12×16″, pastels on Daler Rowney paper, unframed

I spend my Sunday mornings with a group of artists in a figure drawing studio, where we have a different model every week. We practice drawing from poses ranging from one minute to 25 minutes, in whatever medium we choose. It’s no wonder the great masters always worked on drawing figures from life. There is no better practice for the hand and eye, and it is a skill that carries over to all subjects.

The drawing above is in pastel on Daler Rowney pastel paper. I love the different colors it comes in and the woven texture. This was a 20 minute pose—the last pose of the session. We were all a little sleepy by then, even the model!

Below are some additional sketches from the session.
About 12 minutes (the cellphone interrupteth!), 12×16″ on MiTientes paper:

Below are two more 20 minute poses, also 12×16 on MiTientes:

At the beginning of each session, we do several quick “warmups”, which are poses that vary from one to 5 minutes. I thought it would be nice for you to see what the very short poses are like. Although it took longer to take the photos and upload them than it did to do the actual sketches, it’s nice to show them on occasion. They are just quick, gestural sketches. Here are a few from today:

I hope you enjoyed this trip to open studio life drawing with me!

Posted by Jamie on Sunday, March 18th, 2007 at 2:58 pm.