Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Pitcher and Shawl



Pitcher and Shawl
What is shown was painted in the afternoon today. The pitcher and the red shawl captured my attention. Seeing them together reminded me of a painting I did a couple of years ago, titled “Pot and Shawl”. I sold the piece in a show, not too long ago. The shawl was the same shawl, no worse for wear. The pitcher was a rookie hoping the shawl would make her as known as the pot once was.
14”x 18” Acrylic on canvas board

Model "R" Evening Playing Golf



Model “R” Evening Playing Golf
“R” posed in the evening today for a costumed life drawing session. He posed as a golfer. Shown is from a longer pose. I added the golf course behind him.
The golfer behind is really just him, sketched in from another pose “R” provided earlier in the session.
18”x 24” Graphite on 80# paper. 

Model "R" Morning Looking Spiritual



Model “R” Morning Looking Spiritual
“R” provided a lot of poses during the life drawing session this morning. Shown is from one of the longer poses. He draped himself in a robe, and was looking a bit like Gandhi.
18”x 24” Pastel on 80# paper. 

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Between Colored Fabrics



Between Colored fabrics
One of the characters for this still life, I have drawn before. The bottle and I are on a first name basis now, after spending five or six hours together, a couple of weeks ago. The bottle posed then for a still life titled “To Start”.
The fruit was new, but fruit always tends to be new. They have short careers especially in the dead state required of them to be part of any still life. Rotten fruit rarely gets selected.
The pot was new, but only to the setting. He interviews all the time. Today he finally made the cut.
And then there was the fabric. The fabric in the foreground and the fabric in the background weren’t content to lie flat. They insisted on forming a very hilly terrain.  The posing characters were forced, in the end, to fit in between.
14”x 17” Pastel on 100# sanded Bristol paper


Monday, January 30, 2012

Waterfront 2



Waterfront 2
The second in a couple of doodles I did the other morning while waiting for a setting to be arranged, and a model to show up, and for her to find a comfortable pose, for the rest of the day.
The first doodle was included in a previous post as “Waterfront 1”. 
I was thinking of old waterfront villages that started with the lumber trade, then fishing, and then attempted to survive catering to cottagers and tourists. I remember the old warehouses and dilapidated docks where outboard motorboats once tied. It’s what I remember as a kid when kids were free to explore. Of course these places have changed since then, those that have survived. The docks now hold large mobile floating homes pretending to be seafaring yachts. They rarely go anywhere.
5”x 3.5” Ink and on card stock

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Waterfront 1



Waterfront 1

Looking through liquid
Glazed with reflections
Textured with scum
Filtered particles
Stirred up mud
Gold and silver gray
From the sun

For a long moment
Stopped in time
The conversation ignored
Until a sentence comes through
Reminding me
She still wants to know
Is it her
Or
The next wave
Disturbing the view
Into the deep world
Below the surface

The answer is so obvious
Why is she still
Trying to compete

The first of a couple of doodles I did the other morning while waiting for a setting to be arranged, and a model to show up, and for her to find a comfortable pose, for the rest of the day.
Although this doodle started from scratch, I was more aware than usual where I wanted it to go. The two standing on a dock was intentional, a memory, almost, a conversation without a voice to break the silence.
5”x 3.5” Ink and colored brush pens on card stock. 

Friday, January 27, 2012

Model "S" First Week



Model “S” First Week
I spent much of today painting “S” posing next to a china sculpture and a copper pot. Today was the first of a two sessions “S” will be posing in the same setting. I’m showing what was finished today. Next week I might work some more on this, or start another, from a different vantage point in the studio. I may just paint the sculpture. I almost finished “S”.
Below is the initial compositional sketch.
24”x18” Acrylic on canvas panel



Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Seltzer Over Brick



Seltzer Over Brick
The empty seltzer bottle insisted on being on top. For the brick there wasn’t really a choice, other than not having any contact at all. The small bowl wasn’t even going to be in the pose. I’m not sure, but I think the bowl is a finger bowl. I think she had someone pulling for her from higher up. I was visualizing some important woman with painted purple nails at the end of her long slender fingers, insisting the small bowl be included.
I have to admit they looked pretty good when they all game together to pose for this still life. 
14”x 18” Acrylic on canvas panel

Model "B" Front View



Model “B” Front View
I did a lot of drawings of “B” today. In the evening, she posed in leggings and a dress. In the morning she posed nude.
I’ve included here, one of my drawings of her posing in the evening, a front view. To see her in the morning, see the previous post.
18”x 24” Pastel on 80# paper

Model "B" Back View



Model “B” Back View
I did a lot of drawings of “B” today. In the morning, she posed in the nude. In the evening she posed again in a dress and leggings.
I’ve included here, one of my drawings of her posing this morning with her back to me. To see her in the evening, view the post that follows this.
18”x 24” Charcoal on 65# paper

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Copper and Glass



Copper and Glass
Today’s still life for me wasn’t very interesting. The models just sort of stood on the stage, ignoring each other, ignoring me. I tried to pull a little drama from each of them, but they seemed determined to keep any emotions they may have had, to themselves.
17”x 14” Pastel on sanded Bristol paper. 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Slide Show



Slide Show

Images on a studio wall
Paintings he collected
And loved
By artists
All of them dead
Except for a few 
Painted by him
Long ago

His sight was fading
Had been for many years
But he could see them
Projected large
On the studio wall

A story was provided
For each image
Glowing back at us
About the artist
The movement
When the painting
Was done
How each made him feel

By the last slide
A few hundred years
Had passed before our eyes
Of art
Of history
Of seeing
Through him

