Looking Inward

This is an 11"x14" oil sketch on canvas, painted this morning, based on a small sketch I did from life in 2003.

Looking Down (two sketches from life)

I've been faithfully attending a weekly drawing group at Art Center. These are two of yesterday's drawings. The first was a 25 minute pose. It's about 12"x18" and drawn with charcoal pencil. The second is about the same size, drawn with soft willow charcoal. It was a shorter pose, in the 5 to 10 minute range.

At the Stables (work in progress)

When it's hot, I look for a shady place. This, an oil painting on a 30"x40" canvas, is my first stab at painting the San Pascual Stables, in the arroyo area of South Pasadena.

Ficus on a Sunny Morning (30"x40")

More of my ficus obsession. This is the painting first posted on July 14th, further developed.

A few of yesterday's drawings

These are drawings from life on approximately18"x24" paper. I used a stick of soft willow charcoal and a kneaded eraser. The middle pose was 25 minutes long, the rest were 10 minute poses. The model did an amazingly good job of holding these expressive poses, which made drawing her a pleasure.

Ficus on a Sunny Morning (work in progress)

This 30"x40" painting on canvas is of another Pasadena tree, this time one on Cherry Drive.

Bronze Feet

This painting, on an 11"x14" linen canvas, is of a corner of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. The sculpture is of a woman in a classic contrapposto (maybe representing Aphrodite because she's classically beautiful--but, I didn't read the label). Here, of course, all you see are her feet and the shadow of her body and outstretched fingers.

I've been attending a small crit group, and the conversation veered to a famous painter who paints people but never paints feet. So, of course, I came home and found myself painting only feet. So, here's one for those amongst us who enjoy feet.

Some of today's sketches

Today was the day I returned to drawing from life, after a couple of weeks off. These are ink sketches, probably in the 10 to 15 minute range, on about 5.5"x 8.5" watercolor paper.

At the Norton Simon Museum (work in progress)

At the left, the more recent version (this morning's work), after considerable re-painting and also some sketching on a pad for composition alternatives, something I should have done before I started painting. (I ultimately kept the composition, so don't go blind trying to discern the difference.)

One of my favorite galleries at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena is is one that is full of figures by Degas. This particular oil painting, on an 11"x14" canvas, features a guard in a blue blazer, whose pose echoes that of the bronze figure. The painting also reminds me of this post --a favorite of mine--by Mademoiselle Gramaphone, which features another artist well represented at the museum, Rodin.









Below is the first version. (Last night's.)

Some drawings from 2005

These are drawings from life, done in 2005, in uninstructed workshops. The first is charcoal, on 18"x19" paper.

The last two are small ink drawings (about 6" square, though they're not square). Often, after drawing more detailed images, I like to take a few minutes and make a smaller, less detailed image. These are a couple of my favorites.

I've been doing a lot of family-related stuff for the past week--all good. Among other things, I was lucky enough to help celebrate the birthday of a very charming 106 year old man (suddenly, I feel quite young) and also, in a separate celebration, to laud a 60 year old marriage in which the couple still behave quite lovingly toward each other (like "newlyweds," though most newlyweds are not so loving and respectful).