Lots of life

Those dark November days, when the last leaves splat to the ground - you have to look for warmth and life inside.  [Leaves in Vancouver do not "flutter" or "tumble".  They get soaked on the tree until their stems give up, then they splat.  On a quiet day, you can hear them splatting.]  Luckily I'm part of two life drawing groups, with great models and warm, lively company.

This one was a forty minute drawing during a longer pose, done in compressed charcoal and dry pastel on mylar.  It's a luxury to have time to get the basics down, then be able to think about what to emphasize.  I did a fair bit of exaggeration, trying for a strong, monumental look.  My personal jury is still out on whether it worked or not.  

Series of two-minute gestures drawn done together with some sense of space always seem to tell a story.  I'm not entirely sure what the story is, but this one seems like an epic.

This longer pose looked familiar somehow, but I couldn't place it until I saw my drawing the next day and immediately thought "Christina's World".  Andrew Wyeth's iconic painting has a totally different model, setting, media and artistic quality(!), but the same expressive posture.

Our new model got dire warnings from the group when she started this similar 20-minute pose: "Your arm will fall off!  You won't survive!"  No problem - models are tough.  This drawing was about the rhythm of that upper leg and hip, and the twist in the back.  And figuring out how to draw blonde hair with black charcoal!

And finally, some California dreamin' on such a winter's day.