Editing

The new year seems to be a good time for sorting through a heavy pile of twelve months of figure drawings. My teacher has requested a drawing or two from each student to exhibit at the River Gallery during February. I picked out my favorites as I organized the pile and taped them up in my tiny studio. This is the almost final cut - an even dozen (charcoal and one abstract pastel).

Editing is a skill in itself, worthy of honing just like laying a graduated wash. I am working on this. Don't you wish more people practiced editing? Just think of viewing all the photos your sister took on her vacation. I'd rather see the 5 really good ones; the ones with the interesting story or the beautifully composed ones.

So many considerations...I think my teacher will like this one. Maybe this one is too explicit. Will anyone else appreciate this one? This is quite a good likeness of the model. Those are not real criteria, in this case. I need to decide which of my 12 "best" really please me; which one is the successful result of my goals for that particular drawing. I will ponder this until Tuesday when I will deliver my choice for the wall. By then I may be able to articulate my goals, which right now must have something to do with 'expressive' quality, 'interest in all areas of the picture', 'mystery.'....

First Friday in Brattleboro 5:30 til 8:30 and all the rest of the month at River Gallery School of Art...

Long Pose

Most of the subscribers to this blog are artists, so they understand why I love figure drawing...and drawing from life in general. For non-artists, direct observation (not from photos) sharpens your skills just as practicing your golf swing (or piano pieces) improves your game. For me, those are the rewards; being able to see and describe on paper the nuances of shape and line and changes in value helps me to make a better painting. I also think that changing your methods or medium opens doors in your everyday work...in my case, landscape painting.

Drawing is my fall back mode...when things are new or uncertain and I am not comfortably moving in the direction I want to go...I draw. That is the one thing I always know I want to do...no hesitation.

This model has a great deal of character and attitude and he is really fun to draw. I used charcoal pencils on Canson drawing paper. The pose was about 3 hours. My teacher at The River Gallery School of Art, Jason Alden, liked parts of the drawing and had some ideas how I might improve my efforts this week. We'll see...first I have to get to the school studio without slipping on the ice.