Profile in Pastel

This is pastel drawing I made a few sessions ago at Manifest. It's been tacked to the wall for months and I felt it was time to take it down. The piece as a whole wasn't stellar, but I was happy enough with the face.

Winter Experiments

The Winter session just ended at Manifest, so I pulled some pieces off the studio wall and photographed them. This is admittedly a mixed bag, and maybe I'll work into them a bit.

I'm trying to find ways of applying the pastel without obliterating the linework or smothering it with too much rendering.

I'm also trying to improve my color. Everytime I try to push it a bit, I get something unnatural or garish.

Flashbacks

These are a couple of quick pastel drawings I did at Manifest months ago.

I particularly like the simplicity and abstract quality of this first one (above). The black lines are sensitive enough and didn't get obliterated by the chalk, which happens too often in my figures.

Fall Session

It's been a rough fall session at Manifest with one bright spot. I managed to capture this male model in crude slashes of pastel. I was paying particular attention to the values and only varied my palette in the last 10 minutes. The face could use some refining, but I'm happy with the torso the way it is.

The composition is a bit static, but when cropped, the image greatly improves, I think.

Backlit Figure

This is a drawing I finished at the end of the fall session. Having the figure backlit is a double-edged sword. It can be interesting to have the figure accentuated with a dramatic halo. On the negative side, you find yourself fumbling for certain colors in the dark, and you really don't know what you've got on the paper until the session ends. This time I was pleased.



This was also done in the late fall. I think it's a nice start, but the details in the face kept me from fully developing the image. There are some unresolved hints of color and value in the environment that need to be strengthened before I'd call this a successful sketch. Great pose though.

Reclining Figure

This is another piece created during the fall sessions at Manifest. Just about an hour and a half pose.



It's always a challenge, but I like foreshortened subjects. I like seeing long limbs transformed into compact shapes not usually associated with the human figure.

Seated Figure

The Fall session ended this week at Manifest. I liked the way this figure was going, although it could stand more contrast. I may go back to it and pump up the darks.



Eyewear really changes a drawing like this. It takes the figure out of the realm of a classical depiction and makes it look extra nude, if that makes any sense. Remember Donatello's David -the one with the hat? Same thing.