Investments

     This is just over 2 hours work on our "long pose" which we have every couple of months at Life Drawing. I drew this last night. Our model wore street clothes and we had her sit a little sideways to get away from the more usual head-on pose. I was reasonably pleased with the results - although her right hand is a little confused - maybe the shadowing has to be clearer so the viewer knows there is a thumb on the other side of the newspaper!  I was able to take a photograph for further reference in case I decide to do a painting based on this pastel piece. Interestingly enough, when I looked at the photograph, all the colours that I found appealing in the pastel were just not there. If I was to do a commissioned portrait of a busy person - say too busy for regular "sittings"- I think I would want to do a pastel for reference as the photograph seems to almost deaden colour.
     I'm not sure what she is reading in the paper- probably not news of investments that are on such a roller-coaster right now. People also get uptight about buying art and worry that it is not an "investment" - or else buy something because the signature would seem to indicate it *is* a good investment. Like a lot of artists, however, I can't guarantee a growth in investment - but is that important? Art that you enjoy is a great investment in the pleasure that you get from looking at it. It  will keep paying you back every time you look at it. A lot of art today is more for shock value- think shark in a tank of formaldehyde- and the more traditional idea of art being about beauty seems to be forgotten. If  a person wants something to bring them pleasure, then it would seem we have to return to the more traditional values in art.  Just buy something you want to look at- and it will pay you back in happiness dividends.

Report from the marathon

This past weekend, I did a drawing marathon and here is one of the results. The first day was 30-minute poses ( really 25 minutes with breaks for the model) and I worked in black and white on grey paper. The next day was hour poses (50 minutes) and I worked with coloured pastel on smaller paper.  This is one of the poses. The last day was 3-hour poses - about 2 and a 1/2 hours with model breaks and I worked on larger sheets with more pastels.  I thought this pose was quite lovely with the dark hair of the model spread out on the pouf. It was an intense and a bit tiring weekend - but the intensity helps make it worthwhile and I got in some good drawing. I've only just photographed them but I will post more on the blog later and also put them in my Pinterest album on Life Drawing

Back to pastels

This is from two weeks ago at Adrienne's with Shelley modelling. We have another session scheduled for tomorrow. I have a few pan pastels now. They are super-soft and applied with sponges. Make-up sponges work just fine. I find them very useful for a type of "underpainting". They fill the paper a bit and then other pastels can be worked over them - such as bringing in colour in the shadows. At Wednesday night Life Drawing, I was working in a new grey-toned sketchbook for the longer poses and drawing with black and white pencil crayons. I've also worked on a couple of acrylic paintings so I'm all over the board with various media- but that is part of the fun.

I think I'm getting the hang of Pinterest  - and just posted a new board with cat paintings and photos. However, I need to keep the art tools in action and not spend too much time at the keyboard.

A new box of colours!

Most people remember the beginning of a school year and the excitement of a new box of crayons. For artists, this excitement doesn't end with the end of school years. Every new tube of paint, different pen or new media is a fresh thrill. I just got a new box of 48 colours of conte' crayons. I often draw quick poses at Life Drawing in sepia or black conte' and I've used some other colours for long poses. However, this is my very first box of 48 colours. It came in the mail and when I opened up the package, the colours were so enticing I felt like licking the plastic cover! Conte' is a hard pastel, rather than a soft pastel - so not so crumbly but still very nice to work with. You can blend it and layer it to build up colours. Last night, Iva posed in a costume from Bohemia. I did a 30-minute colour sketch on black paper. Why black? Well, I was at the end of one assorted pad and down to four black sheets so felt I *should* use at least one before getting a new pad. When I started, I was afraid I'd made a mistake using the black - but decided to take a "what the heck" approach and charge ahead. It was only one sheet of paper and thirty minutes of time. As I progressed,it started to turn into fun and I ended up reasonably pleased... although I must say not a great resemblance to Iva who looks much plumper than in real life. A couple of more assorted sheets plus at least one more black and then I'll open the new pad of coloured pastel paper for fresh excitement!