Paper and Threads

I'm behind on my Sketchbook Skool class People Drawing People, and here are  homework drawings - portraits of Carlos Aponte and Felix Scheinberger.  I intend to go back and watch all of the 5 weekly classes again, and then I will finally have time to do more drawings.  For now, here are 2 portraits that were drawn as these faculty artists were being interviewed by Danny Gregory online, i.e. they were also in motion.  They were both drawn with graphite on scraps of copy paper. 

Carlos Aponte

Felix Scheinberger

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These are homework drawings from the Sketchbook Skool online class People Drawing People.   These have been busy weeks and I just need a morning to sit down with a hot cup of coffee to paint them with watercolor.  I'm really enjoying this class and all of the demos by individual artists.  The demos are 4-10 minutes long for each artist, but they talk the entire time they are drawing, and it is an amazing glimpse into their thought processes. 

Kettle Drums and Drummer at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

 Starbucks at Barnes and Noble Book Store

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Figure Drawing with a Live Model

This week in the Sketchbook Skool online People Drawing People Course, the theme was foreshortening.  In this 20 minute pose our model rested her head on her hand and her face was foreshortened in a way I've never drawn before.  I sketched the model with a General Sketch and Wash Pencil for the first part and then used a waterbrush to spread the graphite to areas I wanted to shade.

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I am currently taking the Sketchbook Skool 5 week online course People Drawing People.  This week I joined artist friends at 2 NYC art exhibits: Self-Portraits at Neue Gallerie and Lucien Freud at Acquavella Gallery.  I chose a self-portrait drawing by Egon Schiele to copy because the hands were great.  And I chose one of only several figure drawings in the Freud exhibit - Big Sue Tilley.  She was floating in space in his drawing, so I added a big chair for her.

Egon Schiele:  Self Portrait with Hand Twisting Around Head  Graphite Drawing

Lucien Freud:  Big Sue Tilley  Ink Drawing

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Week 2 of this wonderful online course is "drawing people in motion".  Like Week 1, there are several artists drawing figures in motion demonstrating their specific method for this difficult task.  I draw lots of figures, some in action poses from reference photos, and now from photos I am taking out on the streets of NYC. 

Drawing People in Motion from My Photos: These are the current batch from the sidewalks of NYC.

Drawing People Live:  I also draw people live, sitting in one place, and these don't make me nervous.  These are ones from the bus, or at a restaurant.

Drawing Someone in Constant Motion:  The only time I draw people in constant motion is at concerts.  During week 2 I sketched this wonderful flautist, at a Juilliard Historical Presentation Concert. She played a Bach flute solo, 4 movements, and her entire body continually moved as she bent and straightened her torso along with her playing.  I am still unable to draw figures when their movements are NOT repeated occasionally.

This week, week3, covers foreshortening of the figure.   

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