Painting from a live model

There's really no substitute. I love to set up my portable paintbox and tripod and paint with a limited colour palette in one burst of intense concentration.  There was a great turn out last Wednesday night for the sustained pose at the Cambridge Centre.  Here is my oil painting of our lovely model, Irena.

Irena, portrait study from life, oil on gessoed board (detail)

Irena, portrait study from life, oil on gessoed board, 9" x 12"

Gouache portrait sketch

A quick portrait sketch of model, Bill, in my Moleskine watercolour sketchbook from last night's life drawing session with Fabio at the Cambridge Centre for the Arts.

Bill, profile, gouache in watercolour sketchbook 5" x 8"

Sketchbook and palette

Under sodium lights

Here's a small portrait sketch in oils from last night's life drawing session. The model is our session coordinator and sometime model, Miss Robin. I've been using far more paint of late--applying it thickly, with almost no added medium except what I need to make the paint workable, and drawing directly with the brush instead of relying on a preliminary underdrawing.  It's exhilarating.

A small portrait sketch in oil on panel (detail)

A portrait sketch of Miss Robin, oil on panel (detail)

The light in the room where we draw is lit with low pressure sodium lights, which are great for energy efficiency, but terrible for colour rendering accuracy.  Under those lights, I lose all perception of the red spectrum, which isn't a problem when I'm drawing, but is a definite challenge when painting. I always emerge from the room with a far more highly saturated painting than what I'd perceived.  Last night I paid closer attention to my colour mixes and tried to get the tones right, so the painting isn't quite as far off as usual.  Still, it's a little like painting while colour blind.  I love the Cambridge life sessions, so maybe I'll look into getting some kind of clip-on light with high colour rendering index to take with me on painting nights.

A portrait sketch of  Miss Robin, oil on panel, 11" x 14"

Two reclining nudes

Reclining figure study 1, gouache on paper, 11" x 7"

In Isabella Stefanescu's studio this Saturday we had a rare, daytime life drawing session with the model.  There was gorgeous light streaming through warehouse windows, birdsong outside, some French romantic composer playing in the background--Ravel I think.  It was great, until we were shushed by people in the neighbouring studio...

Reclining figure study 2, gouache on paper, 11" x 7"

Apologies to the people next door who were recording something and had probably expected the studios to be unoccupied on the Saturday of a long weekend.

Three-hour painted study from life

I've been taking advantage of the opportunity to paint from life at monthly three-hour single pose sessions at the Cambridge Centre for the Arts.  The brief single session forces concentrated observation and loose paint handling.  This one is from the January session.

Robin (detail), painted study, oil on prepared paper

Robin, painted study, oil on prepared paper, 11" x 14"

Two-hour painted sketch in oils

Deb (detail), oil on panel

  A two-hour oil sketch I did at the Cambridge Centre for the Arts life drawing session last night. 

Deb, oil on tinted panel, 16" x 20"

Recent life drawings

Leaves are on the trees and suddenly the world is transformed.  I hope to be out sketching land and cityscapes in addition to life drawing very soon. In the meantime, here are some life drawings and portrait studies, mostly in charcoal and chalk, from the past month.

Eden, charcoal and chalk on gessoed paper, 12" x 14"

Govan, charcoal and chalk on painted board, 11" x 12"

Sean, charcoal and chalk on gessoed board, 8 1/2" x 11 1/2"

Eden, charcoal and chalk on gessoed paper, 11 1/2" x 15"

Eden, charcoal and chalk on gessoed paper 9 1/2" x 14"

Rachel, charcoal and chalk on gessoed paper, 15" x 22"

Portrait Study from Life

Jenna, portrait study, detail, oil on panel

This is a portrait study I began at a three-hour live session in Guelph and finished up in  the studio.  It's painted in oils on an 11" x 14" panel, pre-toned with a red oxide wash.

Jenna, portrait study, oil on panel, 11" x 14"

The afternoon sessions have some challenges, particularly the shifting light as the winter sun makes its quick descent.

Painting and Drawing from Life

Rachel, oil on panel, 11" x 14"

I've recently discovered a life drawing group offering a regular, three-hour, single-pose session, which allows me the luxury of painting from a live model.  It's great for for forcing a broader, more economical painting style.

