Demonstration - Charcoal Drawing on Grey Paper

14" x 11" Charcoal on Paper

This is another drawing made from a live model at the drawing sessions I attend. It's charcoal and "white charcoal" on grey paper. During this session I took progress photos of the drawing. Later I combined those photos into a video showing how the drawing was made. You can find links to the video below.

Because of time constraints, my concern early on in the drawing is to put basic shapes down as quickly and accurately as possible, but not very neatly. At that point I'm not too concerned about details. About halfway through the video the drawing might not look quite right, but things are basically in the right places. Details and refinement come later.

It's a short video, roughly a minute and a half long. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

If the embedded player doesn't work for you, you can find the video on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmzPTso4i-U

Or on Vimeo here:

https://vimeo.com/118313403

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

Indian Woman in Purple Blouse

Today's blog post features a Southwest Indian woman dressed in purple, white, and turquoise. The drawing is pastel on gray paper and was made a few years ago in one of the weekly drawing sessions. I so wish I had finished this drawing, but the timer for the session went off, the model had to leave, and I never got back to it. Still worth a look though, I think. Hope you enjoy seeing it.

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

A Japanese Indian

14" x 11" Charcoal and "Charcoal White" on Grey Paper.

The models for the drawing sessions I attend often come dressed in outfits appropriate for their ethnicity. Sometimes they come dressed as they want. It keeps things mixed up and fun. Pictured above is a drawing from life, made a few years ago, of a Japanese woman who decided to come as a Native American. She was a fun model who sat for us a number of times. A couple other sketches I made of her can be seen here and here.

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

Three Color Palette, Part 2

8" x 10" Oil on Panel

Here's another experiment using a very limited palette. You can read the first post about a three color palette here. In the earlier post the three colors I used were cadmium yellow, permanent alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue, plus titanium white. In the painting shown above, my palette was cadmium yellow, permanent alizarin crimson, and ivory black, plus white. No blue. I had read about using black instead of blue for cool tones and wanted to try it. My understanding is that ivory black has a slightly bluish cast when mixed with titanium white. When lightened and placed alongside very warm tones (yellow and red), ivory black appears rather blue.

This painting was made on a hazy, mostly overcast winter day in Heber Valley, using cad. yellow, alizarin crimson and ivory black (plus white). That palette fit the day perfectly. I'm not about to give up my split primary palette, but becoming familiar with other palette combinations increases the "tools" I have in my "painter's toolbox". That allows greater variety in the overall body of work. It also enables me to say what I want to about particular landscapes in different ways.

Incidentally, a couple who live close to where I made the painting shown above (and many other paintings) have stopped to visit me as I've painted a couple of times. On the wintry day I painted this they invited me into their home for hot chocolate (dairy free) and homemade apple pie! That was a good day!