Two hours worth! Good to get my fingers all charcoaly-like...

Untitled, Life and Sun, Charcoal on 80 lb., 54"X35"

Update before I close up shop! Still lots to change and arrange...the parts I'm sure of you'll see have been locked-in with the darker charcoal. Thank you for looking :) More updates to come!!!

Finally getting back to work! New series in the works...

Untitled, Life and Sun, Charcoal on 80 lb., 54"X36"

I'm beginning a new series today - the subject is going to revolve around the sun, our relationship to it, and our relationship to each other. It brings together two features that have long captivated my attention; the primary body in which our solar system revolves and depends upon, and the human figure. So here we goooo!!!!!!

Right now vine charcoal is being used to trace whatever needs to be expressed and how it relates to everything else. Once I reach a point where the rough idea is in place, I'll start laying down the nice, dark, chunky charcoal and begin the process of laying it down and taking it away.

Stay tuned!

George D Cat

Tonight's model - George!

Time to start getting on the going - decided to break out the sketch book and at least practice some.

Here are a couple more figure studies from a 2006 weekend long studio session at the Spokane Art Institute. These two were done with watercolor, which was a big departure from charcoal. With charcoal I am usually all over the place, charcoal dust flying everywhere. With watercolors, I had to take my time, look, and lay down my lines and shaded areas slowly. These were the only two decent ones out of six.

Figure Study 2006-03, 8X11, Watercolor on 80 lb

Figure Study 2006-02, 11X8, Watercolor on 80 lb

Thought I'd include a landscape piece I did in college, from 2003. Part of a series of drawings using oil pastel crayons; this is the better looking of the three or four I did. I ended up sitting on the deck of Clink's (Thank You Jerry!) and looking out across the lake. And no, that is not a forest fire...the cliff has an orange hue :)

The lower picture is a detail of some of the texture. Oil based crayons can go on nice and thick and leave good chunks. I'll have to dig them out this spring and work with them some more!

Williams Lake Cliffs, 12 X 7, Oil Pastel Crayon on 80 lb., 2003

Figure Studies from tonights Figure Drawing open studio at Spokane Art Supply!

Part of the warm-up exercise is to draw 1 minute, 2 minute,

5 minute, and 10 minute poses. Here is a 5 minute (left) and

10 minute (right) pose.

This pose lasted 20 minutes. After getting as much structural detail in as time could afford, I went ahead and started defining the body structure and lighting details. From the detail below right, I mostly concentrated on the leg muscles and hip contours. Toward the end I also started getting rough information on what our model was laying on and her watch in the lower left. Part of getting this detail, even a little, helps me when I work on these later, especially to work out perspective issues and the form of the body and how it's weight is being distributed.

This was a 30 minute pose, which I hope to work on later. I've got some major corrections to do with the legs, but the pose is just so interesting! You can't tell by what I have down, but she is actually grabbing her right foot with her left hand. Some challenging shifts in this pose, especially with her right hand and legs.

Here is the final pose of the evening, a 45 minute pose. I ended up doing a last minute correction on the fore leg and back, which you can kind of see if you look at the top and bottom of her thigh, bum, and line of her back. This is going to be tricky to work on later because her front was light at a higher angle, causing more high contrast lighting, while everything from the back less so. I tried to concentrate more on her face toward the end as well...usually I completely forget to get some important details and have to fudge it a bit when I get home!

It's been awhile since I've last posted. This is the second figure drawing class I've been to in the past two months, and the class before that didn't see too much that I'd like to post. Time has been tight as well for studio time, but with the weather getting better that will start to change. So hopefully my next post will be in the very, VERY near future! Thank you for looking! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask. The open studio I attend is $25 and is open to anyone interested, from any skill level or background!!!!

Update on Figure Study from 01/16/2012

This one is coming along. I've got some more work to do on the feet, as well some perspective corrections on the table. Charcoal is very forgiving for things like that :) Hopefully next time I post this one will be complete!