And here are some drawings from the regular format life drawing sessions, which typically begin with quick gestures and progress to longer poses:

Jenna, gesture, vine charcoal on paper

Jenna, gesture, vine charcoal on paper

Jenna, gesture, vine charcoal on paper

Jenna, chalk and charcoal on gessoed paper

Govan, chalk and charcoal on gessoed paper

Govan, chalk and charcoal on gessoed paper

Life Drawings and a Pigeon

A couple of weeks ago, just before I succumbed to the flu, I drew a life model named Lyon, who wore a startling necklace of human molars (his own it turns out)  and who is a descendent of the notable, fierce, pre-confederation Canadian politician William Lyon Mackenzie. I forgot my chalk, which is a shame because he had great Scottish colouring.

Lyon, gesture drawing, charcoal on layout paper

Lyon, vine charcoal on gessoed paper

And a life drawing from the Autumn sessions

male model, vine charcoal on gessoed paper

 And a sketchbook pigeon for good measure.

Parc Monceau Pigeon, charcoal in sketchbook

Drawn from life

Zak, seated pose, vine charcoal on gessoed paper

I've made a return to life drawing in recent weeks.  We have a chatty group, which is great for refining my ability to concentrate, and we've had a number of excellent models (including some horses!, but more on that in a future post). 

Rachel, vine charcoal on paper

Rachel, vine charcoal on paper

Rachel reclining, vine charcoal on paper

Rachel reclining, take 2, charcoal on gessoed paper

Giancarlo, gestures, vine charcoal on paper

Giancarlo, reclining, vine charcoal on paper

Giancarlo, vine charcoal and chalk on paper

Robyn, standing gesture, vine charcoal

Robyn, standing gesture, vine charcoal

Zak, quick head studies, vine charcoal on paper

Zak, slouch, vine charcoal on paper

 

Horse, quick study, vine charcoal on paper

Some quick head studies, vine charcoal

Life Drawing

from last night's life drawing session | vine charcoal on Stonehenge paper

Oh the shame--Canada loses its Portrait Gallery

from Tuesday night's life drawing session

*Warning* rant follows:

Why does this federal government have such a narrow view of nationhood? It plans to spend a fortune on patrol ships to assert our physical dominion over our arctic territories (which may contain vast reservoirs of oil) while removing the possibility of a physical portrait gallery to tap the vast reservoir of our cultural heritage. Most Canadians will never visit the arctic, but it looms large in our collective consciousness and forms a critical part of our identity here and abroad. A nation's cultural heritage can do the same. The national archives should have a physical presence in the form of a publicly accessible portrait gallery in our nation's capital. The knowledge that the gallery exists will inform our sense of identity and serve as the tangible backbone--the actual destination that Canadians and others can think of and aspire to visit when they view the virtual gallery online. I've heard so many times that there is no substitute for visiting the arctic in person. As any art lover knows, there is no substitute for standing in the presence of a work of art rather than viewing it in print or online reproductions. The vast archive of portraits of Canadian citizens--the very people who have made this country--should not be reduced to digitized ephemera. There is a wealth to be mined, and not just in the arctic. From their beginnings great nations have propped up their identities with their art and artists' depictions of their history. Let's get some recognition for our culture--for what we've cultivated--not just for our natural assets. Canadians need to know that should we choose, we can experience in the flesh the portraits that appear only as images on our computers. The arctic exerts a pull on our consciousness. A Portrait Gallery of Canada could do the same. In Britain, the National Portrait Gallery is a monument to British culture past and present, a huge pull for foreign and British visitors, and a beacon for artists everywhere. Canadians too should have a place to come face to face with portraits of the people who have shaped and continue to shape our history.

p.s. To those who think they know what portraiture is, and that it is a stodgy, old-fashioned art, I would say that portraiture dictates only the subject, but neither the medium nor the method, and can be as radical and thought provoking as any other art form. Portraiture will endure because nothing comes closer to a shared common experience than one person encountering another through the eyes, mind, and hands of another. Portraiture is vitally alive and always relevant.

Click here to read a CBC article about senator Jerry Grafstein's attempts to champion the Portrait Gallery of Canada.

Drawn from life

from top left: male profile, charcoal and gouache on Fabriano paper, 10" x 12"; female profile, charcoal and chalk on Whatman paper, 14 1/2" x 11"; Chris, charcoal on BFK Rives, 12 1/2" x 22"

Drawing the human figure from life is one of the great pleasures of being an artist. Nothing has quite the same sense of immediacy: landscapes and still lifes tend to hold still, but a live model is always a time limited challenge. These are a few sketches from some recent life drawing sessions.