Day 03: #OneWeek100People 2023: An Evening of Life Drawing!
Hey! I went to figure drawing!
Once winter hits us for real, I go into hibernation, and don’t tend to make it out for life drawing until the spring.
But to be honest, I didn’t draw these today. I had this stash of line drawings saved from a previous live session, months and months ago. I can’t even remember when. I procrastinated long enough that I said; why not save them for #OneWeek100People.
The real story is; I was waiting for the right moment, when I was brave enough to potentially ruin these drawings.
I find if I wait long enough I lose the ‘jealous hoarding’ feeling, and it’s ok to risk destroying them. Or – maybe – it’s more like, I stack up enough drawings in reserve that I feel like I have ‘drawings to burn.’
That’s certainly the case this week!
The experiment this time was to destroy the image! and then see if I could save it. Maybe find a new way to unify the figure with the background.
I made a first pass that’s completely wet and wild, using 2″ flat to flow color onto these 6×9″ pages. Then came back with selective wet-on-dry blends, pushing and pulling edges, seeing if I can bring the figure back into focus.
(It’s not really as risky as I’m making it sound. You’re just re-establishing sharp edges where you need them.)
So, this is one of the hidden benefits of an art marathon. Setting aside time to do ‘crazy experiments’. Things I probably wouldn’t try and do on a normal week.
Citizen Sketcher 
These are so interesting.. The flow of color and the way the figures are almost part of the background when you first look—and then your eye “sees” them. Love the concept…
Vraiment beau, les couleurs sont toutes en chaleur et l’atmosphère qui se dégage de ces aquarelles est entourée de mystère.
Mark thank you so much for posting this . is a perfect challenge for me. I have been following yu for years and did meet yu when you were in nyc at the botanical garden
These are wonderful! So you took pencil line drawings out of your stash and watercolored over them?
Also, on a completely different note, are you still oil painting?
Yes, I went to a gesture class and just saved the drawings for later. They were quicker poses, mostly, or I did three sketches in a 20min – so I had a lot of drawings. But I saved them for painting under the camera!
SO – as to the oils, I’m not painting anywhere near like I was – I have a collection of at least a hundred paintings on my walls. I’ve sold off a few here and there, but not any of the larger ones. I’ve simply run out of space for larger paintings. I did not manage to get a gallery interested, so for now they are just waiting. I did recently re-furbish our framing and storage room – so I have 1.5 large walls worth of future work that I’m thinking about! I hang white panels on the walls so each blank has a ‘home’ where it will dry one day. Drying my thicker paintings can take months. But – interesting you should ask, as I’m about to post today’s post!