First Figure Drawings of 2013

It had been several months since I last attended Paul Gieger's figure drawing sessions at his downtown Toledo, Ohio studio. As always, when I come back from a break, my drawing skills feel rusty. I always want to be better with my drawing but I accept my "rustiness", it creates interesting lines, textures, and feeling. When I draw a lot, it can start to look too technical, so "rustiness" gives it that rough struggling feeling of trying hard to make the drawing look its best, perhaps more rewarding and better results this way.

The three drawings above are from one long pose. Instead of working on one drawing the whole time, I break down the time to create several drawings. I enjoy the creating process, it's the most challenging for me. So as soon as I feel the challenge is complete, I tell myself to sign it and move on so that I don't overwork the drawing. I get up, move to a new location and take on the challenge from a new spot.

It was great to see Paul, fellow artists, new artists, and the chubby cat that roams the studio. Thanks again, Paul, for providing an awesome artist environment. I believe the secret to everyone's nice drawings is the wine and cheese served at mid break! Oh, and the classical music/classic rock played.

I plan to attend the figure drawing sessions regularly for 2013. This year I want to focus more on my art; more drawing to improve my draftsmanship and painting techniques.

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Music and Figure Drawing

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"

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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Traditional Graphite Drawing of Young Woman

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!