A Good Week In The Life Of A Recovering Painter

Figures properly positioned on the canvas, painting over the pencil lines with very fluid Burnt Umbra is the next step,

Over a week of trying to build up energy  with regular strength building stretches  and cardio sessions, my painting sessions were limited and slow-going but regular, AND happily, my daily drawing sessions picked up.  It pays to be active.  And active I was in the studio and with my sketchpad.

This is my third exploration of the Venetian start method, but I did something differently. I reached for a Q-tip and began noting the shading around the heads.  I am expecting this extra bit of work to be obliterated when I wash the canvas down with Burnt Umbra and mineral spirits, but I will have familiarized myself with what areas are important in shaping the forms to emphasize their expressions.  It was slow going as usual; there's little difference between a pencil point and a  pointer brush.  Each head took about an hour, but the slow pace allowed me to put some thought into how to handle the background? Throughout this slow painting method, I am always correcting the drawing and weighing the importance of this or that detail.

Off time, I explored a reference photo I was given for a portrait and afterwards turned it down.  I didn't like the composition. I didn't like the look of the dog. And, after doing this get acquainted sketch, I was certain the reference wasn't something I wanted use.  I rejected the project.  The patron wasn't  happy, but when energy and strength are a priority and the project that's already on the easel is challenging, additional  projects must be considered carefully.

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The puppy wasn't happy; the camera flash had destroyed her nap and  the photographer was given the evil eye.

 Rude Awakening,  a get acquainted graphite sketch, 4" x 6".

Then I explored figurative forms dancing--the Jitter Bug and the Swing.  These dances from the forties and fifties had as much to do with figures in fast motion as they did with the clothes the dancers wore.  The fabric lines emphasized both the body forms and the speed at which the figures were moving.  While I spent years of drawing nudes and learning anatomy, I spent little time watching fabrics in motion--and it's the fabric that makes these figures lively on the page--his pants in the first sketch and her skirt in the second.

Jitter Bug, graphite pencil sketch, 4" x 6"

You Ain't got Thing If You Ain't Got That Swing,  graphite pencil sketch 6" x 4"

Then, I was out of ideas.  But, there was my breakfast coffee cup, juice glass and eyeglasses on the table beside me.  Not terribly exciting, but still exercising the eye/hand and loosening up  the arm while drawing from life, instead of a photo.  Important stuff. It was a great week!  I hope you all had the same my friends.