I’ve been studying alla prima head painting with Sean Cheetham for a few weeks now. Most of the time I fail horribly, but there have been a few small victories. All paintings done from life, 4-5 hour sitting.
“Head Painting 4/21/12″, 9″x12″, oil on canvas panel.
“Head Painting 5/14/12″, 16″x20″, oil on canvas panel.
I’ve been having a lot of fun lately trying all the new rendering and charcoal techniques I’ve learned from Richard Morris. I feel much more confident now in rendering all the subtle half-tones and lights. These drawings were done as personal homework assignment, approx. 5-6 hours each.
“Portrait 5/3/12″, 14″x12″, charcoal on Arches paper.
“Portrait 4/27/12″, 12″x24″, charcoal on Strathmore paper.
Tonal Figure Drawing Class is a class designed for students who want to strengthen their observation skills, accuracy and rendering in charcoal. I came into the class wanting to learn how to refine and polish my figure drawings and so far the class has delivered.
As a teacher, Richard Morris has been a very diligent and motivated. I find his critiques, feedback and taste to be very helpful and valuable so far. The drawing below was done in class, Week 2, approximately 4 hours from start to finish.
“Class Study, 4/27/12″, charcoal on Strathmore paper.
The focus for the first 3 weeks of Nathan Fowkes’ Sketching From Life Class, taught at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art (LAAFA) so far has been core principles. “Big shapes”, “simple statements”, good observation and lots of homework are things Nathan has stressed over and over again.
This week was the first week we got to used tone on the figure. The goal here is to observe the big, simple patterns of light and shade. I’m enjoying this class so far and am having fun sketching the figure again, especially with watercolor which is Nathan’s specialty. All images are watercolor on Moleskine paper.
5 min poses, watercolor on Moleskine.
5 min poses, watercolor on Moleskine.
3 min poses, watercolor on Moleskine.
5 min pose, watercolor on Moleskine.
Richard Morris is a Los Angeles based artist and educator who is known for his exquisite figure drawings, portraits and paintings (please see video above). Richard will be teaching his beautiful Tonal Figure Drawing techniques this Spring Term at 3 Kicks Fine Art Studio in Pasadena, California.
Richard will soon embark on his MFA study in New York, so this will be his final class on the West Coast! I’ve personally been a huge fan of Rick’s work for many years. Since I also want to polish and refine my figure drawings, this class is a golden opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.
As of this writing, there are still 3 spots remaining. Registration for this class ends Friday, April 2oth, 2012. If you are interested in joining Rick and myself this semester, please contact the staff at 3 Kicks Fine Art Studio by phone at (626) 466-5043. You can also begin registration online: http://www.3kickstudio.com/policy-registration/.
To learn more about Richard or see his beautiful artwork, please visit:
http://3kicks.blogspot.com/ or
http://richardmorrisgallery.blogspot.com/
Spring 2012 term is in full swing at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art (LAAFA). LAAFA instructor Sean Cheetham kicked off the first day of class with a 5 hour portrait painting demo from the model. This is a recollection of my thoughts and experiences from the demo.
The class was a captive audience during Sean’s painting demo.
Sean began the demo by first setting-up his workspace and describing his materials in detail. Of most importance was the palette. Everything from choice of colors to brand and arrangement were described in detail. Since Sean believes that the majority of the painting is done on the palette, he emphasized the importance of good palette arrangement and staying organized when mixing.
Sean demonstrating how he arranges his palette and how me mixes his famous pools of “mud” using an olive green and aliziron crimson as a base for darks and shadows.
Found these drawings in an old newsprint pile. 2 minute poses and a 5 minute from a figure workshop, circa Feb. 2011.
“2 minute poses”, 18″x24″, carbothello on newsprint.
“5 minute pose”, approx 4″, carbothello on newsprint.
Both fighters are actually MMA fighters. The one on the left just happens to be wearing boxing gloves for training. Both sports make for great subject matter in my opinion, especially for figurative artists.
“Boxing vs MMA”, 3″x4″ (each), watercolor on Moleskine.
Sometimes during a figure painting workshop, time is limited. Oil sketching can be good practice because it forces you to see and describe only the big, important masses. In such a short amount of time, getting the shapes to “read” is key. The figure below was done in a 2 hour session. The portrait was painted in about 1 hour from the model.
“Figure sketch, 2/18/12″, 9″x12″, oil on canvas panel
” 1 hour Portrait sketch, 3/4/12″, 9″x12″, oil on canvas panel
Playing around with watercolor lately. Definitely noticing the rust/lack of inspiration.
“Self portrait 3/7″, 3″x4″, Watercolor on paper.
“Self portrait 2/25/12″, 3″x4″, Watercolor on paper.