I was doodling again, waiting for others to arrive. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m still surprised what comes forth when doodling, not having anything in particular clogging up my mind.
My doodles in a short time, before the session started, turned into the image above. When I finished, it reminded me of slide shows in the same studio a few years ago. A wonderful artist and instructor presented them. He retired a few years ago, as his sight faded further.
3.5”x 5” Ink on card stock

Bronze Cat



Bronze Cat
The cat was sketched with pastels last Tuesday. I’d finished the Still life “ To Start ” and had some time to kill. The bronze cat was beside the still life setup, feeling rejected.
So sketched the cat in his own still life.
17”x 14” Pastel on Bristol paper


Model "T" Good Poses





Model “T” Good Poses
Above are a couple of sketches, mostly to show some of the great poses “T” provided today. This morning I was at the Saturday drop in life drawing session, at the local art center.
I had one of those days. My drawings of her poses didn’t turn out so well.
Sanguine drawings on 18”x 24” paper

Friday, January 20, 2012

Model "A" Second Week with Flowers




Model “A” Second Week with Flowers
Today I spent most of the day painting “A” in the same pose she was in last Friday. I finished my first painting of her by the end of the last session, so I painted her again today, moving to a different vantage point in the studio.
The top painting is from today, followed by the painting of “A” I did last week. 
I painted “A” in a similar pose last June also posing with flowers. She wore a summer dress. It was much warmer then. You can see the painting here.
Top: 18”x 24” Acrylic on canvas panel
Bottom: 20”x 24” Acrylic on stretched canvas


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Gourd and Friends



Gourd and Friends
I avoided the gourd, until yesterday. There were other options before. If the gourd were being considered for the part, I would move on to another still life. But the bottle and the grapes were friends, so I painted the three of them together, even though the gourd’s pose soon overpowered the poses of the friends.
14”x 18” Acrylic on canvas panel

Model "JO" Photographing Her



Model “JO” Photographing Her
Above was from a pose of “JO” with his camera. He was posing for a costumed drawing session yesterday. He was posing as himself, as “JO” is a photographer as well as a model. he probably does other things too I’m not aware of. Other sketches of the session are included in the previous post.
The woman being photographed, and the setting in the sketch I pulled from my head, as the pose lasted fairly long. He needed someone other than me to photograph. I was attempting to make her look a bit like his wife, another model I’ve drawn and painted in the past.
This could turn into an interesting painting. Another project to add to a list that is already too long.
18”x 24” Graphite on 80# paper

Model "JO" Morning and Evening




Model “JO” Morning and Evening
Yesterday in the morning “JO” posed for a life drawing session. Above are a couple of quick sketches of his back and front.
That same evening I went back to the studio and did some more drawings of “JO” posing as a photographer. Above are a few quick sketches of “JO” photographing others and me in the studio, as we attempted to draw him.
Drawing “JO” as a photographer fully clothed was easier, and more interesting for me than another long session of drawing him in the nude.
Both drawings: 18”x 24” graphite on 65# paper

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

She's Gone



She’s Gone

We left her behind
We sailed away
Heading back to the world
I spent so many years hiding from
Hiding away pursing her
She’s in the dark
Inside the open doorway
I know she’s in the shadows
Thinking I’ll return
Even as I sailed away
With you

She was the girl
Just out of sight in the woods
Watching me when I was young
She was the woman waiting on the rocks
By the evening shore
Who disappeared
Just before I appeared
To share the setting sun
Hoping she’d return
In the middle years

She was the young lady on the deck
Almost nude in the sun
At the cottage on the point
She watched me sail by
Waved sometimes
Went inside
When I sailed too close

She’s the girl I forgot to look for
When walking the trails
With you
She’s the woman I forgot to wait for
On the rocks by the shore
When the sun had set
And we shared the dark
Afterwards
She is the young lady on the deck
Under an umbrella at the point
I point her out to you as we sail by
The one I pursued
Until I found you

A small sketch of a few days ago. It started with lines searching for a meaning and turned into a place on a familiar bay. A place gone now these many years, sold to someone else.
3.5”x 5” Ink on card stock

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

To Start



To Start
A stein, bottle and ashtray. I guess these can go together. Someone thought so when placing them together in this setting to pose. I questioned the ashtray being used to hold the bottle. But I guess some purpose had to be found, now that smoking isn’t cool. 
They would go together as a way to start the evening, only a few years ago, some places in this world.
Today I used pastel. I was a little surprised how much the piece ended up looking like a painting.
17”x 14” Pastel on sanded Bristol paper

Monday, January 16, 2012

Staying Dry



Staying Dry

The end of land
The very edge
Can’t even turn
No place to move
Even the wind
Blows the wrong way

The water below
Goes on forever
Possibilities endless
If only I could let go
Allow myself
To get wet

Just some doodling while conversing on the phone with mom.
4.5”x 6” Ink of graph paper

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Model "R" In Sanguine




Model “R” In Sanguine
Above are a few more drawings I did yesterday morning at the drop in life drawing session at the local art center. The previous post shows some of the shorter poses from this session with “R”, the ones I did in graphite. The two above were longer poses. I’ve drawn “R” so many times. I’m beginning to know his poses, even before he settles into them. Below are some of my drawings of “R” from last year, in similar poses to those above.
The sketches are both on 18”x 24” 80# paper



Model "R" In Graphite





Model “R” In Graphite
The Saturday drop in life drawing sessions have started again. Yesterday morning was the first session since mid December when the local art center basically closed down for the holidays. “R” was the model. He is very popular. He is asked to model often. My drawings of him end up on my blog almost every month. Above are some of my graphite and one dark colored pencil drawings from his ten to fifteen minute poses.
The sketches are all on 18”x 24” 65# paper.