Figures 7-27-10

Here are a couple figures from tonight's figure drawing session.

Bonsai Material

I finally got around to taking pics of some of my better rough bonsai material which found it's way into my garden this year. The American Hornbeam is collected from the wild and next spring I will probably trunk chop it lower to induce taper lower on the trunk but it has really taken off with new growth in a short amount of time. The Corkbark Elm is really taking off as well. It will be trunk chopped next spring as well and I will take a closer look at the branches to see if any are worth keeping or if I should regrow them. Hopefully I can induce growth on the left but the aggressive growth I've seen so far, I would think it shouldn't be much of a problem. The Ponderosa Pine was collected in the Rockies at 5800' elevation and is approximately 100 years old. I am new with pine but this is my baby. Nothing will be done until I see it flourish and acclimate to my garden. I have had this one less than a week and still trying to find the best location in the yard to blast it with sun.

Figure Drawing 7-13-10

Here is a 20 minute figure drawing from tonight's session. This is Pan Pastel on paper. I really enjoy this medium for the soft painterly look that it provides. The product is a little tin, like a make-up container, with a compressed powder similar to pastel or charcoal. Not quite sure what it is exactly. It comes in dozens of colors but I have a set of greys. I have only used the black. The applicators are sold separately but they are small plastic palette knives with replaceable soft covers that slip over the tip and come in a variety of shapes. I use the triangle one almost exclusively. It is such a dark color that grabs the surface immediately which makes it difficult to gauge how much is on the applicator until it is on the paper so I often have a paper towel to wipe the excess off the tip. The triangle shape allows me to use both the soft pointed tip and the broad side to apply marks which works well with this length pose because I use line with the tip and the broader side to apply wider marks. Finding the right balance in this length of time between a line drawing and some subtle shading is always on my mind. Too much and it looks over worked. Too little and I didn't use the time to it's fullest to build up form and capture a sense of the light source and interplay between light and shadow.

No Model Again

Well, I haven't had a chance do any art since last Tuesday and was hoping to knock out some figure drawings tonight but the model called and canceled. I was kind of bummed about that especially since I drove 45 minutes there to find out because she was last minute in the cancellation.