Sioux Woman

12" x 9" Charcoal on Paper

Here's a sketch made at the weekly drawing session just a few weeks ago. My sketch was made using charcoal and "charcoal white" pencils in a Strathmore sketchbook. Before beginning the drawing, the paper was toned by rubbing a stick of charcoal over the entire sheet. Then the charcoal coating was lightly rubbed and smoothed with a paper towel that came from a paper towel dispenser in the restroom. The darks were laid down with a soft charcoal pencil. Light tones were created using a kneaded eraser to lift out the charcoal. "Charcoal white" was used very sparingly (in this case) for highlights. 

The model, a Sioux woman,  was dressed in a modern professional-looking outfit. Of course she would have looked good in a hand-sewn fringed buckskin dress adorned with dyed porcupine quills, elk hooves and cowrie shells, but she also looked good as she was and was an excellent model, so that's how we drew her. 

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

Christmas 2013

8" x 10" Oil on Panel

This is the first, and so far the only snow painting I've done this season, so it gets to be my Christmas post. It was painted a week and a half ago in the Four Corners area of Utah. Walking along through the snow on this high desert plateau, I found an old dirt road which meandered through the sagebrush toward some pinion pine and juniper trees. Beyond the trees rise the Abajo Mountains. The only wildlife I remember seeing that day were a couple desert cottontails that scampered through the brush as I approached, and the occasional passing raven. The temperatures were only a little below freezing on this sunny and pleasant day, which was a relief after a week or two of very cold weather.

Hope you have Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving Weekend

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

A day or two after a fine turkey dinner I went painting outdoors. The scene above is one I've painted before, but I had to try it with the little 5" x 7" pochade box. The low winter sun rakes across the faceted angles of Maple Mountain, creating fascinating patterns of dark and light. This is one of my favorite mountains to paint. I'm sure to do it again, and from other locations in the valley. The snow line has moved all the way down the slopes now, blanketing everything in the valley. I'm looking forward to snow painting.

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

The next little painting in this post also came out of the 5" x 7" pochade box that weekend. It was painted from the bench trail along the base of the mountains just east of town. The contrast of the lone pine on a slope of golden autumn grasses caught my attention. I might go paint it again now that snow has covered the grass.

Some Lingering Fall Color

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

This was painted down by the lake one afternoon in November. It wasn't easy finding one last Autumn painting to do since most of the leaves were down by then, but I found this splash of color just a stone's throw from the edge of the lake. The air was calm, and balmy by November's standards. The lake's surface was smooth, mirroring some clouds that began moving in later that afternoon. As the sun neared the horizon a slight breeze picked up. Small waves began to gently lap the shore near my feet. It was a perfect day to be out.

Little Pioneer Girl

12" x 9" Pastel on Colorfix Paper

Utah reveres it's pioneers. Seems like most here have an ancestor or two who rode across the plains in a covered wagon - or walked, pulling a handcart. Mine didn't. My ancestors stayed in Pennsylvania. Instead, I traveled west on a Greyhound Bus.

Still, I benefit from the pioneer attitude and culture here. That attitude and culture continues to be vibrant and becomes even more diverse as time moves on. Now, new kinds of pioneers set out to explore new and different kinds of frontiers with optimism, enthusiasm, and faith. These kinds of pioneers are found not only among descendants of the early white settlers, but also among people of all races and nationalities who have come to this place, and among those whose ancestors were originally here.

The pastel sketch shown above was made a couple years or so ago at the weekly drawing session. The girl in this sketch is the same young woman who modeled for us recently, and was the subject of another post in this blog.

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Young Man in a Chapeau

12" x 9" Charcoal and Charcoal Pencil on Paper

Here's another recent sketch from the weekly drawing session. The model is the brother of the young woman in this sketch.

The commercially available sketchbooks with toned paper don't quite do it for me. An ordinary sketchbook with white paper toned by hand as needed works better. Before each sketch, the side of a stick of charcoal is rubbed all over the paper and then blended to a certain degree with a dry paper towel (obtained from the men's room at the drawing class). That way I can control how dark the tone will be. From the resulting mid-tone darks are built up with charcoal pencil, and lights are made by lifting charcoal off the paper with a kneaded eraser. "White charcoal" might then be used for the brightest highlights.

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

Group Show Opening in Salt Lake City Tomorrow

A new group show opens tomorrow night (Friday, Nov. 15) at Evergreen Gallery in Salt Lake City. The exhibit includes eight of my most recent paintings, which were all done "en plein air" and feature local rural and alpine landscapes. I'm excited to be a part of this show! There will be quite a variety of wonderful artwork for sale from four painters and one potter. It's free to visit, so come enjoy the show, and maybe pick up a gift or two for the holidays or just for yourself! Evergreen Gallery is located at 3295 South, 2000 East in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, click on the flyer shown above, or on any of the links in the text, including this one.