DRAWING MARATHON TODAY!

It felt so good to spend the day, all day, drawing. There was another drawing marathon in Palo Alto today. Looks like the poor economy is showing up here as well. Not nearly as many people showed up as usually do. I like being able to spread out and change positions for a better view, but I feel badly for those that feel that can't afford to come and for the sponsors who work so hard to put it on.

I have been on a spending spree the last couple of days. Must be the warm weather. Anyway, there is a school supply place near me called Morrison's. It is in San Carlos on Industrial & Holly. They have a second location in the South Bay. They were having a sale (except art supplies!!) Guess what I bought....all art supplies. I find the most wonderful treasures in this store. My exciting find yesterday was a large wooden compass that has a place to put chalk in either end. It is made from two pieces of wood that have a screw and wing bolt to connect them. When I had visited Mike Bailey out in Concord, he had his students tape a marker to a long dowel and then draw with the paper on the floor. Robert Burridge does this idea himself with a paintbrush taped to a long stick. It forces you to use your whole body and you have less control. Also, you can't hold the apparatus like a pencil. When I saw the fun drawings from Mike's workshop, I wanted to give it a try. This classroom tool is PERFECT!! I put a marker in one end, folded the gizzmo in half and did the one minute poses. I tried all kinds of pens and brushes today. If the brush was too small to fit snugly into the opening, I shoved part of a kneaded eraser in to hold it tightly. I used cheap coarse oil painting brushes with India Ink. The one above was drawn with the board on the floor. Most of the morning I had a table easel and stood back to draw. I have posted some of the drawings I did, using different materials, from today.

In the afternoon I went for the long pose which lasted for 3 hours with breaks. I used Conte Crayon on Pale Green Pastel Paper. Black, white, sanguine and a yellow ochre hard pastel were all the colors I used. It's been a while since I tried to work accurately and attempt to get a true likeness. I wanted to see if I could still do it! It's a pretty decent likeness. Some of the shadows were very strong and harsh. They didn't look right, so I softened them a little. I forgot to get the model's name. It's nice to be able to credit the model. I know I will see her again.

DRAWING MARATHON PAINTING OF SHANNON

Today was another drawing marathon at the Palo Alto Art Center. I decided to stay on the "long pose" side and work with my new slow drying acrylics on canvas. At the last minute, I had the "brilliant" idea to collage some papers on one canvas and cover the other with red gesso. The freshly gessoed canvas was partially wet when I had to leave (that's the brilliant part) but my carpeting, car and clothing managed to come out unscathed.

I painted Shannon in the morning and was very pleased with the result. There are two layers of tissue. The first with several shades of blue paint on tissue, the second what was left of my stamping session a few days ago. I felt like I was getting the hang of these new paints. Then came the afternoon session.....a total waste of paint! (It's never a waste of effort) Like I always say, you can slap some gesso over a bad painting.

If you attend these sessions very often you start to see the same models over and over. Some you fall in love with and are excited to draw or paint them, and some annoy you for whatever reason. I was not happy with the afternoon model and somehow that seemed to show up in the final results. I am thinking about putting some collage over the image and a few other altering ideas and then working on it some more. The best part about having a painting you don't like is you have no fear of ruining it, so exploring other ideas is very liberating. There's a pony in there somewhere!

There was a gentleman at the Marathon who does beautiful charcoal figures and he had made a book through a website called "blurb.com" I checked it out when I came home and I am very excited. I think I will create a workbook to go along with my "Variations" workshop. I think there will be room in the book (40 pages) to include some of the work people have sent me of the Frenchman. I will get everyone's permission beforehand. If you have done something and never sent it to me, it's not too late. This little project may take some time.

Speaking of workshops, my website has been updated with the most current workshop dates along with descriptions of each of the three workshops I give along with slide shows and photos. Click on the title of this post and it will take you to my web page. I have 4 scheduled for this year and 4 for next year. I like to do 6 each year, so pass the word on if you would like me to come to your area.

VOTE FOR PEGGY STERMER-COX! and MORE MARATHON DRAWINGS

Peggy Stermer-Cox is one of 5 finalists in the on-line "furry friends" competition. If you click on the blog title it will take you to the website where you can vote for your favorite. All the finalists have done exceptional technical work but Peggy's is the most original and creative. In fact it is the only one of the five that isn't photo-realistic.

Here is a website where you can do a digital download of the October 2007 issue of Watercolor Magic which features an article about my portraits, in case you missed this issue and wanted one for yourself. As Robert Burridge says "shameless self promotion" http://www.fwmagazines.com/product/1379/160

These are the last I will post from the Merritt College Drawing Marathon. The first two had the paper treated with a diluted raw umber wash from my sponge top bottle I was looking for (found it at Staples) The color flooded out and looked like cafe au lait running all over. The sponge top bottle was not such a great success but I haven't given up on it yet. When that dried, I put some "dirty glaze" over it with the palette knife. I was going to collage some tissue over this but got lazy and just left it. Originally, I didn't like how the page looked but once I put the drawing on and added the black, walnut and white inks to it, I decided this was a good background to start with.

