunch in the Gardens behind the Cooper Hewitt Museum. These were 3 of the artists sitting across from me in the gardens.
Park Person: My Husband and I went to the Boat Basin (Conservatory Garden) in Central Park early on a Sunday morning. While drinking coffee and eating a croissant I sketched this person who was very busy editing a manuscript - and she stayed long enough to be drawn and painted.
I love two minute sketches - they are more free and spontaneous for me. Twenty minute drawings - the longest in the venues I draw - are sometimes torture. I'm done by 10-15 minutes and keep fiddling with lines. This was one of my 2 minutes sketches today at Figure Drawing.
Five Minute Sketch: This was a full body pose, but I chose to limit the amount shown, just to post the face of the model and amazing hair.
Ten Minute Sketch: Thin, but muscular, and I was even able to see and paint his vertebrae.
Twenty Minute Pose: Devin was a very relaxed model and I would love to draw him again. He told me afterward that he likes to "mix it up and next time he may have his dreadlocks loose!"
