The Saint Louis Drawing & Painting Blog

You might try drawing from television.

2011-04-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Drawing from Television

Have you ever drawn from television? If you aren't able to make it to any of the drawing events and still would like to learn to draw portraits, or anything scenic, I would recommend drawing from a movie that you like or even a news reporter. Drawing news reporters is similar in a way to drawing models because they are sitting relatively still, yet, there is some motion. It trains you to think fast and capture things that aren't always still.

Drawing a News Reporter

When freeze-framing a movie, you can get used to seeing the interesting way the movie designers choreographed the shots and lit them. It may give you some ideas.

Also, in the interest of keeping active in learning to see and draw, I think it is a good idea to carry a small sketchbook with you. There are all sorts, but I have come to prefer the white ones with sturdy paper that come in portrait format. They are pretty easy to carry around.

It is also pretty open to choice as far as what medium you choose to draw with. I use pens and ink for their simplicity, but I would hardly recommend one thing only as it is limitless what kinds of art can be made and tools.

If you are just beginning however, I would recommend either a pencil, or pen. That should focus first on acquiring the necessary drafting/rendering skills. That is important before venturing too far into color.

Note: This content can also be found at its home location over at http://pictus-art.com/blog/

Portrait Challenge #1 - Grace Bumbry

2011-04-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Recently (April 17th)we started a weekly Portrait Challenge. The subject of our weekly challenges will be Saint Louis personalities. First chosen randomly was Grace Brumby the opera singer.

Here's the scoop from that event:

Weekly I will post a "Portrait of the Week" drawing challenge that is open to members of the meetup. Each week it will involve drawing a portrait of some Saint Louis personality living or passed. I will pick a name randomly from a list of celebrities that I have.
Note: If you want to make a suggestion for the next week, then do so.
Rules: Draw the person of the week and you may use photographs. However, you cannot draw from a photo exactly. Instead research the person and draw their portrait from a different angle or in an imagined costume. The point is to see shapes and geometry that make up character regardless of angle as opposed to a limited view of a photograph.
If is seems a bit overwhelming, and for instance all you can get done is say a set of eyes, so be it. Use what time you have to focus on form and expression and take it as far as you can.

Here are some of the drawings from Challenge #1:

Brian Anderson (above)

Michael Anderson (above)

And on to Challenge #2:
The Challenge starting the week of April 24th, 2011 is Yogi Berra.

Note: This content can also be found at its home location over at http://pictus-art.com/blog/

Jill poses at the Plattners

2010-12-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

December 8, 2010 - Jill who has posed at The Artist Guild modeled for us.
Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

"Always a great time at the Plattners, and a gorgeous model... :-)"

-Joe Brockmeier

"Jill is an interesting model. She has a peaceful presence, and a still quality that makes her fun to draw."

-Elaine Swanger

"Jill was a great model. Thanks for spending time with us"

-Robert

"Jill is fabulous"

-Henryk Ptasiewicz

Krampus Day Celebration

2010-11-22T11:02:00.001-08:00

December 5, 2010 - Details TBA. Last year for the first time we celebrated Krampus Day. This year we will as well. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, learn a little about Krampus on Wikipedia.

"Krampus is a mythical creature. In various regions of the world – especially Austria and Hungary – it is believed that Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children. Due to German and Austrian influence, the myth of Krampus is also prevalent in Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and northern Italy"

"Krampus is a considerate and conscientious individual who is greatly misunderstood as a seasonal pest. Such viewpoints will be easily dismissed by a simple viewing of the fine drawings done this evening" Bruce Wulff

Drawing at Brian's Place

2010-11-22T10:38:00.000-08:00

November 30, 2010 - Lara who modeled at the Plattner's place several weeks ago(November 10th) will be modeling at Brian's place this week. Look forward to 20-40 minute longer poses for the evening. Plan your drawing and painting accordingly.
Hope to seeing you there. Drawing shown is by Bruce Wulf.

Note: This is a drawing event and there will be no model photography at this event. I will however photograph people's artwork.
:-)

Update:

drawing above by Henryk Ptasiewicz

drawing above by Elaine Swanger

Pocahontas @ the Plattners

2010-11-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

November 24, 2010 - What are you doing Thanksgiving Eve? Are you going to be huddled up steeling yourself with drink in anticipation of being with your family tomorrow? Will you be slaving over a hot stove prepping your dish for the countless "Orphan Thanksgivings" being held tomorrow by Transplants to STL? Or, are you going to come over eat snacks, drink wine and draw Alessandra dressed as Pocahontas with your friends? Drinks and snacks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own.

Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)

Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45
As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.

