Practice. It must be done. I was a weekly regular at area venues for drawing from life. For various reasons, I haven’t pursued the practice of drawing nude figures from life and it shows in some recent sketches. This 25 minute ink drawing in one of my many ledger books, was executed at a time when I was as relaxed while drawing as the model was during the pose. When figures are bundled in clothes the challenge is to indicate a figure beneath the cloth, and I always feel a little leeway in proportions so I tend to attack the page with more abandon. When the clothes come off, if I haven’t been drawing regularly I typically fret the proportions and contour accuracy and the drawings sometimes suffer from self consciousness with evident stiffness. I thought this would be a winter where I would concentrate on life drawing but……..things don’t always work out as planed.
Drawn with fountain pen filled with Iroshizuku ink and Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen.
Life drawing.
Medium: Pitt Artist Pen and white grease pencil highlights on toned Utrecht paper.
Dimensions: 9 1/2″(h) x 12″(w)
Date: 2/8/13
signed: Darn
Price: $250 shipping included
Labored over an illustrating gig, got back in court to sketch at a murder trial, and drawing out and about both solo and with friends. No change in materials though the smaller drawings are in a Pentalic book w/ unlined, ivory colored paper. Has some bleed thru traits so I probably won’t use one of these again once I finish with it. Not being able to draw on both sides checks the number of spreads I’ll do and means I don’t get full use out of one. I do like how they’re bound and the cover’s nice but they have a touch too deep of a gutter. Fountain pen inks wanna seep thru the page. The drawings on toned paper, which I favor when drawing in court, are in a Utrecht sketchbook.
 
The fellow in the green shirt, a witness at a murder trial, the guy who discovered the body of the victim, was getting a rough going over from the defense attorney.
 
Threw in some life drawings from the old haunt, the Palette & Chisel, from Feb & Jan. Heading off to Texas later this month while I’ll try to run down some life drawing venues there, not to mention some of that awesome central Texas BBQ. Maybe I can find some bar-b-que slathered nudes to draw while I’m at it.
 
 
 
 
Oh and uhm, here’s a recent sketch for an illustration job I just finished just to show folks I do, once in a blue moon, pick up a pencil and noodle around with them.
 
 
