Red Robe (16x12) oil on panel

We've painted dozens of models in my studio over the years; so many in fact that I can't recall the names of the two depicted here... I like variety, so I try and get different a one each time, but still manage to hire some of the favorites from time to time. Once when I invited a group of friends to paint and the model didn't show up, I felt responsible so I got up on the stand myself (clothed of course)...

Lady in Black (14x11) 

oil pastel on paper

Boy, what an eye-opener! You tend to think (if you think about it all) that a model doesn't have to work that hard -- just hold still. Well about 20 minutes into the first session of a 3-hour long pose, I was getting a whole new perspective! By the time the pose was finished, I was stiff with back, leg and neck pain and very, very tired...and I was sitting in a comfy chair! 

I have had a very healthy respect for artists models ever since...
My hats off to them --

Life Drawing in Colour

 (11x14)

Went to a figure drawing session yesterday morning at Crush bar (no, I did not drink!) and drew with oil pastels... These are approximately 30 minutes each on Canson paper. I like the feel of oil pastels over regular, chalk pastels for their tactile relationship to oil paint, and the ability to stretch, blend and stick the colour without the fragile volatility of chalk...

(11x14)

Figure drawing from life is a good practice to do regularly if you can; working from a three dimensional, living, breathing (and ever-moving) subject is a challenge that sharpens your observational senses and hones your eye-to-hand skills as a painter... Model: Julie Webb, Portland, OR

Reassembled Man

 No.4

 I promised a while back that I would post some more of these quick figure oil sketches -- Here are a few; fun practice if you move quickly, keep the strokes spontaneous and don't fuss them too much...14x11" (cropped).

 No.14

 No.9

 No.16

No.11

Back in a Moment:

o/p (12x16)

We've always kept photo albums in my family, but I've never seen a pic of a relatives backside (let alone a naked one, thank God). Photographs are usually always from the front -- smiling, but there's something intriguing and mysterious, even beautiful on the flip side of the human body...

pencil (8x6)

These of course are just studies, but for artists they're important to do. For one, it's information they need to know to understand the whole form of human physicality and two, studies help develop an understanding of the varied types of backsides of the human body while developing shape, line & value practice as it pertains to figurative rendering...

pencil on newsprint (20x16)

The illustrator and instructional art book author, Andrew Loomis once said the back is "a tough old bird" -- memorizing it's myriad amount and function of musculature is worth going over and over again. After all, even chiropractors and surgeons are still learning the depths of the human torso...

Your average portrait painter may never render a commission from this angle, but nevertheless there's as much character & interest back here as there is in the front... if you look for it.

"I'm bored..."

Probably the most foolish two words a ten year old boy can mutter in the presence of his mom on a summer afternoon... At our house, if you didn't have your wits about you and decreed such a statement out loud, it guaranteed time in the yard pulling weeds. Artists should never be bored. We should always be working on something -- be it a commission, heading outdoors to paint, cleaning the studio, promoting our work or filling up pages in the 'ol sketchbook. Of course when at all possible draw from life, but if a live model is unavailable, doodle off the top of your head or from photos in the magazines lying about the house.

Doodles from magazines and/or imagination

Like painting, it's about the mileage -- whether it's a successful painting or not, you learn and grow from each experience. With sketchbooks, you're honing your drawing skills, recording ideas & reference and providing yourself a journal of progress all at the same time. And it's a personal thing -- doodling in your sketchbook can be a relaxing past time because there are generally no rules, no deadlines and no one looking over your shoulder (unless you're doing it in public).

studio models

A couple of famous painters both told me, "Work on 'starts' and don't worry about the finishes...they'll come on their own". That's what drawing in sketchbooks is like -- a lot of starts that ultimately contribute to my progress as a painter. So if you ever feel bored, draw -- it's the foundation of everything you create...and it definitely beats pulling weeds.