Upcomming show...Terrain 6!!!! Come join the fun :)

Two of my works will be on display at Terrain 6, located on 1010 W. 1st Street of Spokane, WA. Very, very excited :D

Date: Friday, October 4
Time: 5PM to 1:30AM

For some background on how large Terrain has become, click on ze link below!

Shawn Vestal: Arts community grows its roots through Terrain - The Spokesman-Review

www.spokesman.com

When Luke Baumgarten, Ginger Ewing and Patrick Kendrick were growing up, they understood that there was one thing young, creative, artistic, ambitious people absolutely did not do in Spokane. Stay.

Work from this summer!

Figure Drawing JUN2013-02, 31X36 in.,Charcoal on 80 lb Co-mo sketch

Figure Drawing AUG2013-01, 32X36 in, Charcoal on 80 lb Co-mo sketch

Figure Drawing SEP2013_01, 31X36 in., Charcoal on Draft Paper

Figure Drawing SEP2013_02, Brown Water Soluble Graphite on Draft Paper

Hello! It's been a bit since my last post - here is what I've been up too art-wise this summer. All of the above are from the Open Figure Drawing Studio hosted by Julie Suchanek at Spokane Art Supply. I'm branching out a little with the water soluble graphite...I found that draft paper and water don't mix quite well...lesson learned :) Otherwise, sticking to my favorite - charcoal. A couple of these I will be going back to revisit, as time permits.

Worked with some new media today - WATER SOLUBLE CHARCOAL!!!! Oh my!!!!

Figure Drawing JUN2013-01, 14X16 in., ??? on thicker drawing/water color paper

Yep - I kinda like them water soluble charcoal sticks. I totally botched her face...draw draw draw, line line line. Then I started spreading it around via a really big brush. The only real success from this piece, I think, is the breast. Spreading out the charcoal and leaving certain areas undefined really defines certain areas. Does that make sense? Anyways, much thanks to Julie and Lincoln for letting me try it out. I think I will be getting me a set soon :) This was a really fun departure! Will let you know what they are when I get 'em.

Was going to spread posts out...will post my current work in progress within the week (fingers crossed)!

Thank You for looking!

Dave

New work completed for my June 7 First Friday show at the 1900.

Outlook, 2013, 29X36 in., Charcoal on 80 lb. Co-Mo Sketch

Anguish, 2013, 30X36 in., Charcoal on draft paper

It about time I started posting again - so here are two completed works now on display with five others at 1900, 114 W. Pacific Avenue, Spokane, Washington. Anguish is brand new, from a May 2013 figure drawing studio at Spokane Art Supply. Outlook is one I started back in February or March of 2012 and was one I had meant to get back to.

I had a few inquiries on how long it takes me to complete a finished work. It starts in the studio, with a thirty or forty-five minute pose. Back at home, I spend about seven to ten hours adjusting and adding details, finishing out forms, and adding background, pedestal, and chair information. Here is what I started with on Anguish, straight from the studio:

I had a bit of good feedback from my figure drawing amigos on this one - part of the reason why I selected it! It already had a decent mood to it - I just needed to bring it out more and attempt to define him in his surroundings. You'll note some really quick strokes on the pillow to annotated the pattern and how it (and any cloth or pillow the model is resting on) bends, covers, and folds with the body.

So the first hour and a half were spent bringing out that mood with the subject and figuring out his contours:

From that hour-and-a-half I got quite a bit defined and my light sources worked out. I was able to start picking out details on his right hand, and rough in parts of the chair and cushion pattern. Part of this time was also trying to figure out the right leg  in relation to his body and the stool; didn't get much information on it from the first sitting. Rolling right along, the  next couple hours I had this:

I worked mostly on the left hand at this point, modeling from my left hand as I didn't get anything down other than a rough placement. More definition on the stool and pillow, started working on his hair, and played around a bit with how his left foot falls. A nice layer of black around him - chunky charcoal is so good for that :) I also started thinking about what the heck he was sitting on....could have been a mushroom, a wedding cake, or a medium sized dog. I decided to go with a black pleather stool with a roundy support frame underneath...

More work on the hands and pillow, more definition and shape correction on the ear, put down more charcoal over his hair and redid that to add more depth, and started figuring out more regarding the stool and his right foot. I was also able to define the chair legs, much thanks to my nice long steel straight edge ruler!

The last couple of hours saw a major left forearm correction (made it a bit thinner close to the wrist and better defined the bottom as it hovers above the left thigh), finishing the chair and stool, better defining the right leg and foot, and a last minute decision to include a cloth handle on the pillow.

So, start to finish, this is generally how  my process works. With this piece I used one type of charcoal - chunky charcoal - which comes in a compressed stick about 3/4 inch in diameter, a triangular stick eraser, and a standard run-of-the-mill stick eraser.

Thank You for looking! I will be posting again very soon, as I was able to come out of today's figure drawing class with a couple pretty good starts. Adios amigos :)

One of the drawings I'll be working on for June 7th

Figure Study, WIP, from January 16, 2012, 42X30, Charcoal on 80 lb.

Okay - here is the priority to get finished for the show.  Thinking about making some major changes to expose more of her face (thanks to some gesture drawing reference from the same session). If you'd like to see the completed work, I guess you'd better make it down for the show on June 7th ;)

I'll be displaying for First Friday in June at the 1900!!!

Wow! Here we go :) Thank You Deborah for the opportunity to display my work!!!! Thank you Sarah and Nikai for your support and encouragement, along with my family and friends. I am reeeeally looking forward to June 7th!

I should be displaying six works, possibly more. Four pieces are set for display, and I've got two more to finish up. Depending on how figure drawing studio goes this Saturday, I might be subbing or adding a new and unseen piece...will keep a better blog on the march to get ready!

Etching from earlier figure drawing work

5X7 ink  on 8X10 220 GSD paper

Thanks to a very good friend I was able to try etching and subsequently printing one of my earlier figure drawings using a press, which turns out to be kind of addicting...

Have some changes to make on this particular plate, and I'm looking forward to working more with this process. I will post more as I get em' done!