The Best Figure Drawing In Toledo!

As far as I'm concerned the best figure drawing sessions in town is at Paul Geiger's Tholipon Press Studio in Toledo Ohio! I was there Wednesday evening and I produced some nice pieces. I should be giving all the credit to the model. He was excellent.

Again I sketched on newsprint paper using vine charcoal and General's 2B charcoal pencils. I'm really enjoying this medium. The session starts with a 5 minute pose so I need to work quickly, the vine charcoal is great for this because it's soft and I can quickly draw a gesture sketch of the figure, just a quick general shape of the pose. As soon as I feel I have all the basic shapes of the model I switch to the General's charcoal pencils and begin to add more detail until the time runs out. I did this for the 5, 15, 30 and 60 minute poses, the more time I had the more detail I added. By the time I reach the 30 minute pose I'm warmed up and in the drawing zone. It's a blissful feeling.

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Figure Drawing on 18x24

Where does the time go! Last night I attended Paul Giegers 3-hr figure drawing session and the time just flew by, I was in the zone. I created some nice drawings. We had an excellent model, nice bone and muscle structure, and his portrait was interesting to draw, eyebrows, nose and beard. Plus Paul played good tunes, starting with classical music and ending with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

I showed up at this session with a bigger drawing pad, 18"x 24" it's been a long time since I've sketched on this size. I've been using smaller sizes 14x17 and 11x14 because they cost less. I can complete drawings fast and the smaller size fits better on my scanner. So I was a little concerned last night showing up with bigger paper. I did use a lot of sharp pencils but didn't tire out and was able to maintain my concentration and patience.

It was nice drawing bigger. I focus more on drawing details larger on hands, face and feet. Drawing the figure's proportions was challenging too. I think I drew the head too big on the second long pose drawing. I got carried away working on the portrait details. It kinda looks like one of Rodin's sculptors.

• Large sample 25minutes pose
• Small sample (big head) 60minute pose 

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Figure Drawing Session at Gieger Studios

This was an nice drawing session. We started with 5 minute poses, these are the small samples above. I like these quick gesture drawings, they are the substance of my drawing, here's were I warm up, put my mind in the drawing zone. And most important, it's where I let go, meaning I don't get caught up on the details of the drawing. It's 5 minutes so I just draw and let the skills I've developed over the years simply do their work. 

For the final long pose, the model was placed on a high platform with lighting from above. It's the reason why my eye level is lined up with the floor and the shadow is directly under the model.

I like that the model was placed on the chair, it gives the drawing of the figure a good solid foundation. And I like the form of the chair because it adds depth to the drawing.

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Figure Drawing

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"

Excellent Drawing Session

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"

Portrait of Restaurant Owner: The Budapest

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"

Low Turnout at Figure Drawing Session

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"

Figure Drawing of Seated Elderly Man

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.

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