Drawing and Sketching by Artist Bernard Garcia

Figure Drawing

2011-04-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

First I want to say that figure drawing to the rock-n-roll band Queen is awesome! I attended Wednesday night figure drawing session in downtown Toledo, it was a great session. We had a good model, a good crowd of artists and Paul Geiger, the coordinator, played some good tunes starting with classical music and ending the evening drawing session with Queen. Looking forward to next Wednesday night's drawing session!

Interesting figure drawing evening for me, I had a lot on my mind and the music was fast paced so my technique felt different. My lines went dark fast and I felt I had less patience for the smaller details, so some personal emotions went into my drawings. It’s amazing how sometimes when I’m drawing I may be perfectly happy and free, or with a weight on my shoulders, or tired, or not motivated, or with some kind of distraction In my mind. And these emotions I know come out or are expressed in my drawings, So in my art/drawing there’s always a whole lot more going on then just good technique and skills.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Playful Still life

2011-04-15T12:45:00.001-07:00

Hmmmm… how did that Buzz Light Year toy appear in my still life? Haha, I like to think Buzz Light walked onto my still life while I wasn’t looking---how cool would that be? I’ve been watching a lot of Toy Story animation movies by Pixar with my nephew. They are so much fun to watch, very creative and funny. Good inspirational material for an artist and a 4-yr-old.

Lately I’ve been incorporating my nephew’s toys into my still lifes to add just a little more interest to each piece. My nephew knows I do this so the other day when he was going out the door for pre-school, he hands me his Buzz Light Year toy and says, “here uncle, draw my Buzz Light Year!” How can I pass up that request and what a great idea. I placed Buzz on the window counter, liked the compositions, and began sketching.

I’m looking forward to seeing Buzz magically appear in my other drawings.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Excellent Drawing Session

2011-04-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

Wow I was in the zone at Wednesday evening's figure drawing session. As always, the group started with sketching several quick 5-minute poses to warm up and to get the mind in drawing mode.

After the 5-minute poses ended, one long pose was chosen for the rest of the drawing session. Here’s were I started feeling in the zone. I had a lot on my mind but was able to maintain focus, I sketched and sketched and felt confident and relaxed with every piece.

I would sketch until I felt the piece was completed, I averaged about 30-minutes per piece. At some point I would look at my drawing and it would just feel completed, I have to listen to this feeling because sometimes I keep drawing and then it has an overworked look. So I would stop, enjoy the drawing for a bit and move my drawing pad to another spot in the studio. Each angle I chose was challenging and well worth the drawing adventure.

It was a successful evening, I learned a lot and I’m looking forward to next Wednesday’s figure drawing session.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Quick Studies of Nude Model

2011-04-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

These are short quick studies from the Wednesday night figure drawing sessions. These poses are 5,10 or 15 minutes long and are great for improving drawing skills. They can be difficult and overwhelming because you have to think fast and draw.

For a 5-minute pose, I look for the general shape of the pose. If model is standing I run a line on my page from top to bottom and quickly put in circles for the general shapes I see: so a circle for the head, chest, hips, thighs, calves, and feet. Then circles for hands, arms, and hair, then I begin to connect circles to create shapes of arms, legs, body, and head, then add tone to understand how light is adding depth to the shapes, then keep drawing simple darker lines to help define the model's pose. And before I know it, my 5 minutes are up and I’m sitting there wishing I had more time. So I turn the page and start on the next 5-minute pose with the same process.

Quick studies have helped me become a better draftsman. The technique I use to quickly draw the model is also applied to my other drawings. Whenever I’m out drawing landscapes, still lifes, portraits, or anything else, as soon as I sit down with my drawing pad and pick my composition, I begin looking for the general shapes and draw them in by using circles. Once I have the general composition and proportions down, I set a pace of adding detail, and tone.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Portrait of Restaurant Owner: The Budapest

2011-03-31T06:05:00.000-07:00

I attended the Al Hyter Portrait Group on Saturday morning and created these two portraits. The model's name is Robert and he is the owner of the restaurant, The Budapest, on Monroe Street in Toledo, Ohio.

Seems like creating art or in this case drawing portraits always has an adventure and a journey. Every month the Al Hyter group has two new models and we, the artists, get to meet and learn about interesting and unique people that we probably never would come across or have met on our own.

Meeting Robert was interesting to me because I pass the Budapest restaurant when I go to my Wednesday night figure drawing sessions. The restaurant is in an old brick building. It’s a diner style restaurant, and always has a warm and cozy glow when I pass in the evenings. So whenever I pass by I’m intrigued and often think about someday visiting. Well I made a portrait of Robert, got to know him and felt it was fate, I had to visit his restaurant. I had lunch at the Budapest and really enjoyed the food, the environment and the company; the place has a lot of character. I highly recommend visiting the Budapest.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Portrait of Sara

2011-03-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

I attended Saturday morning's Al Hyter Portrait Session and produced these two nice pieces. The model's name is Sara, she modeled for the month of March and did a great job holding her pose still.

I really enjoy drawing portraits, they are incredibly challenging. Of course the big challenge is capturing the likeness of the model and I believe these two drawings look just like Sara. But one element I can’t capture in a group portrait session is the model's true character.

I say this because in a group environment of portrait artists, we have to compromise the model's pose. The model arrives at the studio nicely dressed, sits on a podium so everyone can see the model with a lamp turned on to highlight the face and gives us a simple pose so that all the artists attending can have a nice and beautiful view of the model. Here's where we lose some of the model's character and all the artists know and understand this. We use this time to practice our skill, to have the opportunity to produce art, and to take time out of our busy lives to be amongst artists and friends. It's a compromise all the artists understand and accept.

