Bridge Drawing at Central Park New York City

I am now attending the New York Academy of Art. My concentration is painting. I've been busy, excited and motivated!

On weekends, I visit Central Park. I take my lawn chair, a handful of sharp Ebony pencils and 14x17 80lb Strathmore Recycled Drawing Paper. I enjoy drawing at Central Park. The park is big and the weather has been perfect. I go early to avoid the crowds. I sit in the shade and draw the bridges.
This bridge is behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art called Graywacke Arch. I like how the bridges have a really dark shadow underneath, and that small window to the other side. This bridge had a violinist playing underneath, a perfect spot because there was a lot of people traffic.

it's not just the bridge that catches my attention. I have to also include its surroundings: the big tree, the benches, the shrubs, and people. It just wouldn't be a bridge without those elements.

Fresh Fruit Still Life Drawing on Paper

How I love to draw fruit! If you want get better at drawing I believe drawing fruit offers the fundamental shapes for building good sketching skills. Especially if you're drawing bananas, they are the most difficult to draw. They look so simple but tough to draw when trying to capture their likeness.

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New Years Still Life Sketch

Here are two sketches I created at the beginning of the year. I wanted to start with a drawing pencil in my hand. In 2013 I do want to draw and paint more. I get so busy and the days just fly by that everything else just seems to get in the way of what I really enjoy doing most. But no excuse, I have to set my priorities and at least draw and paint a little bit everyday.

I recently applied to grad school for an MFA. I applied to the New York Academy of Art and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. I submitted my application with portfolio, so now for the wait, hopefully an acceptance letter. I'm a little nervous, fingers crossed, and Insha'Allah.

I don't think I'll ever lose interest in drawing still lifes, the possibilities and drawing challenges are endless especially when drawing bananas! I believe drawing fruits and vegetables are the next best thing to drawing the human figure from life.

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Portrait Drawing: White Bearded Man

Another good Saturday morning portrait drawing session at the Al Hyter portrait group.  This model is great, he can really hold his pose well. This time around the hair on his head was a little wild, it was great for drawing: added more depth, shape, and emotion!

This drawing session was fun, I was giving tips to fellow artists on their drawings.  It's always good for me to hear myself share my views, knowledge, and techniques with others. There is so much thought I put into a portrait drawing that I'm not aware of until I start talking to others.

Here's something I do with almost all my portraits:  I like positioning my drawing pad in landscape to draw a portrait. I like a lot of white space (negative space) on both sides of the portrait drawing, it's what gives depth to the piece.

Portrait of Sara

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

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"

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"

Sketch Study of Fruit Pears

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.