Riverbank, Lyndale Drive No.1 oil 16.5 x 19.8 cm (6.5" x 7.75")
The snow is slowly disappearing in Winnipeg. We've yet to have any really warm days.
The scan of the painting isn't entirely accurate. The scanner I'm using doesn't seem to pick up red very well. There are a number of dark red weeds in the original painting which the scanner didn't catch at all.
Redhead Reclining pastel 30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")
Despite the model's relaxed look, she was far from comfortable. It was a cold evening in the studio, which required frequent breaks for the model to warm up and stretch.
Night Lights, North Dakota oil 16.5 x 19.8 cm (6.5" x 7.75")■
This is an invention based on a something I remember from one night last fall. I was driving back to Winnipeg from Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was a foggy night. Things were blurred and there were lights in the distance. This painting reminds me of that night, and similar nights.
Green Woman charcoal and pastel 30.5 x 21.6 cm (12" x 8.5")
I haven't much to say about this drawing. It was done last night in about forty minutes. As you can see, parts of the head were rubbed out and then redrawn.
Our stoic model was a little puzzled by the whole affair, having her portrait drawn, that is. She survived.
Masked Model ink, charcoal, and pastel 45.7 x 30.5 cm (18" x 12")
I struggled with this drawing. I made several false starts using charcoal, and then switched to pen and ink to do the basic drawing. Pen and ink can force you to concentrate more on what you are doing, since you know that mistakes are not erasable. However, ink does not necessarily go well with charcoal and pastel, and in this case, when the drawing was sprayed with fixative, the ink lines became more dominant, adding an unintended element to the drawing. This is particularly evident in the area around the eyes, which after spraying took on its current mask-like appearance.
I'm tempted to continue working on this drawing. It would change with more work, but it would not likely improve.
Toboggan Run, Westview Park oil 16.5 x 19.8 cm (6.5" x 7.75")
Last Friday I posted a gouache version of the same scene. This oil was painted before the gouache. The two paintings are very similar. I don't know which I prefer.
The gouache version has been reposted immediately below.
Red and Green Face charcoal and pastel 25.9 x 45.7 cm (10.2" x 18")
I'm ambivalent about this drawing. The body seems too big for the head. I redrew the body several times, and settled for what you see. You be the judge.
M. graphite, ink, and pastel 45.7 x 30.5 cm (18" x 12")
M. is a great model. No one stays as still.
I seem to have forgotten the bellybutton in this drawing. By the way, would the absence of a bellybutton be an improvement or not? And why do some people have bellybuttons, and other people have navels? Finally, why do some people write bellybutton as one word, while others write it as two, belly button?
For this drawing the model was playing dead. Shot while wearing only a fur boa, brown sleeves, and some black lace, she fell back on her fur coat, where she lay until the drawing session was over and she decided to come back to life.
There's the beginning of a novel here, a bad novel. But at least we've got a cover painting.
Uncomfortable Pose pastel 45.7 x 22.9 cm (18" x 12")
The model felt that this pose wasn't too bad, while to me it looked uncomfortable. In any case she persevered and held the pose throughout the evening.
It was very cold in the studio last Thursday when this drawing was done. Another artist and myself were wearing toques and a couple of sweaters each. We kept asking the model if she was cold, and she kept telling us that she was fine. She did have a parabolic heater at her feet, but I couldn't see how she could not be cold. The artists offered to do the session with her clothed. She declined. In the end, the heat, like the pose, was the model's decision. Thank God for models.
Not a great drawing, but not every drawing is going to be great.
The model for this drawing is a actor and playwright. He has productions coming up in Toronto and Winnipeg. I'll post the dates and venues of the shows when they're finalized.
White Legs ink and pastel 30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")
This drawing was done with inexpensive pastels, so that it has less colour density and vibrancy than my other recent drawings, which have been done with better quality pastels. Colour, however, isn't everything.
The drawing was sprayed with a fixative. This brought out the underlying ink drawing, and has given the drawing a slightly harder edge than it had before it was sprayed.
The model has an aversion to sunlight, hence her pale skin.
This is a short video on the work of American photographer, Sally Mann, from The Genius of Photography - We Are Family, a six part series from Ovation TV.
She has a couple of interesting things to say regarding her family and her photography. (The resolution of the video isn't great.)
This pose left the model with a stiff neck, hence the title.
Any resemblance between this drawing and David's, The Death of Marat, is purely coincidental (although it's possible that the model, because of the pain he was experiencing, may have felt like he was re-enacting the scene).
Wistful Frida ink and watercolour 30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")
Winnipeg's anonymous Frida Kahlo artist is back at work. (Previous paintings of Frida can be seen in the archives for November 2007.)
With this painting I love the sense one has, of an artist being completely involved the work, without any concerns over what anyone might think. It allows one to enjoy the painting in a similar way.
(By the way, that's Frida's pet dog, Diego, peaking up from the corner of the page.)
Riverbank, Lyndale Drive No.1
Night Lights, North Dakota
Toboggan Run, Westview Park
Red and Green Face
Untitled No.5
Boa
Toboggan Run 
White Legs
Stiff Neck
