Year: 2011

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Figure Drawing by the Pool, Another Studio b. Experience

You would think that when you go to the same activity, week in and week out, that it would become predictable, and perhaps even boring.

Not so with figure drawing, especially at Studio b. We had the same exceptional model for the 2nd week, who clearly was invested in our work, being aware of how her poses might come across, and considering the mood they might evoke.  Studio b. owner  Colleen Duffley said the model was even practicing a few poses before we got there, and during breaks, she asked the artists what sort of pose they would like next.  Of course for me, every pose is a challenge, so I am just happy to be there and almost any pose is good!  Generally, if a pose is not well-lit or is uninteresting from one vantage point, there is enough room to move to another location where I can see better or the composition is better.

For our final pose of the evening, the model got into the water of the pool.  Lit by the underwater lights, the portion of her figure beneath the water was a chalky blue-green, and extremely distorted.  The part of the figure above the water was almost a silhouette, it was so dark.  This is the first time I have drawn a figure in water, so I really had to study it.  The water’s distortion greatly shortened and widened the part of the figure closest to the surface of the water from my vantage.  Each artist had a different distortion. What struck me the most were the amazing colors, so although I rarely draw in color, this pose begged for it.

Heather Clements produced an amazing pencil drawing from the 50 minute pose — hopefully she will include it in her blog.  Also it can be seen on Studio b.’s facebook page.

Below are two other poses from this model this week, which I drew with graphite and Nupastel on Stonehenge paper, one paper gray and the other faun.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Wow, The Collective Energy, Figure Drawing at Studio b!

The energy was high at Studio b. this Wednesday at the regular weekly figure drawing session.  There were 5 of us, and we again drew in the courtyard by the pool.  The model was new to Studio b., but obviously experienced, holding difficult poses.  I was thrilled to be working beside the other accomplished artists in this setting.  Everyone was on fire!

Inside the Studio, Colleen, Melanie, and Garrett worked on a project.  The whole place was charged.

I had some fun drawing an unusual pose from a strange angle, to create the drawing at right.  You have to look at it a little longer, to figure out what I was seeing.  The model was leaning her head on one hand with that elbow propped on her knee, and her hair twisted across over to one side.  My view showed the top of her shoulders and a little of her back twisted towards me, even though she was seated.  Below it I have posted Steve Wagner’s drawing, to give you an idea of what it looked like from a different perspective.  From my vantage point, the shapes were so unusual that they became very abstracted to me, and I really had to just draw what I could see, without calling it a shoulder or a back.  It seemed like if I named a shape, I would draw it wrong and have to do it over.

We had several great poses from this model, and I especially appreciated the poses where her head was thrown back, creating amazing shadows in the shapes exposed within her neck.  My final drawing was a portrait.  I have also included Carol Joseph’s drawing of the same pose that I used for the portrait, with apologies that both Steve’s and Carol’s drawings are so dark in my photos — I should have used a flash, but they are sufficient for you to get the idea.  Steve draws on brown paper, but Carol was actually drawing on white paper.

 

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Plein Air Figure Drawing

At our  Figure Drawing session at Studio b., Thursday this week, we drew in the open air, in the courtyard by the pool.  Studio b. is a wonderful venue for events of all sorts, including many a reception for any number of creative pursuits.  The activity often spills over into the courtyard where the pool and the pool fountain form a serene backdrop to whatever is going on.  A board on two ropes hangs as a swing  in front of the pool, a little catawampus, but serviceable.  The model posed near the old washtubs for our warm-up drawing, and then she posed leaning against one of the arbor pillars, and sitting on the swing, and then lying on a bench.  Four artists enjoyed the evening of shared community and artistic passion, while Colleen Duffley, owner of Studio b., and her assistant worked in the adjoining room.  I drew the following sketches there this week.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Simplifying in Figure Drawing

Soft pastel on manilla

We drew a female model at Studio b. this week at the regular weekly figure drawing session.  She’s been there before.  She is challenging to draw well because she is so fit and toned.

Depending on the pose, sometimes it seems like the model has 6 or 7 legs and arms and at least 40 fingers.  Drawn wrong, they become grotesque victims of some horrible farming accident.  But drawn correctly, they of course help to convey the totality of the expression of the pose.

Some artists never draw the hands or feet, thereby avoiding the issue altogether.

I know how to draw fingers and toes, but I don’t know how to draw them quickly.  So I couldn’t believe my good fortune when the model presented me with a pose that from my vantage point, barely showed just two fingers underneath her hair, and no toes, or even feet, for that matter.  What luxury, to spend the entire half hour on the stretch of the figure!  I have posted it below at right.  Click here for very large view.

Graphite and nupastel on Stonehenge

Our warm-up drawings were 1-minute and 5-minute poses.  For all the craftsmanship in a finished drawing, the hurried execution of a warm-up gesture can have more appeal because it captures the artist’s immediate impression without a lot of correction.  Simplification is  requisite — there is no time for details.  Above left is one of my warm-up gestures from this session.

The problem with warm-up gestures is that they are usually drawn on inexpensive paper that will fade or yellow or even fall apart over time, so they are not collectible unless you spend a little money on archival framing, with ultraviolet resistant glass.  I have redrawn gesture drawings on better quality paper, but it is difficult to duplicate because the rushed immediacy is impossible to recreate.  Since we often draw 15 or 20 warm-up drawings before settling into longer poses, the use of cheap paper is a matter of economics.  The manilla paper and the gray bogus paper I use for gesture drawings are less than 15¢ a sheet, while  Canson Edition paper is $2.19 a sheet, and Canson Rives is closer to $4.07 a sheet.  Even Stonehenge is $1.65 a sheet, so you can see that it could quickly take the artist to the poorhouse to use quality paper for warm-up drawings.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Figure Drawing with Graphite-Wash

This past Wednesday during the figure drawing session at Studio b.,  I used conte and nupastel for my warm-up gestures, and graphite, CarbOthello pastels, watercolor pencils, and a graphite wash for my drawings.  I suppose if I stuck to one medium, I would develop more expertise in handling it, but I love making different kinds of marks using different media.

If I am purposefully drawing, then I will slow down and try to be a better craftsman, being more meticulous with whatever medium I have chosen, perhaps even making a few practice drawings of the subject or pose.  But figure drawing almost always demands a hurried pace.

June is the busiest month of the year for my pool service business, so this week I was just using the figure drawing session as a meditative exercise resulting in wonderful stress release.  For 2½ hours, I had no emergencies to respond to, no anxious customers, no mechanical failures to deal with.  Even as difficult as figure drawing is, the process brings on an exhilaration, a euphoria, a feeling of power and connectedness.  I am sure the challenge of the difficulty helps make it  so satisfying, the requirement of absolute concentration and focus.  But mostly it is the sheer joy of expression that I love, the creation of form and feeling through marks on a paper.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Figure Drawing: Pregnant Again

Studio b. presented us with the challenge of a pregnant model again this week.  She is due to deliver in 6½ weeks.

I usually bring a drawing board full of 18 x 24 papers and my big artbox with all my media, but this week all I had was a small sketchbook plus a few scraps of good drawing paper to draw on, and a small box of water-soluble pens and pencils.   I have included a few of my drawings here.

The first sketches are 1-minute warm-ups, followed by a few 5- and 10-minute drawings, and then some that were 25-minutes.  Out of all of them, I think the first one is my favorite, just a gesture of a few lines to show the essence of the pose and her composure.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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A Photo-Shoot in Chattanooga

Hollyhocks, Reliance, TN

Since my favorite subjects for photography are outdoor nature scenes and landscapes, I was thrilled to be asked to shoot photos and video of stand-up paddlers in Chattanooga, TN, where every shot is scenic.  I was shooting for Leslie Kolovich, host of the Stand Up Paddle Radio Show, for advance publicity for  Stand-Up Paddling events newly added to the  Chattanooga River Rocks Festival schedule this year in October.

My approach to nature photography is to watch where the light is doing something extraordinary and then to capture that.  Rarely do I do much with post processing, other than perhaps crop a little here or there to help the composition.

The photo at left was taken at the Webb Brothers country store at Reliance, Tennessee, on the bank of the Hiwassee River where the stand-up paddlers were navigating some whitewater.  The sun was shining from above and behind the hollyhocks, rendering the petals semi-transparent, and offering rim lighting on the fuzz on the stem and buds.  I didn’t enhance anything digitally, but I did trim the right side just a little, to make the composition more interesting.  Otherwise, no need to improve on Mother Nature!

Leslie interviewed me after the show.  The following link opens the podcast, and my segment is well into the second half of the podcast:

http://www.30aradioshows.org/stand-up-paddle-boarding/chattanooga-tennessee-river-rocks-festival-on-the-road-with-leslie-kolovich/

The story and some of the other photos are posted in The Stand Up Paddle Radio Show website, at http://www.supradioshow.com/2011/06/chattanooga/

The “On the Road With Leslie” is published with my photos in the print magazine, The Standup Journal.  Here’s a sample (link).

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Professional Models in Figure Drawing

Modeling for figure drawing is a hard job.  Try sitting still in a posed body position for only 5 minutes, and then try it for 25 minutes, and you will see what I mean.  Even seemingly-relaxed poses, even reclining poses, can become torturous.  Our model at Studio b. this week is a an experienced professional.  His poses are rock solid, with no sinking, from beginning to end, from head to foot.  Fresh out of a boot for a repaired Achilles tendon, our model first performed 5 1-minute poses and then we graduated to longer poses and the final drawing was about 45 minutes.

The model challenged us later in the session, by posing with a picture frame as a prop.  Props hugely increase the challenge of figure drawing.  I drew the figure first, and then placed the picture frame.  Ideally, I would have drawn both at the same time, as a whole unit, because there were interesting negative shapes created by the frame.  But I was being cautious, having drawn this same model with this same frame but in a different pose, sometime last year, and having had trouble with the proportions at that time.  My drawing with the frame is more correct this time.

Our instructor, Heather Clements, has often suggested to me that I vary the direction of my pencil strokes to help convey the rounded form of the figure.  I rarely remember to use that technique.  I usually just draw the value patterns of light and shadow to express form, rather than changing  the direction of my pencil strokes.  But on the final drawing of the night, the model stood with one knee advancing towards me.  I varied the direction of my pencil strokes to show the rounded form of that thigh and knee, and I think it was successful.  As a result,the sense of mass in his left thigh is much stronger than for example, his upper right arm, which I drew as one mass, with pencil strokes all going the same direction.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Two Steps Forward in Figure Drawing

Click to see much larger image.

I am a better artist.  I drew more like I want to draw, at the weekly figure drawing session at Studio b. last night.  It’s nice to have a night when drawing comes easily.  Well, it’s still work, I have to remember to breathe.  One of the other artists commented that she could hear me taking big breaths — I hope I am not too distracting to the others!

I am powerful.  I attended I Can Do It – Toronto 2011, last weekend.  The conference featured a number of authors published by HayHouse, including Louise Hay herself, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, and many others.  As is typical for me when I am going away even if for just a few days, I felt compelled to complete all the tasks I had been putting off for months.  So the morning I flew to Toronto, I had gotten only a couple of hours of sleep the night before, which probably made me particularly susceptible to suggestion.  That, in combination with the charismatic, perhaps even hypnotic speakers, left me supremely empowered upon my return.  I am drawing better, and I am guessing the conference is a factor.

We had uninstructed open studio at Studio b. this week, warming up with a number of 1-minute and 2-minute poses, and then some that were a little longer.  We finished with two 25-minute poses and then our last pose was 15 minutes.  My drawing of the last pose is at lower left.  Click on it to see much larger detail.

My drawings were successful not necessarily because of anatomical correctness or portraiture, but because they are believable, effectively communicating what I feel was the essence of the model in her pose at the time that I was drawing her.  In particular, the pose seated on a folding chair caught the complete relaxation of the figure, especially the slight paunch of relaxed stomach muscles.

In the drawing of the clothed model, the portraiture is not a likeness, but I like the textures of pencil strokes and I also like the play of the darks and lights leading the eye through the picture.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Carving the Void: Negative Shapes

The model who posed for our figure drawing session at Studio b. last week returned this week.  For the past four months, we’ve had a different model nearly every session.  That has added to the challenge in that every week we have to become familiar with a different body type or different proportions.  Having the same model two weeks in a row was a luxury.

Our instructor, Heather Clements, provided a focus for us, suggesting that we run the drawing off the page, effectively cropping it in order to create negative shapes out of the negative space.  Often in the rush of trying to get the figure drawn as quickly as possible before the timed pose ends, the background, if treated at all, is merely an afterthought.  By drawing the figure so that parts of it intersect with the edge of the page, it no longer floats on the page, but instead becomes anchored.  The negative space, the space surrounding the figure, is then broken up so that it becomes negative shapes instead of just open space.  Negative shapes help the piece to read as a composition.  Art imitating life, carving the larger voids into smaller pieces makes it more manageable.

A good mat and frame can help with cropping, but it is better for the artist to have made those decisions instead of leaving it up to the framer.

The sketches included here are from this week’s session.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot