I have posted before that I go to a life drawing group every Saturday (or as many Saturdays that are possible with my big family around). Sometimes my favorite work is the result of the
five-minute warm-up poses when we get started with a session. We then set up our model for a two and a half hour pose (they get breaks every 20 minutes, don't worry). I challenge myself to paint the long pose using acrylics.
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I like the shadow falling across this
model's thigh and body.
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I toss out 75 percent of my work from these sessions but keep the few where I can see a bit or piece that I like. (I'm running out of space to store them in my studio so probably more tossing will happen.)
Often the bit of the painting I am interested with is not the figure work but the painterly effort to surround the figure, give it a ground, an edge to present against.
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| This figure study was from last Saturday, I was happy with my handling of the figure but really loved how the background looked behind the flesh tones. In fact I think that background is the best part. She was posed against a gold toned cloth, I added the shadows with some cobalt blue. |
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| This model is also a belly dancer! She posed with hand-dyed silks that she had made herself. The colors were irresistible. |
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| I liked how just a bit of her hip shows against the brilliant fabric. |
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| And her knee peeking forward wrapped in swaths of color. |