See you there,
Alessandra

Assigned Photographer: Alessandra
Note: All other photography is prohibited!
See: The Rules of Photography

Ale 15 min poses @ Artist's Guild

2010-11-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

November 23, 2010 - Tuesday Night Sketch Group 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
$5 for students and members, $6 for non-members.
Meeting is in the third floor studio. (Subject to change without notice)
Draw from a live model in various poses. The model may be nude or partially nude at times.
Coordinators: Jim Kennedy, & Scott Patrick.
For questions you can reach Jim Kennedy at 314-878-8619 & Scott Patrick at 314-576-6998.

Location:
St. Louis Artists' Guild
Two Oak Knoll Park
St. Louis MO 63105

Ale at Concrete Ocean

2010-11-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

November 18, 2010 - Tonight, the one, the only, ALE at Concrete Ocean.

"Concrete Ocean Art Gallery has monthly art exhibitions. Mojo Studios hosts weekly figure drawing sessions and we are always looking to add events to our calendar. Currently we host an open figure drawing session on Thursday nights starting at 8pm. Feel free to come set up as early as 7pm. Cost is $10, some refreshments are provided. BYOB. We host a diverse set of models and constantly look for ways to keep things interesting. COMING SOON! Beginning in November 2010, gallery hours will be M-F, 2 pm - 6pm. Send us a message for more information."

Kevin poses at the Plattners

2010-11-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

November 17, 2010 - Kevin will be posing for us tonight. He is a wonderful model and has cool dynamic poses. Remember last year's session with Kevin?

Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)

Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45
As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.

See you there,
Alessandra

Publish Post

Girl with a Pearl Earring - Part II @ Crossroad Studios

2010-11-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

November 16, 2010 - Alessandra will be reprising her Girl with a Pear Earring at Crossroads tonight. This is a great group of artists who meet on Tuesdays at Crossroad Studios in St. Charles. This is a 3hr pose. Come meet new people and get your art on :-)

Crossroad Studio

501 N Kingshighway St
St. Charles, MO 63301

Drawing at the Bodies exhibit

2010-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

November 19, 2010 - Update: Here's the note from the man himself and organizer of this event Bill Vann:

As you all know, there is NO FANTASY SKETCH GROUP meeting for November or December of 2010. HOWEVER..... I have just learned of an opportunity that our Fantasy Sketch Group members can partake in later this month. It will be a night of sketching the "BODIES" exhibit at the Galleria, on Brentwood, and it will be held on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19th, from 7-10 PM. There is NO FEE INVOLVED. Think about joining the Fantasy Group that night with your sketch materials and a clipboard to sketch on. There will be seating provided, and lots of Publicity will come from this event. If you are interested in participating, you need to REPLY to me with an email. Please reply ASAP, as I will need a total number of who will attend in order to make this event happen. Thanks for considering joining up with our group for this special night of sketch fun!! Bill Vann Fantasy Sketch Group
bvannart@accessus.net

Update:

" The exhibit, and body displays were fascinating, and extremely educational, in their nature of what each one revealed to the viewer. I plan to go back to spend more time just visiting each one ( without a sketchbook). It was much more than I had expected. I cannot say enough ( good things ) about this sketch up group of artists. What a pleasure it was to spend time with them, meeting individuals, observing their very talented efforts. I hope to do this again... soon!!"
-Bill Vann

Drawing above by Henryk Ptasiewicz

Drawing above of the vascular system by Richard Vigil

"Wow, this is soooo well done Richard, you can see the atriums/ventricles in their proper places, the abdominal aorta into the femoral arteries. Really neat to imagine the circulatory system."

Draw/Photog a Model in Urban Setting

2010-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

November 13, 2010 - I think it will be a great idea to photograph/draw a model in street or punk attire in an urban setting. I think it would be fun to also pose them with some graffiti or other urban settings. Also this would be costumed instead of nude. It would also be open to photographers.

Let's draw and photograph a model downtown and start at the Old City Post Office Square and move from there to a few interesting locations around. Bring a collapsable canvas chair or something similar.

Note: Our friend Stephanie (pictured) will be modeling for us!
As far as the photography goes, this event is an open one, so you may bring your camera and snap away. Just follow rules respecting the shared nature of this event with artists and photographers. Cooperation...

Update:

Thanks Stephanie for a great day out. This was a different idea and a first. So glad it came together. Looking forward to the warmer weather again as the wind was a bit brisk and chilly.

See more pictures and drawings here.

Marlene Lewis' Art Show at Grafica Gallery

2010-11-05T12:00:00.001-07:00

November 12th, 6:00-9:00 P.M. at Grafica Gallery in Webster Groves. I'll be showing some really fun new paintings done on lucite (which basically means that I had to paint them from back to front without seeing them until they were dry...You can be the judge of how that turned out!) I'll also have new ink drawings and paintings on canvas...Of course, refreshments will be served!... I think you'll enjoy getting to see this quaint gallery in the heart of Webster Groves. Hope to see you there.