The last drawing was done on just the plain paper. It was an amazingly forshortened view. Reminded me of Manet's Dead Toreador.

LIFE DRAWING SESSION, SECOND SET

Here is the second set of marathon drawings. The way the book comes together, there are 4 pages accordian pleated together, so I treated them as a set and collaged and pre-painted the pages as one continuous page, not knowing how I was going to finish it.

First I collaged some Japanese papers from the book onto the paper, then I used the tissue paper from the previous day with the red acrylic ink on it and collaged that over the pages. Lastly, I mixed 8 parts matt medium with one part Micaceous Iron Oxide (a Golden Acrylic Product) and made a "dirty glaze". Using a plastic palette knife (an old credit card would also work) I spread this onto the pages. I love this "dirty glaze"! I will continue to explore the possibilities. At the drawing session I worked with several ink pens including the Elegant Writer, a wet brush and walnut ink and acrylic white ink.

DRAWING MARATHON AT MERRITT COLLEGE!

This was one exhausting day, but loads of fun and exciting. This was the first marathon I have done at Merritt College. In fact, I was thinking of Laney College in Oakland all along. Fortunately, I went to Google Maps for directions and saw my misconception. It turns out Merritt College is a stone's throw from where I did the Oakland workshop. I didn't see any signs on the campus where to go so I drove around until I saw people with drawing material. I was a little later than I hoped, so finding a good place to set up was a challenge. A packed room! I wound up at the area where the 20 minute poses were held and that worked out very well for me. I met Dorise, an internet friend, for the first time in person. That was a treat by itself! She introduced me to a few others. Art is such a wonderful way to relate to others with the same passion.

The set up for this marathon was different than any I had been to and I loved it! There were 4 different large platforms throughout the room. One was for the long 3 hour pose, one for 20 minute poses, one for 5-10 min. poses and one for quick poses. The artists were all over the place around the stands. You couldn't switch once you had a place but the models moved around from platform to platform, so you had the opportunity to draw all of them. The best thing for me was how close I was to the models! I am extremely nearsighted and it was great to be able to see hands, feet, facial features so clearly.

I was going to make a slide show but I decided to show 4 at a time so I can describe how I prepared the paper in advance. Each set has the same treatment. I used my one sheet sketch book and it was perfect!!! Just the right amount of pages for the 20 minute poses. Actually, I was usually done in 15 minutes.

These four pages were collaged with some Asian paperback book pages. I'm not sure what exact language it is but I love the graphic look of it. Then I took a sheet of tissue paper and laid it over the pages and brushed some acrylic red ink through the tissue, then lifted the tissue off. I saved it and let it dry and used it on another 4 pages as a collage (tomorrows post) After the ink was dry, I squeezed out a blob of Cheap Joe's Coastal Fog watercolor and brayered it over the pages randomly. I used it straight so it was more like gouache. I drew the image with ink pens, most of which had ink that bled. The coastal fog color rewet and interacted with the ink when I used a wet brush. Overall, I like the effect.

THE BEST OF THE LOT!

Here is the drawing I liked the best from the drawing marathon. I took another photo of it and that solved the download problem.

I took a colored photo from the newspaper (It covered the entire page of the paper) and used gesso to glue it down on the watercolor paper. Gesso really isn't a good acrylic glue (matt medium is what should be used for good adherence) so part of the sheet didn't stick down. I pulled up the loose part slowly. The paper was pretty soggy. I put it down in another place on the paper . The newspaper ink started to color the gesso and created a pale beige color as I brushed over the paper. While the paper was drying I started putting thick gesso on another sheet of paper. I used a scraper with small teeth on the edge and textured the page. I then took a sheet of wax paper and brayered over the wet gesso. I then transferred what was on the wax paper to the first sheet with the newspaper on it. I hope I can create another sheet that will have this look. Sometimes lightening only strikes once.

There is going to be another Drawing Marathon at Merritt College in Oakland on Sunday, December 7th. I understand this one is even more exciting with lots of models posing simultaneously. I had better get busy preparing my papers!

DRAWING MARATHON RESULTS!

Today was a very productive day. I spent from 10 to 4:30 doing two sessions of quick life drawing studies. They break for half an hour for lunch. Not a lot of people showed up today so there was plenty of room to spread out. I wasn't too concerned with the accuracy of my drawings. I wanted to try some different combinations of materials to see how they would work. For some reason, my computer refuses to load my favorite drawing of the day. I am tired of trying to figure it out, so maybe tomorrow I will have better luck.

In the meantime, here are 3 of the half sheets that I worked on today. One has red hand painted tissue collaged onto the paper and then drawn with white ink and India Ink brushed around the figure. Interesting effect. Another is white acrylic ink applied with the oiler boiler from Tap Plastic (a slightly larger needle). I like it on the black background. When you use India Ink or Acrylic ink in these bottles with the needle in the top, have a separate bottle with clear water in it. Take the needle cap off of the Ink bottle and place it on the clear water bottle and squeeze. Running clear water through the needle this way keeps it from clogging and getting ruined. I did this after each drawing. It's kind of a pain, but worth it.