So how can we capture a model's character in a portrait? Well, the other day I saw Sara at a local mom-n-pop style restaurant. She was working there taking food orders from customers. Sara looked appropriate for the working environment: casually dressed, hair bundled up in a pony tail, wearing eyeglasses with a beautiful decorative frame and when I saw Sara smiling, talking to customers and taking orders on a notepad, the first thing that came to mind was, “this is the type of portrait I want to capture”. Here is were I believe a portrait artist captures a person's true character, when people are themselves in their environment.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Sweeney Todd and Still Life Drawing

2011-03-26T13:59:00.001-07:00

Not too long ago, I was hooked on listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince while I created my still life drawings. Now while I draw, I’m hooked on listening to the Sweeney Todd movie sound track, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. This movie is directed by Tim Burton, with actors Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter. I’ve seen this movie, it’s intense! But the soundtrack I find pleasant to listen to and has a good tempo for me to create art.

So I listened to Sweeney Todd sound track while I created this piece. The scene is from my mom’s kitchen. Most of the objects were already there, I added a few items and took some things out to simplify it. What caught my attention in this scene was the tile, I like the effect tile gives my drawings, and I also like how these objects are together but don’t relate.

But the main reason I sat down to draw this scene is that it tells a story, there is a lot going on. The toys, tomatoes, cleanser, windowsill, faucet and tile gives us clues and a feeling of what day to day living is like in this environment.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Palm Tree Drawing, Redlands California

2011-03-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

I’m often thinking about the next pieces I’m going to share on my blog. Usually it’s one I recently created and I have a lot of those, but lately I’ve been looking through my work from the last three years and I came across some summer urban landscape drawings that brought back nostalgic memories of drawing in beautiful warm summer days in southern California.

I remember clearly creating this piece, one of my favorites. I had this one hanging next to my bed, It was the first thing I looked at in the morning, I would lay in bed looking at this piece and think about the next drawing locations for that day. This scene is located in Redlands, California, corner of Fern Ave and Cajon St, a great town with a lot of beautiful historic homes.

I remember having perfect weather for drawing, a good spot for setting my lawn chair and a lot of palm trees. That summer I sketched a lot of urban landscapes; all the drawing had the iconic southern California palm tree. I was on a palm tree kick, but I couldn’t draw a palm tree by itself, it had to have a good environment; so buildings, houses, streets, old cars, next to palm trees were often scenes I found provided a good visual environment to draw.

I sketched this in three sessions, late afternoon on a clear sunny day. I would sketch for about 2-3 hours, around 3pm to get lower light and cast shadows. It was also a little bit cooler at this hour and the summer days are long so I had plenty of light. I sketched in 2-3 hour sessions because the shadows would change as the sun set. I would patiently sketch for a couple hours and come back the next day until completion. This one took three days. I used a big art pad, 17” x 21”.

Looking at this piece really makes me miss California. I’m looking forward to going back someday with my drawing pad, pencils and lawn chair.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 17" x 21"

Portrait of Young Woman

2011-03-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

I attend Saturday morning Al Hyter portrait group in Toledo, Ohio. They have two new models, but since it’s a two-hour session I focused on drawing one model. I first created the ¾ view then created the profile. It was cold in the room so my arms and hands felt a little stiff but I still had a good time drawing these two nice pieces.

I feel all my recent drawing is paying off because I felt comfortable drawing these portraits. I was confident creating the cross hatch texture, proportions, sighting, and composition. It’s a good feeling for me. I’m looking forward to next Saturday’s portrait session; I’ll focus on drawing the 2^ndmodel.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Drawing Foreshortening is Fun

2011-03-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

This was the long pose for Wednesday night's open figure drawing session at Geiger Studios. We had a male model and this was my view of the model when the pose was chosen, a lot of foreshortening!

Foreshortening is fun and frustrating at the same time. The fun part is in the accomplishment and in the problem solving of drawing the body going away from you while communicating that to the viewer.

The frustrating part is the challenge: drawing the objects closer to me bigger and the drawing the objects farther from me smaller. I know the feet aren’t that big on the model and I know the head arms and hands aren’t that small but I have to let go of reason, make my proportion measurements, and focus on drawing what I see, not what I know about the human body. So I draw the feet bigger because they are closer to me and I draw the head arms and hands smaller because they are farther away from me and trust it will work out at the end, and it does. Visually, this drawing works, you understand a human figure is lying down. It’s so cool.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

How I Cheat In My Drawings

2011-03-06T05:47:00.000-08:00

I had a great drawing session at last Wednesday night's Paul Geiger Studio figure drawing session. We had a new model. Paul started the session with a few short 5-minute poses for the crowd to warm up. Then a long pose was set up on the high platform. I like the visual effect of when the model is positioned high for drawing. The drawing usually has a grand feeling, as if you’re looking up at a building or mountain.

The model's pose was on a chair. I like the model seated for several reasons: first, the pose fits my drawing page; I can draw the scene bigger. If she was standing, then the pose would take up more of my page and I would have to draw her smaller to fit. Another reason is I liked the chair the model was seated on because I can use it as a tool for getting the proportions to the model correct.

This is when I feel like I’m cheating because the chair makes drawing the model so much easier. I use the negative shapes of the chair (the space between the legs of the model and legs of the chair). These shapes help me determine the proportions of the model easily. Sometimes people will say “Wow, that looks difficult; you're a good artist” and I usually respond “It's easy. I’m not drawing the model, I’m drawing the negative space”. If I draw all the negative shapes correct, then the figure starts to appear and I continue by drawing in positive shapes (the model).

