Benjamin

"Benjamin", 15 minute pose, charcoal pencil

We had another great model at the SVA alumni drawing practice session this week, and his name is Benjamin.

from Wednesday evening live model drawing sessions at SVA

Drawn from a live model at the SVA alumni Wed. evening drawing sessions

An important part of portraiture for me is honing my skill with figure drawing from a live model, and as an alumni of the School of Visual Arts, I have been enjoying the free Wednesday evening drawing sessions they provide to all SVA alumni.  Student RA Shane has been coordinated these sessions, providing us with professional models who traditionally pose nude.
  
Nude poses help artists enormously to understand correct anatomy as it appears in various dynamics of the human figure.  The timed poses warm us up, and vary from several minutes to one 40 minute pose within each session.  The above is a detail from a 20 minute pose from last Wednesday's gathering.  Shane and the models have been great, I enjoy the camraderie, and I hope to see more of my fellow alumni and SVA buddies taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Shifting the Light - More progress on the pastel of Sandra

photo of "Sandra" still in progress, pastel on La Carte pastelboard

 A scanned detail of the pastel in progress

I'm still working on shifting the light source on this pastel portrait of Sandra, so for a progress report, here are some views of it at it's current stage.

Victorian Nostalgia Portrait

"Four Sisters At Bloomingdales," (detail) from a 12" x 15" egg tempera portrait

If anyone out there has a favorite old photograph of family members or relatives, I love painting nostalgia portraits too, and the Victorian era is one of my favorite times to paint. I've even "adopted" a few relatives, as I love to collect vintage and antique photos.  One of my rare finds was a photo which was actually taken in Bloomingdales department store professional photo studio (it bore the 'Bloomingdales seal') around the turn of the last century, and I could not resist painting this scene.  Although it's an older painting of mine, done circa 1984, it still remains a personal favorite.