The third drawing is on paper where I gessoed it first and imbedded used fabric softener sheets plus some bubble wrap impressions on the gesso. I rubbed charcoal over the whole page and then drew with india ink. I like the effect of the last one the best where I used more ink around the figure and only lines inside the figure. I will definitely do this set up again.

DRAWING MARATHON TODAY!

Today I was able to go the the quarterly drawing marathon in Palo Alto and stayed for both sessions. It took a little trial and error but I finally figured out a combination of inks and pens, brush strokes and marks that gave me results I liked. I am posting my two favorite drawings from today and the rest that I liked are in the slide show. I was using India Ink with a brush, walnut ink with a brush and the Elegant Writer black pen and then a permanent fine point uniball pen. I took the phone book, my new pad of YUPO and a Watercolor travel book that I wasn't too fond of the paper quality. It was perfect for the materials I worked with today. The morning session had my two favorite models. In the afternoon, I switched to the long pose but didn't have an interesting vantage point so I started drawing the other artists around the model a la Charles Reid. That was fun. I was so happy life didn't interfere with art today.

LATEST DRAWING MARATHON RESULTS

Today was another drawing marathon. I had to miss the morning session but made it to the afternoon one. Too bad! The models for the morning were two of my favorites. In all the years I have done life drawing, I don't think I fully appreciated a good model until this afternoon. It's too bad it takes a negative experience to contrast with a good or great one to wake me up to the extraordinary talent it takes to be a good model. I didn't realize what creativity it takes to invent lots of interesting and varied poses not to mention strength and focus. None of that was in evidence this afternoon. The model yawned through the entire afternoon and her lack of energy infected the room. The gentleman was much more accomplished but tended to just do variations on the same pose. Anyway, it was good to be drawing from life. It's a very different experience than working from photo references and I might try going to the Tuesday night weekly session more often.

I kept switching materials for drawing today, trying to get excited about what I was doing. I tried a new combination on Tyvek which I think has some possibilities. I worked some nupastels into the wet wash and they worked very well. Above are the best of today's session.

MORE WISDOM:

7. Study. A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.



8. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.



9. Begin anywhere. John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

MORE TRAVEL SKETCHES

A last minute decision found me back on a plane to meet up with my siblings in Denver. We haven't all been together for a long time. I will be turning around and going back to Denver next Tuesday to teach a workshop in Littleton next Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I printed out a number of photos of George James which I took in the workshop so I would have something to work on during the trip. I choose to draw with a pen so I cannot erase. Each drawing is an attempt to correct the errors I noticed in the last drawing. I like to draw over and over rather than erase and erase. This way you have to redraw everything and consider every line in relation to the whole. You can see how each drawing gets more a more accurate likeness.

While I was in Denver, we went to the bookstore so I could get an Artist Magazine for my sisters and brother. While I was there I discovered another drawing book by Robert Kaupelis called "Learning to Draw..A creative approach". It has some wonderful drawing exercises plus examples of master drawings and student drawings. If you are struggling with drawing or want to do something more interesting than these "atelier" type of images, you will fall in love with this book. I can't wait to try some of the ideas.

Tomorrow is the last day of the month. I will post the paintings people sent me recently and reveal the next challenge.

DRAWINGS FROM TODAY'S MARATHON

I attended both the morning and afternoon sessions of the Model's Guild Drawing Marathon. I saw Sunny there. She, too, has been practicing with the Pose Maniac website and we both were amazed how much quicker we were able to draw today! All of the drawings on the phone book are one or two minute poses. After doing 30 second drawings on the computer, two minutes seemed so generous a time frame! When they went to 5 minutes and 10 minutes, I switched to different paper. I brought 4 half sheets of tyvek to experiment with so I did two in the morning and two in the afternoon. On the colored pieces, I used acrylic inks. I thought I had packed fluid acrylics but discovered they were left in my office after it was too late to do anything about it. I also forgot to pack a water container!! I really am not myself today. Fortunately, I found a plastic water container there, so no problem. For the brown tone, I used walnut ink. The blue scribbles are the wide copic marker and the dark line is a fine copic marker in black. I used my sharpened match in the pen holder to draw with ink and paint.

I made an interesting discovery. The acrylic color went all the way through the tyvek paper and made a very exciting textural pattern. Watercolor doesn't go through the paper so I was surprised but really liked the effect. I am going to try putting a second sheet of paper behind the first next time I paint with this material and then do a painting with what is transfered. I have posted the front, back and detail of one of these paintings. This was a 10 min. pose. The acrylic dries much faster than the watercolor, which makes it a viable choice for this fast kind of work. There is no time to let it dry!

I have also posted the only 20 minute pose we had all day! I had time to paint in some background as well. The acrylic made some very interesting textural effects here as well. I added some India ink for the black accents.

Tomorrow it's back to #'s 2 and 4 of the January Painting Challenge!