These two drawings are of the same pose but from different angles, 30 minutes each. They were fun and rewarding to create. Plus Paul played good tunes starting with classical music, then some Dave Brubeck, and ending with Elvis Costello.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Drawing Still Life with View Finder

2011-03-03T07:26:00.001-08:00

Here’s a recent drawing I enjoy looking at. I’m still trying to find interesting ways to draw my nephew’s shoes, and this is a drawing that I think works. It is a busy scene. I like that, and I like how all the simple shapes of the fruit compliment the child’s playful shoe.

Drawing a scene like this can be overwhelming because there is so much I want to fit on the drawing page in a certain way. I wanted to make sure I got the left side of the shoe in, the banana and only part of the fruit bowl. I decided to crop the fruit bowl because if I sketched in the entire bowl, it would have made the shoes and other fruit proportionally small on my page.

So how do I decide how to crop the scene? There are several ways I do this. Lately I’ve been using a viewfinder that is proportional to my drawing page. (See sample picture below). I like this little artist tool; it’s quick and easy. If the scene is overwhelmingly busy and I want to only focus on a certain part of the scene then looking through this tool to determine sections I want to focus on really works. It helps me see the compositions within the page size in mind and helps me see the positive and negative shapes that come to the edge of the pages.

Here’s a picture of how I use it. It’s an easy tool to use. You move it forward and back to see how the composition will look on your page. There are many other ways to do this: sometimes I just visualize the edges then just start drawing and wait for final result. Or I can stretch out my arm, close one eye and visually align my pencil along the top, bottom sides of still life I want to draw, or I’ll us my hands to make a square with my fingers, this sometimes works. Whatever it takes, I just want to pick that composition so I can start drawing.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Music and Figure Drawing

2011-02-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

At the last Wednesday night figure drawing session, I was thinking about how we listen to music while we figure draw. Paul Geiger organizes the drawing sessions, directs the models and selects the music. He starts the drawing session with classical music then after the mid break he plays something contemporary with vocals, sometimes edgy, rough, and expressive. Last week was Bob Dylan, and week before that was old blues. Paul has played the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Tom Petty, a lot of amazing albums.

Paul never asks us what we want to hear, he picks the music and we listen, it’s good he picks because I’ve discovered there’s a lot of nice music I never would have thought to listen to while I draw. In the figure drawing sessions I often find myself tapping my feet, humming, and quietly singing along. And if you look around you’ll see other artist doing the same. At the last figure drawing session we listened to Elton John, it was great!

I’ve sketched at figure drawing sessions were there is no music. I think that’s good too, I still produced good drawings. But there’s something about listening to the right music while I draw that I feel inspires and motivates me, it seems to add to the drawing experience. I get a joyous feeling that I can draw forever, and a feeling that at that moment, I am living my life to it’s fullest.

What's your favorite music to listen to while you draw/paint/create art?

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Gathering Art Work for a Portfolio

2011-02-24T21:41:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've been working on putting a portfolio of my recent work together. I'm doing this because I'm visiting fine art schools in the east coast. I want to apply to graduate schools to earn an MFA (Masters of Fine Arts).

It's not easy picking twenty of my best pieces for a portfolio. I like my work, I am proud of it, so looking through my drawings and paintings from the last couple years to pick the best work has been tough.

Here are two older pieces that caught my eye: I like the fresh sketch feeling these two drawings have, and I thought they were nice pieces. I think I draw so much that perhaps I get immune to my drawings and get caught up in the production and technical part of it that I don't see the beauty in my work. It's not until I have set it aside, forgotten about it, then later revisit my work that I say "Wow! what a beautiful piece, did I really do that?" I think that's when I truly enjoy my work.

So what schools am I interested in? There are a lot of schools with impressive programs. Two I want to really visit are NYAA (New York Academy of Art) and PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art). Impressive programs, I'm looking forward to touring the schools and talking to the faculty and students soon.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Toy Penguin and Loafers

2011-02-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

"Hay! What's this penguin doing inside this shoe?" This is exactly what my 4 year old nephew, JD, said to this drawing. I didn't think much of it when I saw JD looking at this piece. He usually doesn't respond to my drawings, but with this one he got it. All of a sudden, he looked up at me, put his little index finger on my drawing and responded! "Hay! What's this penguin doing inside this shoe?" He made my day, I laughed, I loved his response.

These are JD's loafers, I've been wanting to draw them. They are so cute, and I've been wanting to incorporate some of JD's toys into my drawings. JD has a lot of toys, so I didn't want to think too much about selecting a toy, so I grabbed this penguin. It caught my attention, it's a character from the animated film Madagascar by Dreamworks. So I quickly put this still life together and started drawing.

I liked JD's response because when I begin a drawing I try to make sure it communicates clearly, I don't want to confuse the viewer or have them wonder what it is they are looking at. So seeing a child understanding my drawing on paper was a big compliment.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 11" x 14"

Low Turnout at Figure Drawing Session

2011-02-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday night, I attended the open figure drawing session at Paul Geiger studios and I was surprised to see a low turn out. So strange because usually a good crowd shows up. I really didn't mind, for me it meant more options of drawing the model from different sides of the room. Though it's nice to have a large crowd, there's always that intense feeling of concentration that radiates when a big group is drawing the model. And I really like the camaraderie I feel in a group of artists, everyone with similar interests of improving their drawing skills and drawing because they enjoy it.

Here's a drawing from Wednesday night, this was a 10 minute pose. Paul hired a male model, it was a good drawing session. Paul played classical music and Bob Dylan.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Kitchen Countertop Still Life Drawing

2011-02-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite still life drawings. I've been wanting to post this one for a while. I like it when I create these types of drawings, they are really busy and fill the page.

Now, I believe there is a very important part to these types of drawings that brings everything together and helps make it successful and that is in drawing the tile pattern.

