Some 18-19 years ago, I worked as an illustrator for a classical music label and drew scores of drawings of composers. Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Mahler, Stravinsky, Poulenc, Verdi, Rossini, and gobs more. I don’t think I’m that grand at portraiture and that even less of my skill at it back then; but hey, I landed the gig and got paid to get better. So I’ve gone back into my collection and have reworked some of them
Sibelius was one of the earliest assignments I had. The second and third from the left were from those days. The others were recently added.
Drawn on ledgerbook paper, composition sheets with ballpoint, fountain pen and Pitt Artist Pens.
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I enjoy watching people at work. Over the last dozen years or so of going to life drawing sessions, I’ve turned my attention to the artists as they ply their craft. While not completely still, their movements are generally gradual enough to catch the gist of their posture with the added challenge of frequent adjustments. An artist standing at an easel may back off with some frequency but even those seated upon the bench know as a horse might need to shift to relieve pressure or numbness. I draw with ink so should the artist move significantly I either begin a second drawing or incorporate the new position right on top of the drawing in progress in the manner of pentimento. I’ve dropped into life drawing sessions across the country, but the primary place I work on my nude figure drawing chops is the venerated Palette & Chisel. Some of these artists I’ve worked alongside for years such as my friend Misha, who hails from Minsk, Bielorussia where he studied art as a young man. A wonderful subject in his own right he is very dogged in his approach taking glimpse at the figure before working with a long practiced surety. Others rapidly look back and forth between page and subject. One in particular, Bodo, very actively tilts his head left to right while quickly looking up and down and working alternately on different sections of anatomy making him one of the more challenging to capture a likeness of. Mary Qian, seen in baseball cap and in the final drawing, frequently looks thru a pair of binoculars to help her with detail.
U7
Medium used: Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, various Fountain Pens, Platinum Carbon Ink, deAtrementis Ink, Pentel Brush Pen, Tomoe River Paper, Hahnemühle sketchbooks, repurposed ledgerbooks, Stillman & Birn sketchbooks,
