Week 2 Spring 2010

Today the week ended with me starting this figure drawing in pastel in my figure drawing class with Al Gury. It's in pastel on Rives BFK, and I'll be working on this for 3 weeks. Today I just went for the mass block-in.

Spring Sememster Week 2

Today in life painting I did a little oil on paper study for a larger painting that I'll start tomorrow. This was pretty small, 5 x7 so I could knock it out in one session.

Subterano Sue

This is the subterranean plein air that I did this afternoon with the women of the DPC in the same area that I painted in earlier in the week. It's interesting to keep exploring this area every week and seeing what strikes my eye. it was a lot warmer this week, though you still get cold after a while no matter what standing there. My friend Sue was sitting there drawing away and so I decided to do a painting that featured a human in it this time as a change. The sun did peak out but I decided to not try and chase it this week as I would just not have had enough time. 12 x 16 in oil on a re-primed canvas.

WEEK 1 Spring 2010

Today, or I should say yesterday ended my first week of the Spring semester at school. It was a pretty light week work wise. In my Escroche class we built our skeleton or supports to start sculpting next week. I did only one drawing in school and that was yesterday in my Life Drawing class with Sidney Goodman. This was the first life drawing I've done in a long time, I have been mostly either been doing landscapes or painting figures. This was done pretty quick, about 90 minutes or so. I didn't know what we would be doing the first day so I just took a pad and some charcoal paper. I always feel a bit rusty in the am, but next week I'll take in a big sheet of Rives BFK and bust out the pastels as we have this pose for 2 more weeks. It felt good to be back in school and with the old gang again, we hand out all the time anyway but the nice thing about school is you get that weekly progress. if things go well by mid-week next week I should have some pretty exciting news in regards to my painting.

Robin Hood

I know it seems like I've been doing nothing but painting lately, and I have been doing a lot, but I also have other irons in the fire and one of them is a a cover painting. Here is the rough for the cover of a book on the young Robin Hood that I have been commissioned to do. My friend Will Sentman posed for me, Will had a lot of the costume already, including a bow, though his bow was a modern compound bow. Anyway I snapped a bunch of pictures and the did this drawing in pencil on tracing paper. Now that it's approved I'll move to the next stage which will be to transfer it to the illustration board and finish it in oil. As I move along I'll post the stages of the piece.

Subterano-Week 1 Spring

Though today is the MLK holiday I meet up with a few of my Dirty Palette Club buddies and hit the grimy tunnels under city hall in Philly to do some more subterano plein air paintings. It was about 30+ degrees warmer this time than the last time we painted--thank god. Last time I nearly froze my feet off by the end of our paint-out.

We set up just down the tunnel from our last spot and went to work quickly as the sun changes fast time of year and fades quickly. Once i choose my spot I did a fast drawing to block in and get the shapes good and then took a few minutes to set up my paints.
I had forgotten my palette so I borrowed a canvas from my buddy Joel and set out my paints and used that as my palette. I know experience that the palette I set will be pretty non-chromatic, lost of cool to warm grays going into cool blues. This is very much the Philly palette and sometimes I add a cool red or yellow as well. I know many people are funny about their paints, very choosey, but I am not that choosey yet and I basically buy sales when I can to keep costs down. I do love Williamsburg paints, but I also love Dick Blick's store brand for many colors as well.
Here I am painting away...
Here is my rig with my painting underway. i took a couple breaks to walk into the station to hit the restroom and warm my feet and that gave me a chance to take a break and come back with a fresh eye.
Here is the final pick 9 x 12 on a re-primed canvas over an old painting I sanded off. School starts full bore this week and I'm looking forward to it.

Tunnel Love

Today my buddy Joel and I hit the bitter cold streets of Philly to do a little subterranean painting. We decided to do a little painting in the commuter tunnels that run underneath the city near City Hall which connect the various subway and trolley lines. They also house all kinds of homeless people, some cool and some very very weird and crazy. We lasted about 3 hours before the cold just was too much to bear. My feet were burning they were so cold and the paint was just turning to sludge--unmovable despite my trying to keep it loose with medium and terps. the subject wasthis weird spire/wheel looking spire that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Boy I was working fast but the cold just beats at you so sometimes I'd have to stop and stomp around a bit and try and get my hands and feet warm again...

The painting was a small one on purpose because I knew I might not last that long with the cold. It's 8 x 10

As always when we are out painting in a public spot we get the usual comments and ogles from on-lookers and passers by. In fact today we also answered a lot of transportation and gave directions to a lot of lost folks wandering the tunnels. painting outside is a real challenge, despite three layers and two pairs of socks I was so cold at one point I felt like the Tin-man--I could barely move!! The tunnel has a pretty good draft which must have dropped the already bitter cold down a good 10 degrees more.

That's when I gave it up and the light was also going, and tunnels are not the best place to be at night. We packed up lickety-split and celebrated our DPC venture with a hearty iHop dinner of pancakes.

123 Waiting

Here is the latest painting in the commuter series I'm working on. This is of one of the idling trolleys up at the 69th Street depot. I had great shadows that day and wanted to use them as movement in the picture.
Here is the drawing I did right on the canvas before I started the painting. Since I was working from a series of photos I wanted to compensate for the slight distortion of the camera's lens, though sometimes that can be a fun element to play with. Once I feel confident about the planning and drawing of the image I feel really confident about painting straight ahead and taking liberties and having fun. I know FUN is a bad word for many painters.

Still Life Progress

This is a little still life I am currently working on in my living room, 11 x 14 oil.

Happy New Year!

last night I rung in the New year with some of my Dirty Palette buddies here at Casa Manley. Homemade chili was served along with garlic bread, apple pie and lots of stuff to drink, mostly non-alcoholic. It was a paint and laugh fest, one of the best new year's celebrations I've ever had.

I'll be frank, last year was the worst I can remember as an adult and so good ridance 2009 and Hello 2010--let's hope and work to make it a great year--won't be hard to do better than the last one!

So to start it off right--here was a little painting I knocked out after we watched Dick Clark's ball drop.

Happy New Year to all of you!