I discovered the beauty of tiled kitchen countertops when I lived in an old house in El Monte California. That's were I first started drawing kitchen scenes and where, for the first time, I sketched in the tile in my drawing and made an amazing discovery! The tile pattern visually added an amazing feeling to my drawing: it filled the page, it added a better scene of perspective, it placed the still life items on a solid foundation, and most importantly, it added a stronger three dimensional feeling.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Drawing Father n Son Nike Air Jordans

2011-02-14T06:15:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been been making still life drawings of shoes. This drawing is of the Classic Nike Air Jordan's, the small ones belong to my 4 year old nephew, (he's learning to play basketball at the local YMCA) and the adult size shoes belong to his father (he's the basketball coach).

I struggled with deciding if I should post this drawing. I was concerned that it was just a drawing of shoes: big deal, kinda boring subject. But two reasons I decided to sketch this type of still life convinced me that I need to share this drawing with others.

One reason was simple: I liked the Nike Air Jordan's Basketball high tops, they are so cool! Beautifully designed: the boldness, the shoe strings, the shapes, and most important for me, I saw a challenge that made me want to prop these three items on a stand and try to create a nice bold three dimensional drawing. And trust me, it was tough.

The second reason was sentimental. When I first saw my 4-year-old nephew's basketball high tops at first glance I thought, 'how cute, they're so small". Then one can't help ponder on how innocent and new he is to this world and how father, mother, grandmother, and uncle protect, love and cherish every moment with him. I sketched father and son shoes to possibly represent that bond and I added the fruit to possibly represent god, nurture, teacher, growth and happiness.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Figure Drawing with the Right Elements

2011-02-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! Where do I begin: good model, good old blues music, good drawings, and good vibes at last nights Geiger Studios open figure drawing session. I think all these elements helped me produce a lot of nice drawings last night. I had a tough time picking a piece to share on this blog, I was in the zone, it's a great feeling.

Another element that helped me draw with lots of confidence and ease last night is practice. I've been drawing a lot lately, 2-3 hours daily, still lifes during the week, and Saturday morning portrait drawings. And before I went to last night's figure drawing session, I sat down to draw a still life for 2 hours, so I had a good warm up before the evening figure drawing session.

I strongly believe practicing my drawing daily will continue to improve my skill. It takes time to train the brain to translate what it sees to a hand drawing created on paper.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" x 17"

Table Top Random Still Life Drawing

2011-02-08T06:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a new still life drawing I really enjoyed creating. For me its' a random composition---I didn't put this still life together, it just happened. I purchased some fruit at local market for drawing in a still life. I placed the fruit on the dining room table with the intention to create a still life to draw. Well my mom made lunch and she moved everything on the table to the side and when I came to eat lunch this is what I saw on the table. I liked it, I couldn't have come up with it on my own.

Objects and items I wouldn't normally put together on a still life all of a sudden created a nice composition. After lunch, I sat down to draw this scene. I did take out a few items to simplify it, and I purposely included the large white space on bottom to compliment the busy top section and for the viewer to possibly understand that all these items had been pushed aside.

I like it when I find these random compositions. I learn a lot from them. One lesson is my drawings don't necessarily have to stick to a theme to be successful. Drawing these types of scenes with random objects also creates interesting responses and feelings from people viewing my art.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE, GRAPHITE ON PAPER 14" X 17"

portrait Drawing Male Teenager

2011-02-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

Today we had two new models at the Al Hyter portrait drawing group in Toledo Ohio, Joseph and Jessie, two teenagers with their own unique character. This portrait is of Joseph, he has a great hair style for drawing. I like the way the length of his hair makes a nice shape for drawing. His hair is parted at the face so it frames his eyes, nose, lips and chin. I really enjoyed creating Joseph's portrait. Next Saturday I'll sketch the other model, Jessie.

Good drawing music was played at the portrait drawing session today:

Fiddler on The Roof
Simon & Garfunkel
Ray Davies

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Still Life Drawing With a Slow Tempo

2011-02-03T06:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a recent still life drawing I really like! One thing that helps me create these nice still life drawings is setting a pace. For still life drawings, I like to have a slow tempo music, something that can keep me calm. I stay away from Latin salsa and rock music, or even classical music. Lately what I have been listening to is the movie Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. I have it recorded on the cable box and as soon as I start to draw a still life, I kick on Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince.

This movie has a nice pace, all the dialog and the music is very mellow, perfect for drawing. I also like the visual mood of the movie; it's dark, Gothic and has that classic castle look. So I'll turn this movie on and listen to it while I draw, and sometimes I'll take a break and watch a little Harry Potter.

Well, it's still cold outside and I feel like drawing so I think I'll go look for a still life to draw in the kitchen and listen to Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Drawing Still Lifes in the Winter Season

2011-02-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

I've been drawing a lot of still lifes. I could easily post 2 drawings a day, 7 days a week for this whole month with just still life drawings of fruit and kitchen scenes. One main reason I'm motivated to draw a lot is the weather. I'm in Toledo Ohio and the weather out is bitter cold with snow so not much to do outdoors for me but work inside on drawings during the day when I'm not working on illustrations. I am grateful for the weather, it's making me produce a lot of work and I notice my drawings skills are improving.

Well, just got done shoveling snow, and more snow is expected for this evening so I'm going to sit down and draw a still life.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Full Figure Portrait Drawing of Heather

2011-01-30T07:07:00.001-08:00

Here's one of my drawings of Heather from yesterday's Al Hyter portrait session. This was Heather's last modeling session. A good crowd of artists showed up. Everyone produced nice pieces, and Bruce the organizer played some interesting folk music.

