National Gallery Old Master Drawings

Lhermitte An Elderly Peasant Woman

Rubens Battle of Nude Men

Prud'hon Venus

During my time in DC, I was able to make an appointment to study about 20 exquisite drawings in the archives. Above are a few of my favorites, but it was difficult to choose, as other artists seen included Raphael, Durer, Parmigianino, and Tiepolo. The small sketches were just as impressive as the more developed drawings. The National Gallery's willingness to make this opportunity available is truly incredible.

Children's Portrait Workshop

I attended Robert Liberace's workshop earlier this month. Above are pictures of his two demos alternated with two of my studies from the weekend. It was a treat to be able to have such young models. Rob's nieces were so patient with us.

Brent

My two hours with Brent did not leave me time to do much with his hand and I was disappointed with it, so in my lessons this week we focused on hand studies. 

Andy

Andy had an hour to give me, so I did this short drawing. I need to take advantage of my free model more often.

Kayla 11.3.10

                     I ran the session at UGA last night, but was able to get in a few drawings, too.

Nicole extended pose

We have a small group working with Nicole for five sessions this week. The pictures show the drawing in progress and completed. I used graphite on Strathmore charcoal paper and pastels for highlights.

Gretchen Session 2

                                          The figure study after the second evening of painting.

Artist's Magazine December 2010 is out!

I haven't found it in stores yet, but the December issue can be found online that reveals their annual competition winners. Although not pictured, my name and "Albert" will be listed as a finalist.

Business Cards

Above are my double-sided business cards, which thanks to Kym who printed them up, make so much more of an impression than my old ones.  I went to my hometown, Spartanburg, over the weekend and put some in stores around town. Marketing my art doesn't come easily for me, but I'm making a push to get my name out there.

Michelle In Progress

Here is the latest long term portrait I've been working on for a week and a half. I had fun setting up this pose and going to the farmer's market to get fresh flowers for it. I'll post the final painting in the next week or so. . . .

Gretchen Session 1

We had a wonderful model last night at OCAF, who agreed to come back next week, so I'll have 2 and 1/2 more hours on this painting. I worked to get down a basic understanding of the pose and proportions ( the arms are too thin at the moment!) , shadow shapes and basic temperature of the shadows. This study is roughly 15"x19". With more time, I was able to work a little larger.

Study of Kym 9"x10"

Fellow artist and friend, Kym, kindly sat for me several months ago where I completed 3/4 of this painting. This week I finally put the last touches on it.

Awaiting Approval

Hopefully, this is an almost completed commission, but I am waiting to receive the approval of the parents. It has been a particularly tricky portrait, as the one day I was in Virginia, happened to be the one day that Charlie did not want to have his pictures taken. He gave me maybe one somewhat natural smile, then the rest looked as if he were in great pain. Finally, he would only take pictures if he could wear his sunglasses. Yikes! Needless to say, the source material was not ideal for this painting, so it is a compilation of my photos and family photos.

Open Life at UGA

Each Wednesday, I attend UGA's open studio. The night begins with several 1 minute quick poses working up to 5 minutes. I usually feel out the gesture and form with a pen then do a wash with ink for the shadows. The first image is an example of these exercises. 10 minute, 20 minute and the 40 minute poses follow and I have included images of drawings done in those time increments as well.

Recent Commissions Completed

A friend recently returned from teaching for a year in China and asked me to draw and paint some of the amazing pictures he captured during his stay. This pen and watercolor drawing is approximately 20"x24". Beneath is a commissioned wedding present for a couple who just married in the rendered church. This is done in the same technique, but smaller at roughly 11"x14".

Jen 9.7.10

Kemi 11"x14"

This model makes it especially fun to paint her as she is often changing her look and hairstyle. I couldn't resist concentrating on her profile this evening.

Katherine 8.24.10

Looking back, I think I would have posed the model's legs differently. My goal for the coming sessions will be to work on putting more gesture in the pose. 

Katie 9"x12"

Another approximately 2 hour sketch. I'm still figuring out this blogging! The color quality could be a lot better on these, but I'll work on learning how to adjust the saturation and levels.

Galen Reclining

This study is from a three hour session I hold at Oconee Arts Foundation on Tuesday evenings. We start out with six three minute poses and then decide on a single pose for the remainder of the time. Turning the head horizontally was a fun challenge. It kept me focusing on shapes and how they make up the whole, instead of the specific features.