August 24 Drawing

Not a good photograph, sorry about that, but it is raining here, which is actually a good thing, but it makes it hard for me to get a good photograph. Still I think the photo is good enough for you to get the idea of last nights drawing. If it looks like the model is asleep, that is because she was. Fortunately she mainly held pose, moving only toward the end of the session, but by then I pretty much had finished the body so I focused on rendering the drapes and sofa around her.

I probably should have moved as my location showed the body seriously foreshortened, but I decided to take it as a challenge and see what I could do with the pose. Needless to say it was a much easier pose from a straight on view.  But that is where the serious painters are usually located, and I don't like to get in their way. Still part of the purpose of these drawing sessions is to see how well I can do with challenging positions.

Again I only did the one drawing. I am taking the colored pencils with me, but focusing on getting a good graphite drawing, letting the colored pencils just sit for the moment. I think I will eventually go back to them when I feel I don't need to labor quite so much over the pencil drawings. This one took a lot of erasure before I felt I had things pretty much in the right place and in the right proportions. The advantage of using good paper is I can pretty much erase what I don't like without it leaving behind a shadow I don't want. I have been doing these drawings on Cranson 90lb classic cream drawing paper. It has a light tooth, takes the pencil well, erases well and is a nice weight. In a way I would rather be using a whiter paper, but I haven't found white paper in a pad in the size and weight I want to use.

When I started posting drawings from the live model sessions I was posting 2 drawings - one in graphite and one colored pencil drawing, since I am only doing the one image I was thinking that I would upload a 2nd image from the sketches I have been doing in my sketchbook during the week. For these drawings I am usually working from photos, ones I have made myself, or downloaded, or even from magazines. I try to vary the subject, some portraits, some animals, or even a landscape or two. The one I have for you this week is an animal drawing made from a photograph I made at the Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo. The rabbit was in the outdoor enclosure for the Gorillas. The keepers as part of the enrichment program the Zoo maintains for the Gorillas toss peanuts around the grass for them to find and eat. This rabbit was trying to collect his share of the bounty. Since the Gorillas don't like sharing this is rather risky behavior on the part of the rabbit. Do you think it looks nervous?

That is it for this post. Per usual comments are welcome.