The portrait sessions are two hour, so the first hour I created a close up portrait of Heather. Then in the second hour I decided to created a full figure portrait. Here's where all the figure drawing sessions I've attended at Geiger Studios comes in handy: sketching this full figure with chair in 20 minutes came easy to me. I approached this drawing like I would a nude figure drawing. I started with a gesture drawing to make sure the figure would fit and that all main shapes were proportional, then I began to add detail and tone. Creating this piece was rewarding, it's a reminder that I have to keep attending these drawing session and draw daily on my own to improve my drawing skills. It's what it takes for me to become a better skilled artist.

I'm already looking forward to next Saturday's new model.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Figure Drawing of Seated Elderly Man

2011-01-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

I had a great time figure drawing last night at Geiger Studios. I think it has to do with the good music Mr. Geiger played while we were drawing, The drawing sessions are three hours, so the first half of the session was classical music and then the last half was Simon and Garfunkel, which provided a good beat and drawing mood. I still have the Bridge Over Troubled Waters tune in the head.

Our model did a great job modeling. We went straight into a long pose, no short 5 minute gesture poses, just one pose for the whole three hours. Giving artists plenty of time to work on a piece and complete it. I stuck to 20-30 minutes per drawing. I don't like to work on a drawing more than that, so I moved around the model and made several drawings. Above are a few of the drawings I created.

One thing that made this drawing session interesting was that the model was placed on a really high platform, about 5 feet off the ground, so all the artists seated around the platform are looking up at the model. Notice I was able to draw the bottom of the chair. Putting the model up high gives the drawings a grand feeling, as if you're looking up at a building or a giant.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Sketch Study of Fruit Pears

2011-01-25T07:42:00.001-08:00

The local super markets, like Krogers or Andersons, have been carrying a lot of nice produce especially a nice selection of pears. Lately pears have caught my eye...they have a nice simple shape to draw and they have character.

I really enjoy drawing fruit, I find still life drawings of fruit can have advantages over drawing a portrait or a figure model. One advantage in drawing fruit is that it's more forgiving then drawing a portrait. I can get away with not drawing a pear exactly how it looks. Besides, a still life of fruit will not get tired nor move like models do.

A big advantage to drawing a still life is taking my time creating the piece, or take breaks and come back to the drawing later in the day or the next day, giving me plenty of time to complete a piece. Now I can't get too excited, since there is one disadvantage: fruit will decompose, so I can't take too long to begin or complete a piece.

Figure Drawing the Female Nude Back

2011-01-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday, I attended the open figure drawing session at Paul Geiger Studios in Toledo, Ohio. Paul had Andrea modeling, I like when Andrea models, she creates nice challenging poses and she always looks relaxed. I created a lot of nice pieces Wednesday night of Andrea, the one I share above was one of my favorites. I like it because the pose looks so simple but trust me, it had its challenges. Sometimes the simplest poses are the most difficult. This drawing is mostly of the model's back, an arm, hand, a little of her leg, foot and profile; it's a very simple pose. The challenge here was making this sketch work with just a few figure elements.

For me the secret to making this drawing successful was including the surface Andrea was sitting on. When Andrea took off her robe, she placed it on the raised platform to sit on. I'm glad she did this because it was like placing a picnic blanket down on the floor, it helped create depth and perspective. The blanket helped in making her look seated, a viewer could understand that her leg and foot was going away from us just beyond the edge of the blanket.

I remember thinking of moving to another chair when Andrea created this pose with her back to me. Sometimes I get caught up in thinking that figure drawing is always viewed from the front or side, and that the models back is too simple or boring or not challenging enough to draw, but I'm glad I stuck with this pose. I learned a lot from this one and the end result was rewarding.

Squash and Fruit Sketch

2011-01-18T16:09:00.001-08:00

On these winter days when I'm not drawing portraits or nude figures, I find time at home to draw still lifes. Lately my still life subjects are fruit, squash, and vegetables and items that catch my attention in the kitchen. I like drawing fruits and veggies...my favorite section of a supermarket like Krogers, Safeway, or Walmart is the produce department. It's exciting for me to see so many natural vibrant colors and beautiful shapes. It's kinda silly but I do spend some time in the produce section marveling at how amazing fruits and vegetable are: red apples, avocados, tomato, pears, pineapples, bananas, peppers, carrots, broccoli, etc...

Click on still life image to enlarge.

Profile Sketch of Heather

2011-01-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

I attended the Saturday morning Al Hyter portrait drawing/painting session. It was the model's 2nd of four sessions, her name is Heather and she did a great job holding her pose and maintaining a smile which is not easy. I created several portrait drawings of Heather and the profile sketch I am posting here is the last one I created. I feel this is the best one of the batch; it has a nice loose sketch feel. I captured her character and out of the portrait drawings I created of Heather for the 2nd session, this is the drawing that is closest to her appearance.

Seems like my first drawing is always my warm-up drawing. I loosen up and get in my drawing mood. Usually my first drawing never looks as loose or as nice as my 2nd or 3rd drawing, but sometimes my 2nd or 3rd drawings don't come out well either. This is when I need to remember that I also draw to improve my drawing skills. I say this because it can be frustrating when that 1st and sometimes that 2nd drawing aren't looking good. I do believe that every drawing is a learning experience and always makes my drawing skills better for future drawings.

Foreshortening Female Figure Drawing

2011-01-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

Hi. Last night I attended Paul Geigers Studios open figure drawing session in Toledo, Ohio. I had a great time! A great crowd showed up, I met cool new artists, and I produced some nice figure drawings.

Here are two pieces from last night. The small drawing on the left was from a series of 5-minute poses that started the session. The large drawing on the right was a 25 minute pose. It's a classic reclining figure drawing pose from models. I've sketched this pose many times and it never gets old. It feels like it never gets any easier to draw either.

