Rosetta Sketch

A great model, for a Golden Doodle.

Rosetta. Black and white charcoal on gray paper.
Some highlights and shadows added with Photoshop's Dodge and Burn tools.

Flamenco Blue

Another version of the El Farol flamenco dancer, in progress.

Passion of Flamenco at El Farol

This painting started as a digital drawing, based on an iPhone photo of a flamenco performance at El Farol, a popular Santa Fe bar & restaurant on Canyon Road. 

I used Photoshop to sketch the dancer, and added color to the figure and part of the background, using some of Photoshop's painterly brushes. I then imported the file into Painter and used Painter brushes to finish the image, add color and texture.

Flamenco Passion at El Farol, 30 x 44. 

Detail, left side of flamenco dress.

More detail.

iPhone photo and original sketch.

Revised sketch, stretched and distorted to add weight, movement, and visual impact.

Unplanned Private Drawing Session

Last night was Election Night. And drawing group night. Although tempted to skip the drawing group just this once, I figured the election results would take all night to be resolved, and I didn't want the model to have to model for too small a group, so I decided to go drawing, perhaps leave early.

My hunch that some of the regulars might be staying home to watch the election results was correct. I was the only one there, plus the model. Since she'd driven all the way across town, she said she'd stay. Since I'd driven half-way across town (OK, it's a small town, so no big deal) I suggested just a couple of 20-minute poses, then go home early.

Election night model with multiple ear piercings.

That worked out great. 45-minute poses are often twice as long as I should have, giving me extra time to overwork the drawing or get obsessive with details. I returned home in plenty of time to see some of the election uncertainty drama and to see Obama eventually declared the winner.

I wondered: How many Romney supporters were out drawing nudes during the election coverage? Not many I'll bet. But then, on the other hand, there weren't very many Obama supporters out drawing nudes either, from what I could tell. I guess I'm just a renaissance kind of guy.

  

Portrait Study

During last Tuesday night's drawing group I couldn't seem to get my charcoal in sync with the model, or with the sketch pad, or with the Drawing Gods, so I pretty much gave up on the full-body approach and concentrated on the model's face.

After scanning a charcoal sketch, I used Photoshop to add a few color touches.

Just one full-body sketch turned out good enough to make the blog. 6B pencil.