Figure Drawing Workshop- FDW Nudes

Nudes

watercolor on paper 

 9 x 12

 Done during Tuesday night Figure Drawing Workshop (FDW). I had such a good time last week using my watercolors that I thought I would use them again this week.  I love how free I feel when I use them.  With these I was really concentrating on massing in the forms and addressing the cool and warm areas of the figure. I think for the next long pose I am going to try and bring my oils just to try something different. 

On another note, I want a new scanner.  Our printer/scanner is at least 5 years old.  The printer is fine, works great.  The scanner is crap.  I think anything would be better then what I have right now.  I tried scanning the first image and all of the color variation was lost.  Very disappointing.  Another think to add to the list :)

Monotypes-Blossom, Cherry Tree, Coy

Blossom

watercolor on paper

  11 x 15

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  I so love this technique.  I used watercolor painted onto a plexi plate and then printed onto a piece a paper.  It was interesting because in some areas the paint did not want to stay on the plexi and would just puddle up.  I just worked with it and had many happy accidents using this technique.  This was also my first time using Reeves BFK and it is an awesome paper.  I really enjoyed working with it.

Here are some more prints from this plate, some worked back into:

Cherry Tree

watercolor on paper

  15 x 11

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. Same technique as above.  I worked back into this one with watercolor.

Here are some more prints from this plate:

 

 Coy

watercolor on paper

  15 x 11

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. Same technique as the other ones. 

Here are some more prints from this plate:

 I worked back into this one with pastel, nupastel, and charcoal.

Blue Hydrangea WIP

 Blue Hydrangea WIP

oil on canvas

11 x 14 (i think)

Done in art class with Lynn Gertenbach.  I brought in a reference photo of some hydrangeas in a vase and Lynn thought it would be better if I worked from life instead of a photo.  It just so happened she has some hydrangeas to use in still lifes.  I like every part of it but the background.  I think it needs something more.  I also want to add some detail to the vase and some flower petals on the table.

Spring Break Figure Drawing Workshop

  

Nude

watercolor on paper 

 16 x 12

 Done during Tuesday night Figure Drawing Workshop (FDW).  I have not gone in a few weeks as I have been busy with school and since this week is Spring Break I thought I would go.  Tonight we did a long pose and I didnt feel like lugging my oils out there so I thought I would try to do a figure in watercolor... and I loved it!!   It was really fun to slowly build up the layers in this and the model breaks gave me a chance to step back and plot my next move.  I totally think I will do something like this again.  This reminded me how much I really like working in watercolor.  Here are the works I did at the last FDW I went to.
p.s. I have never done a nude in watercolor much less and nude from life.  Bobby Chiu of Imaginism Studios posts daily Tips on his Deviant Art account and today's tip was "Strive to do something you've never done before. Get in the habit of constantly exploring new things and ideas." I had this in the back of my mind today when I choose to bring my watercolors instead of my oils.  I am really glad I did.

This the 25 minute prep sketch I did to try out colors and figure out what I was doing :) 

 

I felt finished with the first piece and I didnt want to overwork it and the group was ready for a new pose so I did this:

 Nude 2

watercolor on paper

9 x 12

Much looser just really having fun and playing with the media and subject.  I started with a semi blind contour drawing and then filled it in with color.  I thought it need a background and then I felt the background needed jazzing up so I added salt.  I am pretty happy with all of these pieces.  I need to go to the FDW more often. 

Kettle Corn

  Kettle Corn

oil on canvas

 16 x 20

 For Surrealism, Stylization & Expression. Trying out cubism.   As I was walking around my house trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do for this assignment I was eating kettle corn.  Poof! Why not use kettle corn as my inspiration.  So here it is.  I think I may go back into it with a palette knife to add a little more paint to some areas so it pops (haha). 

Here the final prep sketch:

Chief, Year of the Rabbit, Hat Lady, Katrina Ballerina

Chief 

mixed media on raw linen

  24 x18

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. For whatever reason the linen reminded me of Native Americans, so I took that idea and ran with it.  I love the way the feathers look.  Looking at it now I feel like the background needs something.  We'll see what my instructor has to say.  Reference.

 

Year of the Rabbit

mixed media on raw linen

  16 x 12

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  Inspired by the Chinese New Year.  This year is the year of the rabbit as is the year I was born :) Reference. 

Hat Lady

mixed media on raw linen

  12 x 16

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. Lame title, I know.  Sometimes it is hard to come up for titles for these exercises.  If you have an suggestions I would love to hear them :) Reference. 

Katrina Ballerina 

mixed media on raw linen

  16 x 12

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  Another silly title.  I like that it rhymes :) This was slightly inspired by Degas and his ballerina paintings. Reference. 

Beautiful Dragon Like Honeybee- wax final, Security?