A lot of foreshortening here. It's tricky from the start because the image is wider then it is tall--believe it or not. It's such an optical illusion. If you measure from the outer edge of her right hand to the outer edge of her left knee, that length is longer than from the top of her head to the bottom of her toe. it's so important to get these dimensions right for this figure drawing to work. Foreshortening is always a good challenge.

Last night's model was new at Geiger Studios but experienced from other drawing studios. Every pose she created was nice and did a great job holding still. Thanks, Paul, for finding good models, keeping the drawing space warm, and for the cheese, crackers, popcorn and wine at break time. I also enjoyed the classical music during the first half and Beach Boys music during the second half. That was an interesting music combo.

3/4 Portrait Sketch of Young Women

2011-01-09T19:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years! here's my first portrait drawing for 2011! I created it at the Saturday morning Al Hyter Portrait Drawing Group in Toledo Ohio. It was a good session, I had fun drawing the model, I liked the way her short hair style had a nice simple shape for sketching, I also really liked sketching her scarf, it added nice shapes to the drawing. I was also impressed with how still the model sat because it was so cold in the room, even my hands were stiff from the coldness. The model is scheduled for three more Saturdays so I'll be posting more portrait drawings of this model from different angels.

2011 is going to to be an awesome year! I'm planning on drawing and painting a lot!

Mr. Sincero - Tattoo Artist

2010-11-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a portrait of Sincero, owner of Ink Creations Tattoo Studio in Quebradillas Puerto Rico. Again, it was fun and a challenge drawing Sincero. He wanted me to add his hands and the tattoo tool. I understand, he's a artist and want show his medium, but for me it makes it more complicated and more time. it's like creating three drawings, the face and the hands with tool and of course the tattoos on the hands. Sincero did a great job sitting still and this was the result.

Sincero had this piece nicely framed and hangs in the shop. Thank you Ink Studio Creations, it's an honer.

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Me drawing at Ink Studio Creations, Quebradillas, Puerto Rico

Tattoo Artist Portrait Drawing

2010-11-05T10:57:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted on my blog in a while, feels good to share some new work. In my home town of Quebradillas, Puerto Rico there's a tattoo shop. I walked in and asked the tattoo artist if I can do a portrait sketch of them and they were interested. Here are two portraits i really liked, it was fun drawing this person. I like all the detail of the piercings, the glasses, the goatee, and the tattoo gun. it just adds more depth to piece. It also helped that the tattoo artist stood still.

I've been wanting to draw in a tattoo shop, I don't know why i took so long to ask, they are artist and customers come in with an appreciation for tattoo art so i discovered it's a perfect environments for drawing portraits. I've sketched a lot of portraits at this shop of customers. There's a lot of cool interesting characters that visit this tattoo shops. I'll post more soon.

Plantain & Pears Sketch

2010-07-03T13:22:00.001-07:00

Hi, I haven't posted in a long time. I've been busy working on illustration projects, surfing and working at local SurfSchoolPuertoRico.com and SurfCampPR.net. it's been fun, tiring, and I now have a nice tan :). Here's a sketch i created a couple days ago to get into the still life drawing mode. I'm right now drawing portrait illustrations for a client so last night I was inspired to visited cousins to draw their portraits, it was fun, they got a kick out of me drawing quick sketches of them. I'll prep and post them soon on this blog. Hope everyone is well, keep in touch.

Cheers,

Bernard Garcia

Bananas & Tomatoes in Puerto Rico

2010-04-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Here's my first drawing I created since I arrived last week in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. I've been wanting to draw but I've been so busy settling in, cleaning my studio and working on projects.

In the evenings, I visit family and I always bring my pad to draw but by then I'm tired and motivation is low. Last night was different, though. I arrived at my aunt's house and I thought, no excuses, sit down and draw and I did. It's always tough to get started, especially after a long day, high humidity and mosquitoes! It's so much easier simply lounging on the front-porch hammock. But once I started a quick gesture sketch to block in the shapes, I got hooked and was determined to finish.

It felt good to finish a piece, it always reminds me how much I enjoy drawing. Plus my family members would walk by and watch me, they thought it was cool. One cousin was cleaning table and moved two tomatoes while I was drawing, I looked up and they were gone! I was shocked and I expressed myself, he apologized and put them back.

I actually worked up a sweat on this sketch, it's different drawing in high humidity, my paper felt different, it doesn't feel crisp like in dry climate and my graphite pencils really felt soft so i would lose my sharp tip fast, and if I pressed too hard my paper would burnish. I approached this drawing like a figure and portrait drawing: with a quick gesture sketch to block-in shapes and to fill the page, then slowly began building tone, added depth with overlapping thick and thin lines, and always kept in mind negative shapes, composition, and design.

Two full Figure Female Portrait Drawings

2010-04-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Saturday morning portrait drawing sessions that I attend has two new models for the next four weeks. One is a young ballerina seated and the other is a casually dressed young woman curled up on a chair. Both poses are nice and since the session is only two hours, I made sure to spend an hour drawing each model. I first created the drawing on the right, the model chose this pose and I like it because it fit my drawing page well. I was able to draw her bigger so it has a bold look to it. Plus the arms to the chair add depth. I like the way the arm chair wraps around her.

On the 2nd hour I sketched the ballerina, it's a nice pose. I ran into a challenge with drawing her, I couldn't get her ballerina shoes right, it drove me nuts. I don't know why, finally after several attempts I sketched a nice looking ballerina shoe, and I'm bummed I wasn't able to fit the tip of her right shoe.

As always there was a good crowed and the DJ played soundtrack to Wicked! Cool musical!

