Cool Shades

Cool Shades
Charcoal on newsprint

Props

Leather Jacket 

In a departure from the usual posing, we asked the model to use any items she had with her as props.  She did an amazing job of improvisation that made the poses seem both classical and contemporary.

Lipstick

Lipstick
Color version, detail

Shoulder Bag

Boots & Books

Boots & Books

A current project involves creating promotional materials for a new 501c3 non-profit organization, the International Shakespeare Center, Santa Fe (ISC).

One of the goals of ISC is to promote the study and appreciation of the Shakespearean works through reading groups, professional performance, and professional training.

The photos are meant to show a juxtaposition of Shakespearean imagery and iconic Santa Fe imagery. So far I've photographed a cowboy in a Canyon Road art gallery (including Shakespearean props) and a cowgirl, Denise, at her hacienda in Galisteo, a small village south of Santa Fe. Other shoots are planned at a historic, iconic Santa Fe house and at Los Golondrinas, a living museum ranch that was the last overnight stop for wagon trains from Mexico City before reaching Santa Fe.

The image above is a sepia version of one of many shots from the Galisteo photo session. Most of the Galisteo photos feature both Denise and her beloved horse, Sapphire.

A Cowgirl’s Passions
Denise & Sapphire in their Galisteo stable

   

Egyptian

Ten years ago, on a trip to Egypt and Jordon, we became friends with Don, a fellow traveler. I admired a photo he took of a young Egyptian girl standing on concrete steps that led to the top floor of her home, near the Nile. I’ve worked sporadically over the years on making an art print of the photo. About a week ago I ran across the digital image that Don gave me and finally finished digitally repainting it so I could order a print. While we were at the girl’s house, our guide, who knew the girl, kept encouraging her to go to school instead of getting married and collecting the traditional dowery of gold jewelry. Like most young village women, she probably went for the gold.

Egyptian Girl on Stairs
22 x 40 inches

Egyptian Girl on Stairs
Detail

Western Influence

Pueblo Man
Digital print from original charcoal and white chalk on cardboard
22 x 26 inches

A Wolf Named Legend
Digital print from original charcoal on paper
20 x 22 inches  

Cowgirl
Digital print from original charcoal on newsprint
18 x 24 inches

Drawing Sideways

Drawing the nude figure sideways can get weird because you usually see it in an upright position. When you do happen to see a nude figure sideways or upside-down, you usually don’t have charcoal and paper in your hands. Except on Tuesday nights. For some reason it seems to happen a lot on Tuesday nights. In fact, every Tuesday night, between 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. 

Again I say . . . weird.

Three Sketches

One Year Old

One-Year-Old Hero

One-year-old granddaughter Hero had her First birthday party a couple of days ago. Robin asked me to put something decorative on the wrapping of one of her presents. I opened the Photos app on my laptop and found a photo to use as reference for a sketch. Hero is the name of a character in the Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing. Hero has a dog named Hamlet (in real life, not in the play). I suspect that her first uttered words after “Bye Bye” and “Mommy” will be “Anon” and “Fie!" It’s getting rather Shakespearean around here.

Shakespearean

Shakespearean

Last night was the second time our Tuesday Night Drawing group had this male model. There’s definitely something “Shakespearean” about the guy. Imagine him playing Aaron (a Shakespeare super villain) in Titus Andronicus. I don’t know which was more awesome: his hair style or his body.  My drawings weren’t going very well the whole night, but the last drawing of the night, a 45-minute pose, seemed like a dramatic Shakespearean image.

Six Sketches

Folding Chair

Art Deco Mood

Gobsmacked

Back Stretch

Thinking

Twisting Legs

White Model

White Model

A life drawing sketch (see the previous blog post) made into a 24" x 18" digital print on paper. 

Undone

Undone

An unfinished drawing from a life drawing session. 

