Quick Sketch of Alan Posing in Class

Pencil and White Gouache on Brown Paper,

6" x 8" , NFS

This is a quick sketch of Alan, one of the best

figure models I've ever known, in one of my

favorite quick sketching mediums - mechanical

pencil and aqua-flow brush with white gouache.

Fun! The lovely brown color of the paper didn't

come through too well in the photo, unfortunately.

Liz's Reverie

Oil on Board, 6 1/4" x 7 1/2 SOLD

This is a portrait of a young woman who used to model

for my classes several years ago. She was a very good

model, and a very nice person, though a little taciturn.

She left for the Peace Corps - I think she went to Morocco -

and that was the last I saw of her. She had such an expressive

face. Wonderful to paint.

The kimono was lent to me by a good friend, and is from

the 1920's. It is really wild. It only comes to the waist, and

then has fringe that is about 18" long, all along the hem.

I think it was meant for the boudoir...........

Thanks for visiting today.

PS. I did not do this painting in just one day - I cannot

tell a lie.

A Yellow Pear

Oil on Board, 4 3/4" x 6", $85.00 Go to eBay

I really love the yellows in this pear, and the contrast

with the blue background. Overall, I was pretty happy

with this painting. It was a nice break from some more

complicated paintings that I've been working on lately.

Sunset over St. John II

Oil on Board, 1o" x 7" SOLD

This is another view that I am obsessed with. Probably because

I haven't been there in three years. I love the Caribbean. If someone

were to ask me where I would rather go right now than anywhere on

earth, and I could choose any place, it would be the Caribbean. It i

a magical, beautiful place.

The colors in this painting did not come out well in this photograph.
They were much more luminous. The yellow was yellower, and the
pink was pinker.

I had a strange experience today. I get Chris Bolmeier's blog post.
She's a fascinating character. Does good art, can write up a storm,
has a fantastic voice - multi-talented. Well, she suggested watching a YouTube
video with Karin Jurik laying out her palette. I love those
things, so I did watch it.

It was uncanny. One by one, I watched her lay out every single
color I use on my own palette!! I should have had Twilight Zone
music playing in my head. Our work is nothing alike. (I admire
hers very much.) But, we obviously both love to have a lot of color
to work with, because she had about fifty, just like I do, and just
about the same, exact colors! Weird....but interesting.

Thanks for visiting today, and have a nice weekend.

Portrait of Mary-Elizabeth

Pastel & Carbon Pencil on Drawing Paper,
9" x 16", NFS

I love drawing Mary Elizabeth, her high,
round forehead would have been the envy
of every woman in the Renaissance. I did
this is an open life class, and was very happy
with the results. Usually I find it hard to
concentrate.

Mary is also a swimming coach, so she
is a very graceful and imaginative model,
and just wonderful to draw.

The Eastern Shore at Midday

Oil Pastel w/ Van Eyck Painting Medium on White Acrylic-

Sized Paper, 9" x 7 7/8", $100.00 Bid Here

I have a set of Sennelier oil pastels - actually I have two - one that

I have never touched because it is so beautiful I can't bare to touch

it, and another that was bought over time; piece by piece, also a Holbein

here, a Sakura there, that's been used and used.

I just love this image,

and thought I would play around with it using oil pastels. The Senneliers

are so soft, they are literally like lipstick. The Holbeins - and I forgot to

mention the Caran d'Ache, are somewhat firmer, but still incredibly

smooth and satisfying to work with.

I will put some color down, and take a deerfoot brush ( these are

brushes that I used for blending in oil painting) and dip it into a

tube of Sennelier Van Eyck Painting Medium (gelatinous but delicate),

and you can push the oil pastel around with this, and blend it together.

It is really fun.

Sometimes I feel really serious about my work, and sometimes I think

it brings out my (caution: over-used word alert - ) "inner child". I'm

planning on doing a series of figure paintings next, and they are very

demanding, so that is probably why I am doing this, and why I did the

pears yesterday. Just something light, and.....entertaining.

Thanks so much for visiting today.

Two Bosc Pears in a Blue Light

Oil on Gessoed Rag Board, 8" x 7 3/8", $100.00 Bid Here

These pears were painted on a piece of rag board that had been

covered with pink gesso. I love the slight irridescent appearance

caused by laying the blue glaze over the pink. I think one of the

reasons I love oil paint so much is that it is so versatile, and you

can do so many different things with it: use it thickly, smoothly,

tranluscently (called a "half-paste" - see Titian), transparently

(a glaze), or whatever else you can think of. As long as you are

careful with your mediums and solvents and drying times, you're

OK. It's really fun, and challenging too.

