Violinist Portrait Drawing & Brooklyn, New York

Here’s my last drawing in Toledo, Ohio. This is Virgil who plays for the Toledo Symphony. Virgil modeled one day for the Toledo Portrait Artists. He did an excellent job holding the pose.

I was feeling good at this session. I created two nice drawings within two hours, I was hoping to draw more but including his hand and violin in my drawing slowed me down.  Usually I just sketch the portrait but I wanted to sketch that hand and violin. Here’s when I had a great time working on this piece. I like when models wear glasses or hats or when they are holding something, so drawing the hands and top part of the violin was awesome! It adds more to the drawing, and makes it a bigger challenge. For me this is three drawings in one, the portrait, the hand and the violin, all three needed special attention.

I wish I had bigger paper for this drawing. I really wanted to keep drawing the bottom part of the violin and the other hand holding the bow. I could have sketched smaller but when I do that it loses detail and I like drawing bold and sitting up close.

I stayed focused on these drawings because we only had one 2-hr session with model. When I felt finished with the drawing, I quickly tried to sketch a profile drawing in 30 minutes. Virgil played for us at the end of class: Meditation by Thais. It was beautiful, a real treat for the artist.  Thank you, Virgil.

So I’m now living in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve got a nice place to stay, and I'm now attending classes at the New York Academy of Art! I’ll be posting my school work.

Goodbye Toledo, I will miss you, and hello New York, I’m ready for a new adventure.

Kitchen Table Fruit & Wine Still Life

Here's a recent still life drawing I created in my kitchen. Often the kitchen table is full of fruit and other kitchen stuff, so I grab my chair and look for a composition that I like and I start drawing. I might move a couple items but not too much because I want that random everyday living or everyday kitchen table feeling.

I have fun creating these drawings, they are challenging because there are so many shapes and the drawing page gets full. Hopefully my drawing can communicate clearly what I see.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

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.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

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.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

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"

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"

Palm Tree Drawing, Redlands California

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"

Toy Penguin and Loafers

"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"

Kitchen Countertop Still Life Drawing

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

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"

Table Top Random Still Life Drawing

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

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

Full Figure Portrait Drawing of Heather

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

Squash and Fruit Sketch

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.

3/4 Portrait Sketch of Young Women

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!

Tattoo Artist Portrait Drawing

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

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