Bananas & Tomatoes in Puerto Rico

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.

Figure Drawing of Large Woman

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.