Thank you for visiting today.

Pre-Raphaelite Sophie lll

Oil on Board, 5" x 7 1/2" , $125.00 SOLD

I was excited to be able to finish this painting

today. It certainly helped that it is not very

large. I'm finding it harder and harder to find

large enough chunks of time in which I can really

concentrate.

I know you've seen this kimono before. But I

really like it. I tried to turn it away from a real

red this time, although it does not come through

in the photo. It's more like a coral. What I like

about the picture are the pearly tones in her skin.

I once did a painting of her (this is my daughter)

where I made her face pink and green like a nautilus shell.

I think I'll post it, just so you can see it. I was very happy

with it. Someone bought it a long time ago, so I don't have

it anymore. But I do have a picture of it:

Sharon Posing Seated on a Stool

Sanguine Conte Pencil on Blue Canson Laid

Paper, 8" x 11", $80.00 Bid Here

This drawing was done as a demonstration in a

figure class. It was meant to show the use of

sanguine (red) conte chalk or pencil for linear and

tonal work, and then the addition of white as

highlighting of highly illuminated areas. It is a classical

drawing technique. The demonstration part of it

explains the unfinished hands and feet, which I actually

like. It leaves something to the imagination.

Completely finished classically-rendered figures

are not something that appeal to me tremendously, but I

do love to draw!

Thanks for visiting today.

Roman Statue, "Anzio Lady", Circa 300 B.C.

Silverpoint on Pink Clay-coated Paper with White
Gouache Highlighting, 7 1/2" x 10"
I taught a small workshop at my home today called
"Exploration in Art". We will be doing four different
media altogether. Today we did silverpoint and
water-media monotypes. I did this while my students
were doing theirs. I was so happy with it, that I decided
to post it to my blog. I've always loved this statue.
She is standing up, and holding a large book. But, it
is her beautiful face and peoccupied eyes that have
always fascinated me.

I usually prepare my own silverpoint paper using
hotpress watercolor paper and a mixture of gouache
and Liquitex acrylic (colored with acrylic paint), but
this paper was given to me by a person in a church I
use to go to. She gave me a whole bunch of it. It's
a beautiful pink, and really smooth. The silverpoint
just glides over the surface, so it is really fun to draw
on.

Thanks for visiting today, and have a nice weekend.

Essence Drawing of Sharon Posing

Essence on Laid Paper, 7" x 9", $100.00 SOLD

This is another painted drawing done in the

essence technique that I've talked about in

previous posts. I wasn't crazy about the color in

this one, but I do love the pose, light, and linear

work. The paint goes on the laid paper (Ingres

paper in this case) just beautifully once the oil has

been leached out of it, and of course it dries with

no ugly oil stains around it. I love this technique!

It is great for quick sketching of the model. I will

be offering a workshop in this at The Art League

School in Alexandria, VA next School year, and

will also ge using the technique this quarter in

my figure class.

Andy No. 2, 7/7

Drypoint Etching, 2" x 3 $55.00 Bid Here

This is an image that I have gone back to several

times - which seems to be a habit that I have. If

I didn't know that it was/is common among other

artists, I'd worry about it. But some images just

sort of grab you and don't let go. This guy was

a model for my classes for a while. He was unusal,

and that is all I'll say about him. But his face in this

image has something transcendent about it, and I

was happy with the way that I caught that. I also

like the burr in his hair.

For those of you who are not that familiar with drypoint,

it is a demanding medium, that differs from etching, in that

you draw directly on the bare plate with a diamond or

carbide steel point. There is never any acid involved. Any

tone, line variation, texture, etc., all that has to be produced

with the point of your instrument. It takes a lot of practice. I have

taught many people to do it, and have found that some people are

naturally skilled in it, yet for others, it is a struggle they eventually

master if they keep at it.

People who do a lot of graphite drawing find drypoint etching

rather natural, so if you think you might be interested in doing

this, that's what you should be doing to prepare for it. Or course

you need an etching press , and printmaking paper, and ink to print

the plate. Editions from drypoint plates are not large, because the

burr (the piece of metal that is kicked up along side of the line that

you draw through the metal surface - that would be cut off by an engraver,

for instance) wears down a bit with the pressure of every printing.