•

I was a little sad at this portrait session because I knew I wouldn't be back to continue drawing these two models. Soon I'll be returning to my studio in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico. I am excited for my trip but also sad because I will miss my family, my friends, and the drawing groups. I will continue posting drawings I create in Puerto Rico. I will also be creating paintings and will post them as well. I believe I'll return to Toledo end of summer. Thank you Toledo, Ohio. I had a great winter here! :)

Portait Drawing of 1980's Teenage woman

2010-04-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

This is the other model from Saturday morning's portrait drawing session. The portrait session hires two models for 4 weeks and I spent the 1st three drawing portraits of my friend AJ. On this last session I finally sat in front of this model and made several portrait drawings, she was dressed 1980's style. It was fun sketching her, I wish I had done a painting of her because her outfit was very colorful.

I created the full figured portrait on the right side first in about 40 minutes. I really enjoyed drawing that one, I thought the leg warmers were a good touch. The portrait on the left was 25 minutes, and I created it towards the end of class. It was rushed and you can tell, the eyes on this one aren't right and I lost my highlights on the pupils, so they now look dark and hollow. Lessons learned, I need to make sure I leave a little high light on the eyes.

I still had a great portrait drawing session, the crowd was nice, one of the artists brought Monavie juice drinks that were delicious, and the boom box played a James Taylor live concert recording.

Figure Drawing of Large Woman

2010-04-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

Last night's evening figure drawing session was challenging. I like it when this person models because I can feel my drawing concentration intensifying. When ever I draw her I realize how easy it is for me to sketch the petite female models we've had in the past.

Lately I've been drawing the full figure with all my figure drawings. I remember when I used to focus my drawing on certain part of the pose, but now I draw the figure within the edges of the page. i like this because It forces me to make proportion measurements, its more challenging, and I believe drawing the full figure every time makes my drawing skills and technique progress evenly.

I created several drawings at this session and they all came out nice. I chose these two to post, the drawing on the top left is a 5 minute pose and the drawing on the right is a 40 minute pose. I started with a gesture drawing to help me quickly block in the shapes of the model, I made proportion measurements, and sketched in the negative shapes. I also sketched in the chair to help me with proportions and to add depth and perspective to my drawing.

I had a great session, the evening weather was pleasant, a good company of artists attended, and the boom box played classical music for the 1st half and Nils Lofgren for the 2nd half.

Portrait sketch & drawing of my friend Adrian

2010-03-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

I attended the Saturday morning drawing group and my friend AJ was modeling again. This time I feel I created a nice drawing that captures AJ's true likeness. It's never 100% exact but it's what I try to achieve with my drawing style.

I made a couple drawings and I picked these three to post. The drawing on the left took me about 40 minutes to create. Then I created the two quick sketches on the right, about 8-10 minutes each. I wish I had more time to complete these but I like them because you can see my method for drawing a portrait. I quickly sketch the light lines that are horizontal and vertical to help me align features of the face to slowly achieve the likeness I'm looking for.

You can also see circles or ovals, I use them as short cuts to add tone or highlights. I sketch the ovals to quickly block in areas of the portrait that change in gradation. The lamp that provides the light is coming from above so I may quickly sketch an oval on the highlighted area and not add any tone. On the side of the face and bottom, the tone is changing so I'll quickly add ovals with crosshatch lines as tone to block in those areas.

I also add ovals to create a surface plane, giving a feeling of depth. Notice ovals are different from top to bottom, I try to draw them in perspective.

I'm happy with these drawings, I had a good session. A lot of artist showed up, and the jukebox played good music: James Taylor, and Irish fiddle music, which always takes me back to the Pacific North West :).

Traditional Graphite Drawing of Young Woman

2010-03-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

I attended the weekly Wednesday evening figure drawing session and again I produced some nice drawings. I definitely believe the environment has a lot to do with my success in creating these drawings, the sessions are held on the top floor of an old four story brick warehouse near downtown Toledo. The adventure begins when climbing a long stairwell to the top floor that seams to always leave me out of breath. It's impressive to enter a real aged artist studio with weathered wooden floors, several large hand printing presses, high ceilings, artwork and posters on the walls, it just feels like it's been there a long time. The figure drawing space is large and sectioned off by large plastic walls to contain the warmth from the heaters and has more artist stuff: old art frames, easels, large schoolhouse chalkboard, old furniture, good lighting, a large model stand, a good sound system and a large chubby cat! This creative environment sets the tone for creating good art, and last night there was a cool crowd of artists, a nice model, and of course, good music.

Here are two drawings I chose to post, the sketch on the right is a 5 minute pose and the drawing on the left is a 30 minute pose, and the center drawing is a closeup portrait of the left side drawing. The model did a great job holding her poses, and the music was nice: old church hymns for the 1st half and Tom Petty's greatest hits for the 2nd half!

Portrait Drawing Young African American Man

2010-03-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

This portrait drawing is of my friend AJ. He's modeling at the Saturday portrait drawing session for a couple weeks. Drawing AJ's portrait has been difficult.

These two drawings I'm posting do look good but compared to the model there are subtleties that I missed. Drawing portraits are difficult and it's the main reason I attend these sessions--for the challenge, and for practice.

I have attended many portrait drawing sessions and I believe they have made me a more skilled artist. AJ will be back next Saturday, hopefully I can draw one that captures his true likeness.

Reclining Female Nude Figure drawing

2010-03-17T19:46:00.001-07:00

WOW! I just returned from an awesome figure drawing session! I was definitely in the zone and created some really nice drawings. I don't know what it was about this drawing session; the good weather, or the nice music, or the fantastic model, or all three, but I felt focused and was having a good time. Plus they played nice Classical music and Irish music.

