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It's sad but true. One of our favorite models from the Friday night figure drawing session has moved back to Australia for a while. Just wanted to give a public thanks to her for all the amazing work she's done for us. In honor of Anjela and with the hope she'll be back in the states again soon here's yet another one of her wonderful poses and the image I drew from it…

Here are some of my favorite studies from September..

I chose this one because it's something I'm working on, which is just painting while working from the model. That is no mediums that are generally used for drawing, ie: markers, pens, oil pastels etc……Just acrylic paint and a few brushes. This page was prepared before painting this image with a solid green background. "Killing the white of the background like that helps you to work with paint a little better. It basically creates a mood that you can then place your figure into.

I really love the way this one came out. It reminds me of an old USO poster, or something that would have promoted Coney Island. It just has that 40's/50's feel to it mostly I suspect because of the color.

In this image, as opposed to the last two, I'm using drawing as well as painting. There are many things that I like about this but mainly the distortion through the page and the complexity of the angles in which body parts are moving. The stockings might have caught my attention as well.

Jazz is an extremely dynamic dancer that also does some modeling. We were lucky enough to have her come pose for us recently and here's a few studies that I did…

Here are the drawing / paintings for this week…….My thought process for this week was to push my images and keep adding to them. To explore layering and building up the images. I didn't want to settle for just a good drawing and that basically brought me into a more painterly attitude with these images……

 Image 1: I like this image for the exploration of different sized marks or paint strokes on the page. The figure is barely emerging from within them but the variation of the marks makes for an interesting image despite the figure.

Image 2: I like this image for the thought process of painting and the adding of light to allow the figure to emerge from the page. There was an underlying abstract painting here initially. I created a line drawing of the figure on top and began painting in the volume of the body on top of that……

Image3: This image is a little on the rough side compared to some of the things that I usually do but that's what I like about it the most. I think that with the combination of colors, the primitive types of marks running throughout the figure and the composition of the page the image works. Detail could be added but I'm not sure if that would help or hurt what’s going on here……

Image 4: What I like mostly here is the way that the colors pop off of the grayed out background. Nothing seems to make colors sing more than juxtaposing them against a color that has little to no hue in it. If the background were white the colors would still sing but they'd be competing with the white background. Here the colors are left to perform on their own…

Image 5: I included this image because of it's simplicity. It amazes me how a simple wash can describe the form of the body. After that wash lays out the terrain it's always fun to come in and draw around and on top of that form.

Image 6: I like this final image for a bunch of reasons……I like the line drawing that runs throughout, the distortion of the figure to push space on the page, the way that the feet and hands came out, the abstraction in the background, and the patterning in the pillow. It's generally my taste for design and drawing that attracts me to this image. I hope you enjoyed the images for this week. More on the way soon…..

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…..

This week we drew another one of my favorite models. Her name is Lori and she's well known on the Long Island figure scene. She's a large model and just about one of the most interesting people to draw. My focus this week was to create mood in the images and to think about designing the backgrounds on the image as well. I was also looking to fill the entire page and create a more complete image rather than a solitary figure sitting on the page. I wasn't too worried about creating a representational image (one that looks just like what the model looks like). I was focused on the overall composition, design, and picture as a whole…….

Image 1: Chosen for it's overall composition and it's sense of volume. I enjoy how the figure feels like it's being chisled out of the page and the abstractions that exist in the background as well. I believe this image works as it is without adding anymore detail. I wouldn't be against adding some small bits of detail here and there but I don't think it's necessary for the image to work compositionally.

Image 2: I chose this image for it's mood and it's potential. Unlike the first image I feel this image needs more work to finish it. It's got an interesting mood to it which I like, but I will be painting back into this one to bring more weight into the figure itself. Once I do that it should create a lot of space between the figure and the background which will force the depth I'd like to see in this image..

Image 3: I chose this because of it's abstract composition. The figure's not recognizable and it's not supposed to be but the shapes that reside on the page have been created by using the figure as a point of departure. This is mainly a study in composition, color and space. I feel this image is complete. I think it's interesing to solve compositions on a page just as a musical composer solves compositions. When the songs complete you move on and create another one…..

This week I have two images to show. These were drawn live from one of my favorite models. I was trying to use mood and design in these images. The mood I accomplisehd in one of them by creating a backlit situation where the figure is slightly shadowed causing a strong sense of light. In both images I was able to incorporate patterns into the backgrounds to add a sense of design to them. Whenever I'm creating patterns my focus is mainly on letting the pattern have a life of it's own and not controlling it too much. I generally want to patterns to seem random which always helps them to feel more natural…….

Image 1:

Image 2:

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……