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Here's my newest blog design. This is the 6th or so different website configuration that I've had since I first got a website back in 1998. There's actually been about 4 or 5 more designs but most of them, although they were complete working websites, never made it to the web or were only up for a few months. For arguments sake I offer Version 6. It's basically a very simple and clean design. I hope this makes your time on my site more enjoyable….

This week I only had 2 1/2 hours of figure drawing vice the normal 5 1/2 hours so I'm going to post most of the image that I created in that time period. Generally the poses are between 10 and 20 minutes. Short poses seem to force you into a more concentrated thought process while studying the figure. There's no time to let your guard down. All your decisions need to be important, quick, and add to the overall success of the image. Working in this manner has helped me recognize what I find asthetically important very quickly and I use that to help guide myself through each drawing / painting (it's kind of like allowing the image to tell you what it wants to be). Each pose may call for something different and you'll notice that in how I handled the 3 standing poses. The more I play and explore different types of asthetics the greater my language becomes and the more enjoyable I find the process of creating images……Image 1: I chose this image because it was a struggle for me. The medium tried to get in my way but I fought with it and it turned out to have some really interesting textures in it. I like the lines that are scratched back into the image through the top layer of paint. I dont think this is the most successful image but some of these asthetics will filter into future drawings for sure…

Image 2, 3, 4: Here's the three seperate standing poses. The first is done with pencil, the second with oil pastels, and the third with acrylic paint. I like them all for different reasons but I especially like them together. I think the best thing about them is that each one has it's own mood or personality and for that alone I feel I was successful with each one…..

Image 5: I think this image had great potential but I lapsed a little in the way the distortion came out. This pose was very dynamic and strong and I feel that I captured that essence in the forward hand and leg but lost that quality in the head and the back leg. There are a lot of things I like about it though and one of the main things is the underpainting of colors and how they read through the image. I'm sure this will show up in some future images as well…..

Here are the chosen drawings from this week…..Image 1: Chosen for the diversity in graphics, the supporting weight along the back of the figure showing the stress of the muscles in this pose, and the space created on the page from front to back.

Image 2: Chosen for it's graphics and the idea that an underlying graphic can describe so much. When the addition of the pen graphic is interjected the space that the figure encompasses begins to come to life…..

Image 3: Chosen for the fact that it's the same pose as the first one but this image is built up in a more structural and graphic way describing the stress of the muscles in the body differently. I also really like the graphics in the face and the way that the toes are drawn on the forawrd foot..

Image 4: Chosen for the thought process behind this image. The exercise that was used to create this image is "Two hands at the same time". I found while drawing this image there was a better connection to the overall rythyms of the body giving it a very organic feeling. You can see by the way that I began to develop the forward foot that with some extra time, the weight and believabilty of the form would really begin to show.

Image 5: Chosen for many reasons……..Color, structure, space, form, weight, design, the layering of materials……I guess I'm just fond of this image in general. It has a lot of the things that I'm after right now as listed above. I feel I captured the power and the weight of the form well in this image. I'm also fond of how the different graphics, ie: line, wash, and paint all seem to harmonize in this image…..

This weeks chosen figure drawings….Image 1: Chosen for the way the body is painted and the color sense that's happening there. I also like the structural quality of the arms and the way they have a sense of stress on them….

Image 2: Chosen for the way the underlying gold wash creates a structure that the rest of the body is then surrounding and emerging from….

Image 3: Chosen for the way the graphics are created using the blue pen. I also like the way that the stickers were incorporated and the sense of structure that they lend to the form….

Image 4: Chosen for many reasons……Color palette, structure of the stickers that make up the mid-section of the body, the drawing and character in the face, the subtle use of line, and the overall mass of the form on the page…..

This is the first post in a long line to come. I have been studying the human figure in live sketch classes on a weekly basis for over 5 years now. I've recently begun my weekly study group again and I'm going to be posting images that I feel were successful from the day. The group meets on Sundays from 1-7pm with a 2 hour critique afterwards. It's pretty intense and there are a lot of exercises that we do to help understand mass, form, space, graphics, theatrics, composition, and good old picture making in general. If you live in the Long Island NY area and would like to develop your ability to make pictures you can find more info on the class here > www.thedrawingstudioli.com Here are the images that I chose for this week. Each week I'll have more images to post. I will try to offer a brief synopsis of why I chose each image…….(all images were created from the live model holding 15-20 minute poses)Image 1: Chosen for it's sense of graphics and how that creates a mood and a feeling, slightly seedy and burlesque. I also enjoy the limited color palette of pink. Seems to suit the pose well..

Image 2: Chosen again for the limited color palette and how that sublteness enhances the mood of the image. I also like the diversity in graphics on this image. It feels structural and that's one of the themes that I'm entertaining at this time…

Image 3: Chosen for the abstraction that runs through the figure created by the wash of red oxide. I like the distortion that's used to create space between the feet as well….

Image 4: Chosen because of the weight and the volume that's displayed. The layering of graphics and the reinvention of the form helps give the composition a feeling of visceral mass. The exercise used to create this image is called "5 lbs of Bologna in a 3 lb bag".

Image 5: Chosen for many reasons…I enjoy the variation in line weights and the interesting graphics they create, the subtle variations in color, the graphics of the brushstrokes, and the juxtaposition between the grey tones and the more saturated colors……