The session was started with several 5 minute poses, which were all wonderful poses, full of energy and emotion. The 5 minute poses really warmed me up and set my mind straight for the long poses. I was able to complete three drawings with the long pose and here is one of them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I'm still feeling fired up :)

Foreshortening Female Figure Drawing

2010-03-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

Hi, here are two sample drawings from a figure drawing session I attended last night. It started with several 5 minute poses as warm-ups, then one long pose for the rest of the evening. Out of several drawings I created, I chose to post these two. The sample on the right was 5 minutes and the sample on the left was the long pose.

The long pose had a lot of foreshortening from where I was viewing it, so I found myself taking longer to complete this piece than usual. I've done plenty of drawings with foreshortening, I enjoy them and they are challenging. I learned a lot from this drawing, I made a lot of proportions and alignment measurements with my pencil and this was the result.

On the 5 min pose, as always it's not enough time! At the end of 5 minutes the timer chimes and I always curse it, saying to myself "just 5 more minutes". The drawing is always unfinished and well I admit that's good because it FORCES me away from the drawing giving it that fresh, quick, unfinished, in progress sketch look. It's love-hate for me when it comes to 5 minute poses.

Hope you like these two drawings, feel free to let me know what you think of them.

Kitchen Scene Still Life Drawing

2010-03-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hi, when I'm not figure drawing or portrait drawing I'm home practicing in the kitchen with still life drawings. These are fun. I've done a lot of still life drawings. They have really helped my drawing skills. When I draw still lifes, I try not to create the scene. I like walking into the kitchen and look for nice natural set up of kitchen objects. I've tried setting up a kitchen still life scene and it often looks too obvious that I set it up, doesn't look natural. So I walk in the kitchen and search. When I find what I like, I might take out a few elements to make it simpler and then start drawing. These take me about an hour.

One thing I like about kitchens are tile counter tops. Tiles help give my drawing depth, a nice 3D effect.

Bust Drawing - Guitar Player Man

2010-03-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

Here's another drawing I created at The Toledo Portrait Artist Group, Saturday mornings 9am-12pm. They hire two models for 4 weekends giving the artists plenty of time to complete a painting. Next Saturday will be the model's last posing session. I'll miss the guitar player, he plays good James Taylor tunes.

When I attend portrait sessions, I enjoy creating drawings of the models. Some of the members use paint, some use charcoal, but I like using a sharp Ebony pencil and Strathmore drawing paper, I feel these two mediums help me develop better drawing skills quickly. Plus I like pencil and paper because I can set up fast, move around the model easily and I can often finish several pieces in one session.

I've really enjoyed drawing the guitar player. This Saturday I decided to sketch him from straight on and it was more difficult then I thought. It was a challenge to draw the hands, guitar and face proportionally on one page. I finished at the tail end of the session, with not enough time to start a new drawing so I sketched a quick profile of the model on the right side of this drawing.

Figure Drawings/Sketches Slideshow

2010-02-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

Hi, I discovered a way to present several of my figure drawings at once. I created this Youtube slide show. It contains a good amount of my figure drawings and a couple of portrait drawings I recently created.

I'm so proud of these, they are all beautiful pieces. You can hear me speaking on this slide show. I explain a little of my process and how long it takes me to create the pieces. All drawings are graphite on
Strathmore drawing paper.

Thank you for viewing my slide show. I'm working on another slideshow on how I draw still lifes. Hopefully available by next week.

Portrait Drawing - Male Guitar Player

2010-02-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

I attended a portrait drawing session this morning, I had a great time and completed this nice piece. I decided to position my
Strathmore Drawing Paper Pad in portrait position as opposed to landscape because I wanted to draw the head and hands bigger.

I used Ebony graphite pencils. The model sits for 20-minute sessions before breaks.

In 1st 20-minutes, I began with quick gesture drawing of head and hands to make sure both elements were going to fit. Then I sketched in head.
In 2nd 20-minutes, I started sketching the hands.
In 3rd and 4th 20-minutes, I worked on detailing both head and hands and building the contrast.

This was the result. I'm happy with it. O ya, I forgot to mention I created this piece while listening to good country music :)

Female Figure Drawing

2010-02-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I haven't posted a drawing in a long time. I was on a dry spell but now I'm back and motivated.

I'm right now in Toledo, Ohio with family and I've been attending figure drawing sessions. Here's a figure drawing from last night session that I'm proud of. I had a great time. I was definitely in the zone. The crowd was small, the drawing studio had a good vibe, and the model was focused. O ya, and they played Beatles music :).

This is a really low view, the model was on a tall pedestal, so it has the cool effect of viewing her from the ground up.

I created this figure drawing in graphite on Strathmore Premium drawing paper. It took me about 30 min. I did a lot of proportions measurements and sighting with my pencil for alignment. More to come.

121 Fern St, Redlands CA - SOLD

2007-10-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

What an awesome Afternoon! the lighting was low and the weather was cool and dry, perfect for drawing. I was commissioned to sketch this house and I gladly accepted. Fern street has a lot of nice houses and a lot of palm trees! I've been asked to sketch several more houses on this block so I'm looking forward to some good sketching!

This drawing had a little challenge at the end, beginning the drawing is always easy for me, it's the end that I often find challenging. when do I stop? often I force myself or I'll end up overworking the drawing. I'm discovering the best way to stop a landscape drawing is when a truck parks in front of you, or when I run out of sharp pencils. Any finishing tips out there?

PS. I decided to have a drawing blog separate from my painting a day blog. let me know what you think of the idea?

Kindest regards,

BG

Pasadena Playhouse Drawing

2007-10-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had fun this weekend, I went to Pasadena, California to buy some art supplies at Blick's and do a little urban drawing. Well it ended up with one big drawing of The Pasadena Play House! The building was beautiful with morning light so I sat for several hours. I do have to return to this location and make a painting, perhaps next weekend. This drawing is huge, 18" x 24"! took me about 5 hours.