Easy Livin'

Easy Livin'   conte crayon on toned pastel paper   15.5 x 11.5

is a drawing that I like...completed at an expressive drawing workshop.  The reference was an old family photo that features two couples in swimsuits at a favorite lake.  Toned paper was used...quite handy as used as a mid-tone value.  Individual characteristics are downplayed, while the group gesture becomes all-important...the way in which the four figures relate to each other to support their relationships.  Negative spaces become important.  Patterns of darks were worked in a balanced way, creating a satisfactory pattern of its own, independent of the details of the reality provided.  Likewise with the whites.  This drawing was worked by using basically only three values. While likenesses and leg details were mostly suggested, I placed the emphasis on the relationships of the torsos...not the torsos themselves, but on the relationships between them.

I like this drawing very much.  It was fun to do and provides the feeling that I wished to convey in a minimal way.  Less is more

Nightshade

Nightshade   conte crayon   19.5 x 12.5

is a drawing done with conte crayon on an unknown kind of paper from my storage box.  I am trying to remember to label all of my papers, but am not always good at it.  As previously written, these sessions with the young dancers from Ballet Excel Ohio have provided the opportunity for me to break out of my usual routines with some experimentation...for me, having a few unknowns pushes my boundaries and provides stimulation in my R-brain.  The lighting, the pose, and yes, the model herself in her ability to relate to the artists provide variables to which we must adjust.  I look for lights that lead into each other in a sort of pattern.  Likewise with the darker shapes.  I like spontaneity as well as its polar opposite, deliberate refinement.  This particular drawing works for me.

The costume for this young dancer is that of a nightshade, a dark dancer that is a kind of minion for the queen, as I was told...a nightshade plant being that which is poisonous.

Darks.  Lights.  Makes for a good drawing.