Barbara with a dahlia behind her ear.

On a recent trip to Pennsylvania two of my friends volunteered to sit for their portraits. This is the more successful of the two charcoal drawings. I'll try again to capture some of the charm & style of my other friend. My friends are good sports, besides being smart, confident darling women. This drawing took about 45 minutes.

Dozing model

Yes, the afternoon was hot and we were all sleepy. How do models ever stay awake, anyway? I was  almost nodding off and I was standing at my easel, moving around....a little. This is another vine charcoal on some mystery drawing paper that I found in my studio, made during my weekly portrait class at River Gallery School of Art.

Portraiture Class

The River Gallery School of Art offered 5 afternoons in July of portrait class with Jason Alden instructing. The class is full at eight students and our feverish labors are taxing the "air conditioner". We are all struggling with our own goals and abilities. The school does not promote one style of work over another. It encourages students to explore various styles and mediums and find their own individual method of expression. That said, we all worked in charcoal on newsprint yesterday. We were being encouraged to see the overall structure, proportion and direction of the face, skull, neck. This is my 35 minute drawing of the model's head. Having a few hours perspective on it makes me see some things I could have done better, but I still like it. I think I am falling in love with portrait work again after many years away. Do I have any sitters?