Twenty prints is a large edition for drypoints!

Jaclin Posing in a Kimono

Oil on Board, 5" x 7 1/2" , $100.00 SOLD

This is another composition that I have played

around with several times. I took a series of

photos of this model in various positions quite

a while ago. I was so captivated with her long

torso and legs, and her white skin, which really

was pale like this. She owned the kimono, and

the colors weren't anything like this, but I have

fun making up the colors each time I paint her.

Creating color harmonies is one of the things

I enjoy most about painting.

When my husband and I lived in Boston in the

80's and part of the 90's, we had an architecture

and interior design business. I am not an architect -

he is - although he also went to art school... but I really

enjoyed the interior design part of it; particularly

when we had interesting, imaginative clients who

weren't afraid to experiment with color and pattern.

My own taste does not lean toward the modern in

interior design, so it was fairly easy to get along with

our clients, most of whom had a "Beacon Hill" mentality.

We got one job just because, when the woman said,

"I'm thinking of a specific color for my library", I piped

up with "Pompeiian Red?". That just happened to be it,

and we began a job that lasted two years, and included

our designing everything in her residence down to the

bookshelves, the rugs, the tiles in her bathroom, and

a mural in her dining room. That was something.

A lot of work. But, I learned a lot as well.

Thanks for visiting today.

Chincoteague Afternoon

7 1/2" x 5", Oil on Board, $100.00 BID HERE

I went to Chicoteage with my family many years ago, and I was

most fascinated by the marshy land that spread everywhere, and

the little inlets of water that would reflect the colors of the sky.

It was also fun to see the horses.

The last time we were there some of those horses were actually

wandering around on the beach trying to steal peoples' lunches

and treats, and my daughter, quite a bit younger at that point,

kept talking about "ponies gone bad". It was so funny, and we

had a wonderful day. I think this is kind of a Technicolor

Chincoteague, but, whatever. I had fun using my memory,

which was probably looking " through rose-colored glasses".

Silverpoint Head with Highlighting

6" x 8", Silverpoint on prepared, grounded

hotpress watercolor paper,

Bid Here

This is a silverpoint drawing, it was drawn

on a piece of paper that I prepared with a

ground made of a small amount of Liquitex

gesso mixed with a small amount of white

Gouache paint and then colored with cyan

and green watercolor paint. The ground is

applied with a wide, soft watercolor brush

and allowed to dry. It can be sanded if

it is too rough. You can also use straight

gesso, casein, or gouache as grounds. The

problem with gouache is that it remains

reactive to water.

It is easy to do a silverpoint drawing. All

you need is an architect's technical lead holder,

a piece of 18 guage silver wire, some masking

tape, and some very fine sand paper. You cut

a piece of silver wire about one inch long, and

wrap some tape around it so it won't wiggle

around in the lead holder. Then you place it

in the lead holder and retract the metal
"petals" that hold the lead in, and make sure

the silver doesn't wiggle.

Then, you sand the point until it is round.

This is very important, so that you won't just

rip lines in the ground. The abrasive ground

causes a little bit of silver to come off of the

wire each time you make a stroke, and

voila, you have a silverpoint drawing.

The highlighting was done with a very fine

#00 round liner-type watercolor brush and

some white gouache (often referred to as

"body color" in descriptions of old drawings).

This is really fun. You ought to try it. The silver

will oxidize over time, turning browner. If you

paint some egg yolk over it lightly, this will

accelerate the oxidation.

Thanks for visiting today.

Italian Villa Sunrise

4" x 5 1/2" , Oil over Acrylic on Board,

$100.00 SOLD

This is another version of a painting that I did

many years ago, based on a black and white

photograph I found in Italy. It is partly real,

and mostly made up.

A glaze of ultramarine blue over a thin black

acrylic sketch was the inspiration for the

"sunrise". From there it was fairly easy to imagine

what colors would be there if the sun were shining

from below...the red roof just catching the light, and

the statue catching full sun. I wish I were there now...

When I lived there I could go to the student cafeteria,

the Mensa, and get lunch or dinner for 50 cents. Those

days are long gone. I haven't been back since 1973.

But I've not lost the inspiration to still make pictures

of the place. There is no other place like it.