Beautiful Dragon Like Honeybee- wax final

wax

 ~ 8 inches

 For Sculpture 1.  Wax is done now to send it off to be cast in bronze.  I love the finished look of this. I ended up taking it apart again and redoing the petals really concentrating on varying the forms.

I cant wait to see this in bronze.  I am afraid to ship it though.  There are a lot of extremities. Previous step.

  Security?
oil on canvas

 24 x 18

 For Surrealism, Stylization & Expression. Create a contemporary still life.  Inspired by when you go to an event or Disneyland when they open your purse/backpack and shine a flash light into it.   I decided to work on canvas this week as I was getting a little tired of working on wood. I did something a little different though, I toned the canvas black! In one of the demos for Still Life Painting 1 the instructor paints on a black canvas and since I saw that demo I have always wanted to try it.  I think the black canvas worked really well for this piece :) As for a title I am thinking "Security?" or "Terrorist?" What do you think?
p.s. Photographing the black is VERY difficult.  I took it outside and different areas of the house trying to get the best photo and it is still a bit off :(

Calla Lilies- Nectarine Tree- Funky Forest- Cardboard Clouds- Earth, Sun, Sky, Space

Calla Lilies 

mixed media on found wood

  24 x 17

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. I really let the pattern of the wood speak to me.  I saw leaves and from there it became calla lilies.  I also think I had calla lilies on the brain today.  As I was driving to the chiropractor this morning I saw a man picking calla lilies in a field. 

 Nectarine Tree  

mixed media on canvas board

  14 x 11

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  Looking up into my nectarine tree. I actually took this as a reference photo for another class :)

Funky Forest 

mixed media on gessoed Yupo 

 12 x 9

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  I love letting the materials guide me. I began by just applying the paint and seeing where it took me.  I think it looks like trees or volcanoes.  

 

Cardboard Clouds 

mixed media on gessoed cardboard  

 16 x 20 

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. Again letting the materials guide me. When I wet the clear gesso it kind of turned white and reminded me of clouds.  It evolved from there.    Slightly inspired by my PCH Postcard painting. 

Earth, Sun, Sky, Space 

mixed media on found wood 

 17 x 24

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  Playing with the way the different media reacts to the wood.  The wood already had these lines that reminded me of Mondrian so I ran with that idea.  To me it signifies the earth, the sun, the sky, and space.

Beautiful Dragon Like Honeybee, Freight, An Offering

 

 

Beautiful Dragon Like Honeybee WIP

wax

 ~ 8 inches

 For Sculpture 1.  Began in wax to be later cast in bronze. This is the beautiful part.  A day lily for my little dragon bee to rest on. Working on this gave me a blister.  Ouch! I didnt like the way the petals are sitting on the first one, there is something unnatural about it so I overlapped them a bit differently.  Instead of attaching them one to the other I changed it to having a central 3 and then adding the other 3 onto those.   Like a real lily, which I actually went and bought and they smell so so good :)

I must say I love the flexibility of the medium. To be able to take it apart and not have to start over from scratching is both refreshing and wonderful.
Option 2.  More natural looking with the petals overlapping.
Which do you like better?  I think I like the first one better which means I get to take it apart again, yeah...

 

 Freight

oil on wood

  42 x 27

 For Surrealism, Stylization & Expression.  100% plaette knife on found wood.  This is huge! and using a palette knife uses sooo much paint.  I sure enjoyed the process though.

An Offering

oil on wood

  27 x 24

 For Surrealism, Stylization & Expression. Finished... I think.   I tried doing her face 4+ times.  It was just not working so I left it sort of blurry.  Any suggestions woud be appreciated.  I kind of feel like just painting  the face over like her hair and then not having a face at all.

Other then the face I love every other aspect of it :) Previous step.

  Reference. 

Illumination, Two Red Roses, Dove, Hydrangea Flower

 

Illumination

mixed media on gessoed illustration board

 20 x 15

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing. Working on the gessoed surface was interesting and different but once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed it.  I love how is face glows.  I really took this slowly and let the media sort of guide me.  

Two Red Roses

mixed media on gessoed illustration board

 20 x 15

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  I love the simplicity of this.  Less is more.  I used the same reference that I used for Roses are Red. 

Dove

mixed media on gessoed illustration board

 20 x 15

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  Playing with the way the paint dripped.  Really just exploring the media.  Looking at it now I should have moved the bird to the right a little bit more.  

Hydrangea Flower

mixed media on gessoed illustration board

 20 x 15

For Mixed Media Painting and Drawing.  This one was a struggle.  I started out trying to draw the whole flower.  There was too much detail to simplify and wayyy to much going on overall thar I whipped it off and started over.  I am still not totally happy with this but it is better then what I had before.