Hamlet Undecided

Hamlet: madness, overwhelming sorrow, seething rage, treachery, revenge, incest, moral corruption, cold-blooded murder, thwarted desire.

During the painting of this portrait I was able to relate to all of these... except definitely not incest and murder... and sorta cross off moral corruption too... maybe not madness either... treachery, not so much... okay, perhaps just a little desire, but not really thwarted.   

Hamlet Undecided
Giclée
32 x 40

Purple and Safffron

Print variations derived from a charcoal sketch of an Argos drawing group model.
Version 3, Amber Above Her, is the version I’ve chosen to output as a Giclée print.

Version 1
Purple and Saffron
44 x 24

Version 2
Purple, Saffron, and Turquoise
44 x 24

Version 3
Hanna with Amber
Giclée
44 x 24

The Necklace

Being able to accessorize effectively is very important, especially in professional modeling. The necklace adds the perfect touch for the overall look here, I think. 

The Necklace

The Necklace, giclee

Ergo...

The drawing group warmup poses are officially two-minutes, but by the time I flip the page of the newsprint pad and decide which charcoal stick or pencil to use, I'm usually down to one and a half minutes or less. Ergo, a lack of detail in the drawings. Ergo, more interesting drawings, usually. 

Another Tim

An ink wash portrait study of Tim at Dunkin’ Donuts (previous post). It's a better likeness than the sketch in the previous post, but that's not necessarily saying a whole lot.  

Ink wash

Photoshop filter effect

The Tim Different

Santa Fe is known as the City Different, partly because of people like Tim. 

For his 54th birthday celebration, Tim, an avid reader and brilliant writer (and friend), sat in Dunkin’ Donuts from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. yesterday, reading books. Anyone was welcome to stop by with a book of their own and spend up to 15 minutes reading a favorite passage to him.

You'll have to agree that you can't pass up a Santa Fe event like that, so I drove in a snow storm to Dunkin’ Donuts with a children's book of poems by Dave Crawley named Reading, Rhyming, and ’Rithmetic. I chose the poem One Hundred Words to read to him. Tim's used to some really weighty reading, writing, and stuff, so I figured a children's poem would be memorable and that he would appreciate the brilliance of Dave Crawley. And I was right. He enjoyed it, we chuckled all the way through it, and he made a note of the author and book title.

Since the poem is just 12 lines long, I used the other 14 minutes chatting and taking a photo so I could go back do a quick birthday ink wash sketch.

Happy 54th Tim.

Newspaper Sketching

Another quick ink wash from an image in today's local newspaper. No sketching, just brushing away. Using poor-quality brushes to keep things loose. Crappy brushes also enable me to look at other artists’ work and say “Hey, I could be that good too if I used good brushes.” That's a trick I learned from a really good artist.

23 takes a shot

A variation of 23 takes a shot.

New Print Series

Starting a new series of small prints. 

Another Tuesday night at Argos
20 x 24

Longer Poses

Poses of five, ten, twenty, and forty minutes. 

Two-minute Poses

The usual two-minute warmup drawings. 

Freakin Freaky Cool

When Greta, one of the regulars of the Argos Gallery Tuesday night drawing group, started to pay the weekly drawing group fee of $15, she realized the bill in her pocket was a $1 bill, not a $20 bill.

I loaned her $15 and she said she'd pay me back next Tuesday night. Several poses later, I saw Arlene, another regular, with this drawing of Greta's. 

Brilliant.

I owe John $15
Greta
Charcoal on paper

Robin and Stars

Vector file, created in Adobe Illustrator. 

Robin and Stars

Counting Stars

I also love the graphic impact of simplicity and complexity.

Giclee, 40 x 24

Graphic Influence

I love the graphic impact of boldness and simplicity. Combine that with a nude study from the weekly Tuesday evening drawing group and you get something like this.

Neon Pregger
40x24.

Drawing Preggers

Our pregnant model is due in March and still plans to pose monthly until then. It will be interesting to see the 9 months of poses all together. She also plans to pose with the newborn baby next Spring.

Baby name ideas: Model, Willow (a charcoal stick), Timesup, Art, Easel, Shade. Oh well, I tried.

Warmup drawing and ear piercings.

After five two-minute warmup poses we move on to 10-minute, 20-minute, and 40-minute poses (below).

Lines of Color

Transformation of a previous charcoal sketch.

Scarf & Book

Ink wash sketch: Robin with book, sticky notes, water, and crossword puzzle. 

Woman with scarf and book.
Giclee print, 34 x 42.

Sketch in progress.

Artist with Nude

I visited an artist's studio recently and shot a photo of him next to one of his paintings with my iPhone. Here's a quick sketch made from the iPhone reference.

Artist with Nude

A color version, 33x44, archival ink on watercolor paper.

Original sketch in the art studio, aka the kitchen counter.

Modified

One of the drawings from Tuesday night, corrected (to some degree) and modified in Photoshop.

Argos model, 30x38.

Nice Poses

One of the two-minute warmup drawings.

Nice poses from this model.

Sketch to Oil

Digital oil, to be exact. 

Charcoal on newsprint, Corel Painter, and Photoshop.

Vigas and Shadows

While visiting the semi-famous church in Ranchos de Taos (just a few prayers south of Taos), locals told us that this church is the most photographed church in the world.

I have some doubts about how accurate that statement is, having seen the daily crowds of thousands at St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London. There were 3 or 4 tourists present at Ranchos de Taos.

Maybe I was there on a slow day.

Vigas and Shadows at Ranchos de Taos.
30x40.

Old Movie Sketch

I recorded an old, classic movie, paused the recording, and sketched from the TV screen. Charcoal and white chalk on a gray paper pad. The sketch was shot with an iPhone, holding the sketch pad up to a floor lamp for light. Bad lighting or brilliant art direction? I choose the latter.

Suspicion

Giclee Print

An experimental color print based on a charcoal drawing from last Tuesday's drawing group.

Tuesday Evenings at Argos
Giclee print on watercolor paper, 24 x22.