Back Pose of Nude Female Posing in Life Class

Oil on gessoed linen canas, 12" x 16" $100.00

SOLD

This figure sketch was done in a combination of

three colors of paint that worked remarkably well

for the skin tones of this model: Van Dyke Brown,

Burnt Umber, and Winsor Newton Naples Yellow.

I stress Winsor Newton Naples Yellow, because I

feel that it is one of the few companies that manu-

factures a true Naples Yellow color. Also, notice

this is painted on a gessoed linen that has first been

toned with gray. That is one of the reasons that it

works so well.

Gray tends to take on the complement

of whatever color is placed against it. It's called

"optical grays", and in this case, it's picking up the

orange that is suggested by the mixture of the burnt

umber (a very orangey brown) and the Naples Yellow.

The medium that I used was Liquin. I also "oiled up" my

canvas (put an extremely thin layer of Liquin on the

surface) before I started painting, to make the paint

glide while I was sketching. Because Liquin dries com-

pletely in 24 hours, you don't have to worry about the

"fat over lean" rule. I know this is true. I've been doing

it for 30 years. This kind of painting is really fun.

Now I could use this painting for a grisaille underpainting

if I want, and go over it with transparent and opaque color, or,

I could just leave it as is. Painting is great, isn't it?

Thanks for visiting today.

Head of Herakles Chiaramonti

Oil Pastel over Charcoal on White Paper, 10" x 11" $100.00
SOLD

I just felt like taking a small break from oil painting today
and working with my oil pastels. To do this I did charocal
drawing of Herakles first on white drawing paper. I got his
curls, and beard, and head ornamet and features all taken
care of, sort of like an underpainting. Then, I sprayed the
heck out of the drawing with fixative.

Next I took my Sennelier oil pastels, because I know them
to be bit transluscent. Using the lighter colors, plus some
blues, I went over my charcoal drawing, not trying to cover
it up so much, but to augment it. This was a fairly new experience
except for the other small athlete a few posts back. I like this
techniques, which I discovered by experiementing, and plan
on doing more with it.

Contrary to general knowledge, you can same your money.
You do not need to buy fixative for oil pastels. They dry, just
like oil paints. I know, I have pieces that are years old. I never
fixed them. They are dry. Period.

Oil Paint Essence Drawing of Robert Saunders

Oil on Paper, 8" square SOLD

This man is one of my favorite models ever. He is tall and stately

with long red hair that is turning white, and a beard and mustache,

a big belly, and long graceful legs. A great leonine head. He looks

like a Viking.

It is really fun to do gesture drawings of him. He often will wear

this floor-length yellow and black kimono if I ask him to - he's

sitting on it in the picture. His body plus the kimono create

a wealth of shapes to draw gestures from. But, as you can see,

he is also good for longer poses, because of his elegant head

and posture.

This was not a particuarly long pose, but I was really on a roll

with my paint brushes. I sometimes find I can draw better with

a brush than I can with a pencil. It is odd.

I did already explain the essence technique a few postings back,

so I won't repeat it here. But, for people who love to draw and

paint at the same time (and you can do it in color too - Dover

Publications has a wonderful book on Degas' Drawings that has

quite a few of his beautiful essence drawings in it) it is a wonderful

medium. A lot of fun!

Pink Peonies ll

Oil on Board, 8" x 8" $95.00 SOLD
Once again, I really enjoyed painting these flowers, and I painted
this one really fast!, because I only had about three hours. It is
fun for me to practice doing this, because if you saw my post from three
days ago, you know that my gallery paintings were very t-i-g-h-t
and had me gripping away at my paintbrush for literally hours
on end. It is so refreshing to take a different approach, even if some-
times it is a failure. I am happy with this painting. I think I like it
better than yesterday's, actually. I think tomorrow I'll either work
with the figure or landscape. No underpaintings - just alla prima.
Nice and relaxed.

John Singer Sargent is always admired for his bravura painting style,
but I don't think a lot of people realize that he was actually taught very
methodically to paint in that manner (of course his gargantuan talent
didn't hurt!!). His teacher, Carolus Duran, who was a very successful
portrait artist in Paris at the time Sargent studied with him, would only
allow his students one touch for each thing, or part of a thing, they were
depicting in a painting. It was called in French, "le premier coup", or "the
first touch". They weren't allowed to correct mistakes either. That will teach
you fast!!

I happen to love underpaintings. I'm just not in the mood for them right now.