Male Nude Charcoal Drawing

"The Dreamer"

25" x 19", Charcoal and White Chalk on Paper

I really enjoy life drawing. There's nothing that can compare for me to the concentration and pleasure I get from trying to capture a pose. In order to hold myself to the discipline of drawing, I host a life drawing group at my studio on Mondays. We hire our models for up to six weeks because those participating in our group want to take time to develop a drawing to a high level of polish. This model is one of my favorites. He keeps himself in great shape and works hard to hold a pose. Here's my latest drawing.

Nude Study

"Study of Jen"

Oil on Linen

When working toward a more polished piece, I fall back on training and work out a couple of color studies first.  I wanted to get a general sense of the skin tones for this painting of a nude, and so turned out this study today. I'll more than likely do a couple of more of just her head and then a few of her feet before I'm satisfied that I have the color where I want it. But I liked the way this one came out today so I'm posting it. 

Female Nude, Charcoal

Short Pose


We had a new model today for short pose. Beautiful girl with great lines. 

Red Riding Hood - color study

Some time ago when I was still attending Georgetown Atelier, we had a little red headed model who posed for us. During her breaks she would don this gorgeous red robe that had a huge hood on it. It was an irresistible combination. I asked her if she would model for me after class for a photo session and she agreed. We met one evening and worked together for about two hours. The results were so good that I almost couldn't wait for the end of school so I could get started on a painting. 

While I prefer to work from life, the model lives in Seattle and I, unfortunately, live in Port Angeles - a difficult commute for either myself or the model. Now that school is over, I'm a bit reluctant to spend a lot of time commuting. I had previous done a small portrait from life of her in the class so I was confident that I had her coloring. For working from photos I use a large flat screen monitor in my studio that rotates to vertical. This provides more realistic coloring and I can adjust things as I need to.

There were many photos that came out beautiful and worthy of painting and some I will pursue at another time, but this particular pose (with some changes on my part) worked because of the edgy quality of her gaze. It seemed perfect for the story of Red Riding Hood. Umm...just who is the wolf here?

I spent about a week on the drawing which I did to size and then reduced it for the purpose of doing this color study. The study is only 8" x 11" on "Yes" canvas. The finished piece will be 19" x 27.5" but likely done on board. I'm still working out my preference. This came out so good, I'm going to frame it too. I'm having a great time! School was so intense, I almost forgot how much I love to paint. It's good to be back.

Nude Figure Painting, Oil on Linen

"Morning Thoughts"

This piece was one of the last ones done at school before the summer break. A limited palette of only a few colors was used here. I was quite happy with this piece although I think I still have a long way to go.

Male Nude

This piece was done during the school year and was one of my first limited palette paintings. The model is "Hoagie", a gentleman who poses for most of the schools and ateliers in the Seattle area. While I still have a ways to go here, I felt that I was beginning to turn the corner with this piece.

Charcoal and White Chalk Nude Figure, 10" x 14" on Paper

"Veronica"nfs

We had our student show at Georgetown Atelier just a week or two ago. It was a grand success and I'm proud to say that we're getting some notice now at places like Gage Academy where Juliette Aristedies teaches and some of the finest instructors and students turn out notable work. For a brand new atelier just starting up, we already have a good number of applications for the fall. I'm happy to report that I'm planning on attending three days a week instead of just two next year. I feel that the additional time spent in life drawing can only lead to improvement.

"Veronica" was one of the pieces I turned out this year. There's a lot more going on in the half tones than appears here. I've had some difficulty in picking them up with the camera.

I've had little time to paint this year with all the time spent at school and teaching my own classes. I hope with the summer break to be able to get some easel time in.

I just attended a three day workshop led by John Clarke from the American Society of Aviation Painters. It was on perspective. Coupled with some evening lectures by Michael Grimaldi on Human Anatomy for the Artist, I feel like I have some pretty good tools for my tool box. I intend to spend some time this summer brushing up on color and doing some plein aire painting. The weather here has finally started to warm a bit. Can you believe I'm still wearing a wind breaker in the mornings when I walk? And it's flannel lined! This is the last week of classes at the atelier so I'm getting in gear for the upcoming Studio Tour. Hope you can drop by for a visit during the weekend of July 16, 17 and 18th. I'll be painting in the studio and I'd love to see you!
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Charcoal Drawing of Male Nude, 11" x 15" on Paper

"Sleep"

School has had me so busy, I've not had much easel time for pursuing my own desires. However, it did finally occur to me that I could be posting some of the academic work that I have been doing. So here's one of a charcoal drawing I completed recently. The stuff is so fragile, I lost quite a bit of the rendering in just getting it home from Seattle, however, enough remains that I was able to photograph it for you. Hope you like it. At least you know I haven't been making all this school stuff up.

Nude Figure Study, 9" x 12" Oil on Panel

We've been working on temperature studies in class this month. This piece, although, rough, was done on Tuesday. While not completely accurate, I'm pleased (and so was the master) with the overall temperature accuracy. Unfortunately, I got stuck at the end of the semi-circle around her and therefore had to cope with a side view. Not too interesting and static as far as poses go. I hope to make these small studies more pleasing to the eye as well as accurate as time goes by. While I've done many figure studies on this blog, only a few have been from life. The rest have come from photos which I bring up on my laptop because the lighting is more accurate that way. This is much more difficult as I'm racing against time and the hues are more elusive. Some day I hope to be able to afford models for long poses over a few days.

Reclining Nude, 11" x 14", Oil on Canvas Panel

This is a favorite theme of mine by now. I've done it in a couple of sizes and have been searching out color schemes. I recently purchased about 20 frames in standard sizes and this one looks great in a plein air mahogany frame. As I have a large studio tour coming up in the summer and also hopes of gaining entry into the Belvue Arts Museum Fair or Belvue Arts Fair, I'm trying to build up inventory. This is for sale, but you'll need to e-mail me if you're seriously interested.

On another topic, I've discovered something that surprised me about myself. I started as a serious realist painter in pastel and gravitated to oils a couple of years ago as a primary medium. Even when I started this blog, I was heavily into sharp realism. I've noticed that when I look back over my work and how it has evolved over the past two years, I find that I have made a foray into the arena of impressionism or expressionism. I'm still heavily representational and still interested in realist work, but something has shifted. I'm presently attending atelier with Tenaya Sims, a remarkable realist painter who studied directly under Juliette Aristedes and also teaches at Gage in Seattle. I feel very honored and awed to be under his tutelage and have to smile at the new quandry I find myself in. Tenaya seems not to be bothered by any of this indecision or vascillation and reassures me that it's all the "same" in the bones. And this I agree with, but I'm still wondering what the next few years will bring in my development. Should be fun to find out. Stay tuned.