Sunday Afternoon Figure Work

Study of Val, torso, and buttocks
Conte on Arches tinted paper
16" x 20

I always end up covered in my medium!

Sunday afternoons...
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so I was able to rest and get some figure studies done.  I was able to do some preliminary sketches, and then a larger drawing, in Conte, on tinted Arches paper.  I've been working out some other compositions and studies for a few shows that I have coming up -- one, rather quickly, and I feel that I was still dragging "tail" a bit this month, and I'm not quite sure why.  I am in the capstone session of my Master's degree program, and that is a ton of work, so that could be why as well.

I really enjoy drawing, and decided it was important to focus the figure for the next several weeks while working out this composition for these new paintings.  I can't divulge what they are until the show curators give the go-ahead, so I will be quietly working on them until the appropriate time for them to be "unveiled" by the group.  Sounds very mysterious, but I assure you, on my end, it's not, haha.

So, I'll leave you with these photos of today's afternoon session.  And, I'm never happy unless I am covered in my medium -- when I'm drawing.  I am a bit of a sculptor while drawing the figure, so getting charcoal covered is normal and kind of fun for me ;-)

Yes, these are the strange things that make an artist happy!

Study of male back/torso

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"Study of male torso/back in 3/4 rotation" by Hilary J. England, brown Conte on paper, 8" X 14"

Here is today's work. I was finally able to hook in with a male model, and do a few solid studies. This is the first one -- it took about an hour. I was in a slightly odd position of seeing him in a rotation, so although it was a challenge, it made for an interesting study.

I stuck with working strictly in brown Conte, with no other implementation of white or other color.  Simple and straightforward for this one 😊. Enjoy!

Study of female nude from behind

"Study of female nude from behind" pencil and white chalk on beige Ingres paper, 12" X 16"

This study was difficult.  This young woman had quite a "bootie" to put it mildly, and the projection on it was incredible.  I had to try to capture that, as it was almost unreal, and yet the contortion of her torso and spine, in combination with the "apple bottom" mad this a most frustrating study to capture. I had to try to keep it real without being "pin up" or "cartoony" along the lines of Jessica Rabbit.  I think I struck the balance and I am ok with it.  I would like to attempt her again, maybe in Conte this time.  Graphite and pencil, especially the softer ones, is very delicate, and smears easily, but it does have more range in it's own way.  

This is why diligence is needed in drawing the human form. It keeps you on your proverbial toes, because poses and studies that you think should be "easy" sometimes turn out to be the most difficult, as this one did.  I enjoyed drawing her nonetheless.

~Enjoy.

Study of female nude

30 minute study of female nude, Conte on Ingres paper, 11" X 14", by Hilary J. England

I found an artist's group that actually does figure drawing online. Go figure!  Now, the model comes to you, for free, wherever you want!! It's a novel concept, and although I prefer working from a live model, this was interesting, and is at least something I can do when I can't make it to a group session down in Bethlehem.

I was able to jump into this session for the last 1/2 of a 3 hour session.  I love that they have sessions this long, and that you can photo the pose to continue afterwards.  It's been very hard to find a group outside of going to Manhattan that will have those long, single pose sessions.  I'm looking forward to be able to do some more involved figure drawing with this group.  It will be interesting to see how it goes with translating it from seeing the pose on my TV, rather than in person.  I mean, I have a 60 inch TV, so when she poses, it's about the same ratio as when a live model poses in front of me, distance wise.

Again, interesting!!!

Enjoy :-)

Pat with fringe

"Pat in a fringe sweater" conte on paper, 24" x 36"

We started Sunday night figure drawing sessions at the Art Establishment now, for those who can't make it on Friday mornings due to work, etc.  I enjoy these sessions so much, it's a time to really just relax and get back to basics.

This drawing is one of Pat wearing a fringe sweater.  It is a 10 minute study, a relatively fast study, but yet, 10 minute studies are the most awkward for me.  There not a super short study like a gesture, but not long enough to really develop the drawing, so I feel like it's really a middle ground, and I hate the middle ground, both in life, and even in a drawing/painting hahaha.  It's too uncertain and vague.  The foreground or front, and background, are always easy to manage, but it's that slippery middle ground and the relations to the front and back that make or break things.  And with a "middle of the road" drawing, not a gesture, and not a complete study, well, things get awkward for me...I usually get caught (proverbially) "with my pants down" as I start developing the drawing and am cut off in an awkward phase of development lololol.  This one is OK...in terms of proportions, her leaning stance, etc., but I really would have liked to further develop some value relations, and guess what, I just don't think that fast on my feet....I do usually, as I am getting used to just "laying it in" and then going back and picking it out, refining it, etc., which is good method when painting in oils, but sometimes, in conte, while drawing, not so much :-D :-D   So in all, it's always a learning curve, no matter where you are "in the game."  That's why I love it so much!  

Study of Pat

"Pat at the Art Establishment" conte on bristol, 18" x 24", 15 minute live figure study

Here is a quick 15 minute live study I did last Friday at The Art Establishment.  I really enjoyed doing some quick figure work, as I had not been able to do any live figure drawing in nearly a year....wow, the time sure goes quickly.  Now that I found this group that meets weekly,  I hope to be able to work with them a few times a month, weather permitting.  

This was a very quick study, and having talked to the group, they seem to mostly do rapid, gesture drawing which is nice, but I also spoke with them about doing a longer study, for perhaps 45 minutes to an hour, to really have time to develop a nice study of the subject.  They said this was a good idea, and hopefully we will be able to accomplish this on this upcoming Friday meeting.

So, that is the long and short of it for right now!