Angel Back

In art class Wednesday we had Angel as our model again, the guy with a body like a classical Greek statue! :-) The easel I was at originally faced him from the front, but I really wanted to do a back view and was able to move to a different easel since some folks were missing. As a result I think I have a picture here I can show in public, LOL. This was actually rather fun to do, as I loved the dramatic lights and shadows on him.

Festive Apples

Last Saturday I took a drive up into New York State with two friends to tour "Boscobel" a lovely Federalist-style mansion dating from 1804, which sits right on the bank of the Hudson River, opposite West Point. It was a a gorgeous autumn day - crisp and sunny - and the leaves were just lovely. I got several beautiful photos. However, the one that caught my eye the most was this display of apples at the Boscobel gift store. It looked so festive, and who can resist apples?
:-)

The last of the Dancer

This is my effort from art class the last week of the dancer pose. I erased and redrew my picture 3-4 times, totally unsure of what I wanted. Finally wound up with this, but difficult as always with life drawing, as each time the model would get up and sit down again there would be so many changes. The flow of her skirt was never the same, nor was the foot she was sitting on.

October Sky

On WetCanvas we have a monthly Pastel Challenge where someone posts a reference photo of their choice, and everyone who participates is supposed to paint their version of it. I loved this month's reference, and this is my version of it which I painted this Sunday. This is a "fast and loose" painting which I only spent about 30-40 minutes on, but I'm happy with it.

And I found out from the person who posted the original photo that the photo was taken on Prince Edward Island. The bridge to PEI is only minutes from our Canadian farm and I have been to PEI many times, so it made me feel even more connected to this picture. :-)

The Seated Dancer - Take Two

This is from last week's art class. I was feeling exceptionally uninspired last week, and erased two complete initial sketches, unable to settle on what I wanted to do. I finally realized I could do the reflection in the mirror! I'm not happy with it overall as I think her head and profile are pretty bad, but I do like the drama of the lighting in this one. Maybe I'll just crop her head off as I do with many of my paintings. :-)

The Seated Dancer

Well, autumn classes have started at the museum, so it's back to my weekly figure studies. Alex is the instructor again. Our model was a bit late arriving, due to a small family crisis. Once she did arrive we worked with several quick 5-15 minute poses before settling on the "long" pose she will do for the next three weeks.

She did not start the long pose until almost 8:30 PM, so this was what I got done in the last hour of class.