Hipbone

Quick figure drawing at Hipbone Studio is excellent practice in observation. Studies are like playing scales on a musical instrument.  My instruments were pencil for one minute - 15 minute sketches, then oil paint for 30 minute poses.  Most were nude, featuring Jennifer's red hair and pale skin, but I especially enjoyed the costumed pose with colorful blouse, ruffled skirt and black boots.  These are two of the three 30 minute poses, both on canvas.

Hipbone

Hipbone Studio is a great way to spend a winter Wednesday afternoon (it's always warm for the nude models) to draw or paint from life. Emilie, our model, was lovely in a young Marlene Dietrich kind of way. I especially liked the umbrella, walking nude in the rain is so Portland! As usual, we started with one minute warm ups, then 5 minutes, 15 minutes then some longer poses. I used micron pens for sketching, then added acrylic paint.

Rain, sun & plein air, still life

This week has been a variety of rain, sunbreaks, clouds, back & forth. So I went out Wednesday to figure draw, Heather our nude model, Hipbone was hip and inspiring as usual. Concentrated on pencil drawing line and shapes instead of painting. Thursday went to Sauvie Island and painted with fellow plein air artists on the dike overlooking a meadow which was partially flooded, trees floating above their reflections, cows grazing nearby, constant change of light and shadow reflected in the water. I focused on the bright bits of sky and warm tones in grasses. For more photos of that day, see http://behindthescenes-ppasp.blogspot.com/.

Today I brought three paintings to Lake Oswego for the annual Festival of the Arts, starts on Friday June 24 through the 26th. They are of a glacier in Alaska and the Columbia Gorge. Please come to the big tent to see the unjuried show, as well as a juried show, crafts, food and music in the park!

Today is Father's Day, and my Dad passed away many years ago yet is always part of my life and was so supportive of developing my artistic talent. So I painted a quick sketch of yellow roses from the backyard, I know he would have loved them.

Guy Stuff

At Hipbone Studio on Saturday we had a male model. Lucky for me, it was not too crowded because some people do not prefer male models. I like to draw guys, and women, old and young, all shapes and sizes! Scott, our model, had great energy and acting ability, and some nifty props like sunglasses and headphones.

Fall Figures

As the weather turns cold and drizzly, my attention has turned from painting plein air to the human figure. I'm drawing and painting from various sources to study different aspects of figures: movement, line, expression, form. I went to a show of bellydancers and sketched the dancers as they moved, silky costumes flowing to exotic music. At the Art Canvas Cafe, I painted a quick study of a clothed model before settling in for a more detailed painting, then decided I liked the expressive fluid lines of the sketch better. From a book on Gustav Klimt, I copied as faithfully as possible a portrait of Sonja Knips, soft and romantic. At the Hipbone Studio, spent several hours doing pencil studies of a nude model, and several paintings done in thirty minutes each. Finally, a "doodle" made from random brushstrokes to test paint colors turned into an abstract painting, then became an imaginary profile.