A Dragon Memory

An urgent message last Thursday morning from a friend, Lorene Mills, asked if I would be able to help an out-of-town artist, John Pugh. Pugh is a renown trompe l’oeil muralist master who has painted many amazing murals around the world. His current project is a mural commissioned by George R. R. Martin, located on the back wall of Martin’s Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe (more photos below).

Jean Cocteau mural detail.

I met John behind the Jean Cocteau at 3 pm Thursday afternoon and he started describing what needed to be done. Soon, Greg and George, a couple of art students from IAIA (Institute of American Indian Arts) showed up and the four of us spent the night on the scaffolding. When I left at 4:30 Friday morning, John Pugh and the other two artists were still working away and were there until long after sunrise.

From the all-night conversations we had, I learned a lot about Pugh’s technique of using acrylic glazes (dozens of glazes) and blending of colors. It was like a 12 hour master class. I didn’t contribute much, but I learned a lot. Including how hard it is to paint outdoors in the cold and dark with lights casting shadows of scaffolding all over the art. The painted shadows looked so real it was hard to tell the painted shadows from the real ones. Climbing up and down three levels of scaffolding all night and painting in weird, uncomfortable positions while sitting or standing on scaffolding gave me a real appreciation of the fact that Pugh had already been painting here for two weeks, mostly at night. The main goal for Thursday night was to finish everything that was high on the wall, because the scaffolding was to be removed the next morning.

I went back to the site Friday night to check on the mural. The scaffolding was gone but John and assistant Greg were still there painting final touches. I delivered a large coffee and a hazelnut latte to Greg and John, chatted for while, then headed back home to work on another much smaller art project. Much smaller. And indoors.

It was a great privilege to be involved in any small way, and to make friends with John and the other assistants, Greg and George.

What a dragon!

What a night.

What a memory.

John Pugh retouches a small section.

George paints with a headlamp.

Lots of paint and brushes to trip over.

View from level two of the four-level scaffolding.

A scaffold of artists work through the night.

George uses blue tape to mask a section at ground level.

Mural detail.

Painting and masking, Friday night.

John Pugh uses blue tape to plan where additional shading will go.

George and John.

Blue taping the night away.

The photographer and archivist of the project delivers coffee to the artists.

More details.

Mural wall in progress.

Feet On the Stool

Feet On the Stool

Unrepentant Moor

Unrepentant Moor
24" x 32"
Digital print on paper from original charcoal on newsprint life drawing

Study for Aaron, the Moor, in Titus Andronicus

I adapted last Tuesday Night's model to my collection of limited edition Shakespeare Series prints. In the play Titus Andronicus, Arron is repentant of any good he may have done in his life, but he makes it sound like that probably never happened. However, as often happens with Shakespeare characters, even the villainous Aaron has another side — he loves his newborn son and wants him to live.  

New Model

Awesome model

A new model for last night’s Tuesday Night Drawing group. 

Awesome. 

One September Night

One September Night #1

One September Night #2

One September Night #3

The Authorship Question

Mary Sidney is gaining traction as the most credible candidate for the authorship of the Shakespeare canon (a debate known as The Authorship Question). Sidney was fluent in multiple languages and translated many works, she was expert in writing, English history, alchemy, hawking, and all sorts of stuff. She ran Wilton Circle, the most important literary salon in the history of England. Her sons were the wealthiest and most powerful men in England, second only to King James. She was a Countess. She had a huge library and an alchemy lab, and most of the known source materials for the Shakespearean works have a direct connection to her. She was known by her contemporaries as a brilliant writer whose mission was to create, and encourage, great works in the English language.

In the scene above, Mary offers writing suggestions to an actor who, incidentally, was never recorded as having been present at Wilton Circle.

You can learn more about the Authorship Question, and about Mary Sidney, in the book Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a woman write Shakespeare? by Robin Williams, PhD, available at Amazon.com.

Think Not I Love Him

Think Not I Love Him
Digital print on paper, from the Shakespeare Series
40 x 26 inches