Tree Closure

I haven't drawn a tree in a very long time. I've had somewhat of an aversion to drawing trees ever since the first week of painting class in my freshman semester as a college art major. Our first oil painting was due the next morning and I had nothing but a blank canvas. A senior art major gave me this advice: "If you don't know what to paint, paint a tree." Great advice. Then she said "Use a palette knife so you won't get hung up on trying to make it look realistic." That first painting was such a disaster that I almost hitch-hiked home the next day rather than take it to class. Ever since then trees have not been one of my favorite subjects.

However, on the way to the Arts Material Expo at Buffalo Thunder Resort, just north of Santa Fe, when we stopped at a couple of places to take care of some errands I decided to stay outside and sketch while Robin was in an office. With the available subject matter options being parking lots, cars, and trees, I reluctantly chose trees. I think, hopefully, I might finally have closure on the tree thing.

Black felt tip pen on Canson sketch pad.

Robin reminds me that I also sketched some trees (and a water fountain) at the Roman Forum in Rome, back in 1998.

Just for fun: the original sketch cloned in Corel Painter, then a filter (Poster Edges) applied in Photoshop.

Canvas: Four Women

Corel Painter software provides brushes that simulate natural media (oil brushes, chalk, etc.). I've used Painter a lot in the past. This 44 x 20 inch canvas (300 ppi) gave me a chance to experiment with Painter's oil brushes. The combination of Painter and Photoshop pretty much makes you an Invincible Artist Master of the Universe. Or at least more so than you ordinarily are.

Canvas detail. 

The full image. While watching a football game I paused the TV when the camera focused on a crowd shot. The women in the shot reminded me of a Norman Rockwell Americana type of image. I shot the TV screen with my iPhone, then uploaded the image to the computer and opened it in Painter. I cloned the image with one of Painter's oil brushes, saved the image as a Photoshop file, then opened it in Photoshop. In Photoshop I used the Liquify filter to reshape each face and change the identities of the women.

A Recurring Dream

I like sketching nudes, but this is starting to remind me of a recurring dream in which I'm the only naked person in the room.

Rather than overwork this drawing (a 45-minuter pose split into two sessions), I started a new drawing (below) after the mid-pose break. 

The model has an unusually large right hand. Or perhaps the drawing is a little off? No, it must be her because I can see that her other hand is kind of goofy too.

Two-minute warm-up drawings. Looks like I really could use 10-minute warm-ups.