Unfinished business: Figure paintings

Dean Fisher's figure painting class was paused due to the COVID quarantine. The good news is I'll never have to finish painting those hands!

Drawings: Samir

Weekend workshop with Melanie Reim. Always great to do a 2-day life drawing intensive with a great teacher -- she pushes you to work fast, and your work improves in the process. Pick your charcoal up!  Complete your shapes! Follow the direction! Work from the inside out! Do your thumbnails!  All good:)

The Purple Kimono (Charcoal, Pastel)

A quick drawing at Melanie Reim's studio. Started with compressed charcoal, wanted to try a hit of color, tried soft pastel dipped in water. Didn't work! Maybe oil pastel would be better?

Here are some more quick sketches of Erica. She was a beautiful model to draw.

Study in Oil: Lauren (24" x 30")

Painting the figure again, with Dean Fisher:

His model Lauren is amazing. I feel like the skin tones are the successful part of this painting. There are a few things I would change/rework -- hands, proportion of head in relation to the figure, the background -- but onto the next. 

Still Life: Cup of Tea (Acrylic, 12"x 12")

I've started going to the Art Students League on Saturday mornings, for a class with Karen O'Neil. A recent still life:

P.S. The smallest painting tip can make a huge difference. In Karen's demo, she made black by mixing ultramarine and burnt umber ...  then, by adding white, a warmer or cooler gray depending on how much ultramarine or burnt umber. Mind blown.

Drawings: Dana Watching TV

Sketches of Dana, while watching TV. The profile drawing looks a little like me at the same age:)

Urban Sketch Drawings: Florida

I've started traveling with sketchbook in hand. A few drawings from a recent trip to Florida:

Oil Painting: Still Life with Pears

A break from plein air landscapes. Pears, painted outdoors under the sun in early fall ... then eaten:)

Plein Air Painting in the Dordogne

After painting with Dean Fisher locally this past summer, I splurged on traveling with his plein air group to the Dordogne Valley of France. What I love most about Dean is how he helps each artist build a solid plein air painting foundation. We start each day reviewing key concepts (thumbnails, design, composition, etc.), look at a wide range of art (historical, and modern) for inspiration, and some mornings, he does a demo. All in all, the perfect catalyst for growth.

Check out:  https://deanfisherworkshops.com/

Study in Oil: Self Portrait

Rainy day, a perfect time to take a break from plein air -- and do a quick self portrait. When you don't have a handy subject, just look in the mirror.

Alla Prima Portraits: Girl With Pink Hair, Girl with Blue Dress, Girl with Green Sweater

2.5 hours with a few lovely young models. I'm a bit rusty, but it's fun to get back to portrait painting, alla prima.

Life Drawings: Fall, 2019

Life drawing with various models.

Life Drawing: Male Model

I don't pick the poses ... I just draw them!

Location Drawings: Whole Foods Cafe, Sarlat

Usually I don't post these quick location drawings, but I took my time with this one, and I like the way it came out.

And this pen and ink sketch, from a trip to Sarlat (ink with a water color wash):

NOLA Reportage Trip: Drawings

Artist and illustrator Melanie Reim led a reportage trip to New Orleans, where the goal was to learn to create a narrative about place, people and events through drawing. We began each day reviewing basic concepts (thumbnails, design, composition, etc.) and ended with a group crit, to learn from each other's work. It's much more interesting to record a personal response to a place, than to just draw precisely what you see. A few drawings below:

Jazz Musicians at Cafe Beignet:

The French Quarter, Jackson Square

Zydeco at Mulates:

The French Market

Thumbnails: