The guest artist series at Studio b is such a treat. This week we were privileged to have Rae Broyles as our guest artist for the figure drawing session. Rae is a likable, enthusiastic, and engaged professional artist and instructor. In between instruction and critiquing, she drew along with us. Our new model was irresistible.
Rae Broyles will be presenting a workshop on encaustic painting at Studio b. on July 10, 2010. She showed us some of her work, and talked to us about the process of painting with hot colored wax, scraping, scratching, and re-painting.
Rae started our figure drawing session with warm-up gesture drawings using wax crayons, with the model changing poses every 30 seconds. Then we did a few 5-minute poses, and then some 15-minute poses. I think the final pose was 30 minutes, with a break midway through. We started each drawing with light-value colors, and then refined it with darker value colors. I drew with the wax crayons up until the end, and then I switched to white nupastel on black charcoal paper.
We drew in the pool courtyard at Studio b., with the pool behind the model, the water features providing the background sound. Colleen Duffley, the owner of Studio b., offered wine or beer or water to the artists, and spent a little time with each one, talking while they worked, or just complimenting and encouraging. Then she tried out some sparkling lights in the pool, getting ready for the studio’s part in the annual Digital Graffiti event which will be throughout the village of Alys Beach this-coming Saturday night.
The whole setting was very intimate, perfect for what we were doing. There is nothing like being absolutely comfortable during the creative process.