Fall Figure Drawing

After taking a few months off from figure drawing I'm getting ready to start up again in a few weeks. It's usually a good thing to stay sharp and to practice drawing and painting with regularity.

I also have discovered that some interesting things can happen to your work when you take a short break from it. As artists we are always thinking about our work...our future work. We can't help it. We look and observe and think about patterns and color and compositions. Taking a short break from actually making art allows for some sub-conscious changes to occur in our approach to work...once we do return to the easel. These changes can be fresh and unexpected and exciting.

Above are a few drawings from the recent past figure drawing sessions. The top piece is 18"x24"

B &W and gray pastels on toned paper (which is wrinkling a bit too much) and the second drawing is of the same model with graphite in a 11" x 14" sketchbook.

New Work Too

Just in case you were starting to think that all I am doing these days is painting into or over old paintings...I thought that I should post something new. This is a recently completed 18" x 24"oil painting of a decorative stone structure in NYC's Central Park. I'm kind of drawn to these old architectural forms that seem to fit in so nicely with the natural surroundings of the park. Clearly man-made, but it feels like it was always there. I worked from several reference photos that I shot while there a few summers ago. Once I completed the piece, I let it sit in my studio for a few weeks...and then I completely changed the background from my imagination. I find myself doing more of that because I develop a strong opinion of what needs to be done to improve the piece after a bit of time passes. I don't always have that luxury with tight deadlines on my illustration work.

More Changes...

Here is another painting that I started about eight years ago and just recently worked back into it. This really illustrates the shift in my personal palette! The original version (top) had lots of contrast with bold, "out of the tube" colors. I also worked in some collage...mostly wallpaper scraps, which I was experimenting with at that time. It was too loud for my current preferences, so I toned it down...way down. When I work back into these paintings, I never pull out my original references. I just work from my head on all of the changes. It forces me to be more original and creative.