New Model

Here is a new model, - new to me, - new to modeling. I'm amazed at how easily she has taken to the rigorous "being still" aspects of sitting for an artist. She seems to like the work (it is WORK!) and she works hard at it!  Even with regular breaks, at the end of our two hour sessions she can really feel it!

Yes, I'm working at it too!  It has been 18 months since I last drew from a live model and I'm decidedly rusty. I tell her not to be concerned that these are not accurate portraits. While I want a likeness, I'm mostly interested in basic structure and the aesthetic aspects of the drawing.  My hospitalizations and subsequent bed rest recoveries have kept me close to home with little but the TV or an occasional foray to the car-wash for figures to sketch - good practice working quickly but hardly a good substitute for actual models. My accuracy will return with continued practice and as I become more familiar with her face and form.  She and I are learning together.






This second image from another session was done just a few days ago.  Here I'm back in student mode, trying to regain some old competence and at the same time moving a step away from that simple line-plus-white-highlight mode.  I'm working loosely, trying to render the form in simple terms then working back over it with line to help make the figure more coherent. Starting the drawing with a nude pose helped establish basic form and geometry. The model then donned simple clothing and re-established the same pose so I could draw the clothing over the body with a better understanding of the relationship between the two.  It's time I did more like this but working more slowly, doing more measuring, paying more attention to either actual or classic proportion. This work does not have the consistent "look" I want but that will come too.







"Draw, as much and as often as you can. When drawing lies fallow, the skill diminishes?  Gene Black

"Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self-acceptance."  Julia Cameron