This model's legs looked too long to me while I was doing this drawing. I measured them several times while drawing, and each measurement suggested that they weren't too long. They still look long, but in this case I'm going with the measurements.
The best advice to artists regarding measurement is to trust your eye in the end. Draw what looks right. The problem is that your eye cannot always make up its own mind as to what looks right and what doesn't.
Riverwalk, Main Street Bridge pastel 22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")
I don't particularly like this painting/drawing. I'm not quite sure what it is; perhaps it's too delicate, or too fussy, and for some reason the whiteness of the snow on the river bothers me - it seems too white and too unreal. It's almost as if Thomas Kinkade, the self-styled painter of light, somehow got inside my head and started to direct the painting.
This is the opposite view of the pose in the drawing posted Monday, February 11th, entitled Model with Unfinished Heater. This drawing was done much faster than that one. I would think that it took about twenty-five minutes.
I wasn't happy with this drawing, mainly because of the vagueness of the face. The model kept looking up to check the time remaining in the pose, never allowing me time enough to get what I could see of the face outlined. However, it doesn't matter a great deal, since the face is largely obscured by the hair.
The colour in this pastel is somewhat arbitrary. Pinks, reds, and browns dominate the drawing. The model was resting on a reddish brown sheet and on her pink robe. To add to the reds, the model was heated by a parabolic heater just to the viewer's side of the drawing, which helped to reddened her otherwise white skin.
The model is someone, most, if not all of Winnipeg artists enjoy drawing. She has quite a distinctive look with her prominent nose and her bright red lipstick. She also enjoys modelling, and her enjoyment helps put the artists at ease, which usually makes for better drawings.
Road, The Forks pastel and charcoal 22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")
This was a grey day at The Forks in downtown Winnipeg, on a small spit of land between the Assiniboine and Red Rivers.
The darkness of the trees and greyness of the day have been exaggerated. This was unintentional. It just seemed to happen.
The drawing was done on a dark grey paper. Some, but not all of the darks were drawn first, then the sky and snow, followed by the remaining darks and the foreground grass and weeds. It all went fairly quickly.
Model with a Ball ink 21.3 x 14.5 cm (8.4" x 5.7") Model with a Stick ink 21.3 x 7.9 cm (8.4" x 3.1")
These were probably one minute poses, or, possibly thirty second poses. These quick poses are used at the beginning of a drawing session to loosen up the artists and get them concentrating on drawing the overall pose or form before getting lost in detail. They are frequently an artist's best work over a drawing session. They are seldom or never overworked or pretentious. At their best they give you the figuartive artist's most concentrated form of expression.
I been searching for videos about artists in which the artist is actually involved. Here's another: an extract from the terribly serious 1956 French film Le Mystère Picasso, produced and directed by H. G. Clouzot. I like Picasso's self-assurance. He seems more relaxed than the film crew.
Sleeping Model pastel and charcoal 22.9 cm x 39.4 cm (9" x 15.5")
This drawing was done in about forty minutes. It would have been difficult to get any further than what you see with that amount of time.
The arm above the model's head looks a little suspicious, and the model's lower leg looks crooked or broken. Other than those two areas, the drawing is acceptable, if a little dull.
Riverwalk pasteland charcoal 22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")
This is Winnipeg's riverwalk at the junction of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. In the drawing the Assiniboine is on the right, and the Red straight ahead. The riverwalk runs along the Assiniboine and then curves around to follow the Red River. That's St. Boniface to the east across the river.
The riverwalk is enjoyed by many people. Unfortunately, in the spring and summer it is underwater two or three times because of flooding. But such is the nature of a riverwalk.
Green and Yellow ink, charcoal, and pastel 30.5 x 21.6 cm (12" x 8.5")
Accuracy isn't everything in a drawing. Even though the anatomy is a little suspect, this drawing seems to work thanks to the colour and the overall aggressive approach.
One of the artist that I regularly draw with is Alison Davis, an animator. This video is one of her early animations. It was done for the Montreal band, Torngat (probably named after the Torngat Mountainsin eastern Quebec). I'm not sure that I completely understand the video, but I appreciate the drawing - this video was all hand drawn - and I rather like the music. (The heroine in the video looks suspiciously like Alison.)
Model with Unfinished Heater charcoal and pastel 30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")
My wife describes this drawing as a 'guy' drawing. She might be right. The unfinished heater is the pinkish grey circle by the model's head. This parabolic heater has appeared in many of my drawings. The pinkish grey is the colour of the paper showing through. The vague reddish form at the bottom of the drawing was meant to be the model's robe, but it seems to look more like a bouquet of flowers. So much the better.
Pole charcoal and pastel 30.5 x 22.9 cm (12" x 9")
I was trying to experiment with colour in this quick drawing, done during a drawing session on Monday night. The plan was to shade the figure in greens before adding colour. I seriously misjudged the time that would take. I had just begun the shading when the timer went, indicating that the pose was over.
Under the Bridge pastel and charcoal 22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12") There is a riverwalk in downtown Winnipeg which passes under several bridges. This drawing looks east from underneath the Donald St. Bridge.
Model with Pole ink and pastel 30.5 x 21.6 cm (12" x 8.5")
This is the same model as in yesterday's drawing. In this pose he is using one of the poles barely visible in yesterday's drawing.
The drawing took about fifteen minutes. A little more time would have been nice, although there's something attractive in the unfinished look of the drawing.
I always find something of interest in photographs or videos of artists in their studios, even when, as in this video, they're talking about not much. Here, David Hockney talks with critic Robert Hughes.
Sculpture of a Boy graphite and conté 13.7 x 20.8 cm (5.4" x 8.2")
This academic looking drawing was done about five years ago in the Louvre. I don't think that I've posted this drawing before, although it's possible.
I cannot remember the sculptor's name, nor the name of the piece. It seems to me that it was smaller than life size.
The actual image is a little more delicate than the crude scan. The drawing was scanned in its' frame, glass and all. I was rather surprised to get anything useable.
Legs and Heater