Yours truly,
Marlene

Marlene Lewis shown above in center with friends

Above is a group opf Marlene's groupies! :-)

Henryk Ptasiewicz' Art Show at The Old Orchard Gallery

2010-11-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

November 12, 2010 - Two Man 2 Night Show
Henryk Ptasiewicz and Tom Hunt will be showing at The Old Orchard Gallery Nov. 12 and 13 only from 6-9:30pm.
Note from Henryk: "Why not make it a night to tour Webster?"
Sounds good to me. Let's support our artists people :-)

Location:
The Old Orchard Gallery
39 South Orchard
Suite A
Webster Groves, MO 63119
314.961.4433

Henryk Ptasiewicz stands next to Tom Hunt and Tom's Painting.

Henryk stands next to a figurative painting of his.

Cap'n Marrrk and Lisa talk about the show.

Mojo Magical Meetup with Rayna Skye

2010-11-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

November 11, 2010 - Experience again the talented posing of the lovely Rayna Skye in the next session at the renowned Concrete Ocean/Mojo Studios.

Tonight we have the one and only "RAYNA", our very own "Emerald Firebird", who will be part figure model, part burlesque and always Incredible, Hoooorrrraaaaayyyyyy!

Note: This Meetup repeats every week on Thursday

Update:

Drawing by Carrie Hawkins

Drawing of Rayna by Kelly Major

Drawing by Henryk Ptasiewicz

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Candle Light

2010-11-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

November 8, 2010 - This night we will be drawing/painting Ale as Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. She will be wearing the same clothes as in the painting and this will be a 3 hour pose.
Both the model and all the artists will only be using candle light, no electricity involved.
Brian Pease has been nice enough to agree to host this event at Mojo Studio. His only concern is: "the wax (even with the few we light at openings always seems to get spilled and it's difficult to clean up, walls, floors, etc.). Perhaps we just ask people to be very careful and considerate of all the candles."
We will try to provide some candles, but please bring your own if you can and mind the comment above.
Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45
See you there,
Alessandra

Update:

"Wonderful! Ale and her costume were perfect. I enjoyed painting with candlelight, a good challenge. " -Carrie Hawkins

"Amazing. Great idea, Carrie, and Ale, fabulous work on the costume. You were beautiful. " -Elaine Swanger

The evening went off spectacularly. There was a good turnout. Ale posed in low light by candles and everyone drew one long pose for the evening . Pictures of the event can be seen over on the Meetup photo page for this event. Illustration shown here by Ariel Childers.

There's always some great new ideas to be seen over on our Meetup. Please join us next time if you can and halp us continue to make these superb events.

Special Thanks: to Bryan Pease and his Mojo Studio/Concrete Ocean Gallery for graciously hosting!

Mojo Magical Meetup

2010-11-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

November 4, 2010 - Mojo Magical Meetup: They seek her here, they seek her there, those Artists seek her everywhere, is she in heaven or is she in hell, or Mojo studio's? that wonderful Scarlet Tinkerbell.
HDM returns as another intriguing persona, as only Heather Dawn can. The one, the only, "Heather Dawn Mitchell...hoooorrrraaayyyyyyyyyyy

Note: This Meetup repeats every week on Thursday

Update:

Painting by Alan Kriegshauser

Lara poses at the Plattners

2010-11-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

Nov 10, 2010 - New member of the group, Lara, will be posing for us tonight.
Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.
Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)
Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45
As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.
See you there,
Alessandra

Assigned Photographer: Alessandra
Note: All other photography is prohibited!
See: The Rules of Photography

Update:

Laura was a great model and will be modeling again for us at Brian's place on November 30th.

Below are some drawings of Laura by Henryk.

Tuesday Night Sketch Group @ Artist's Guild

2010-11-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Nov 9th, 2010 - Tuesday Night Sketch Group 6:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m.
$5 for students and members, $6 for non-members.

Meeting is in the third floor studio. (Subject to change without notice)
Draw from a live model in various poses. The model may be nude or partially nude at times.
Coordinators: Jim Kennedy, & Scott Patrick.
For questions you can reach Jim Kennedy at 314-878-8619 & Scott Patrick at 314-576-6998.

Location:
St. Louis Artists Guild
Two Oak Knoll Park
St. Louis MO 63105

Update:

Eric Peniston modeled and Bruce had some of his line drawing to show from the night. See more pictures on the Meetup site.

Goat Stock - (Rain or Shine)

2010-11-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Nov 6, 2010 - The locals are demanding we reschedule the Painting/Drawing Trip to the Simpsons' Farm, (I'm not kidding). We've become quite a curiosity for the small town of Duke, MO. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this time, but it will be held regardless.
The day will be dedicated to painting and drawing the scenery and critters on the farm. There are horses, sheep, goats (including newborn triplets) and cattle. The leaves are changing and falling. Farmer Ron says it'll be beautiful with or without leaves. When the trees are bare it is easier to see deep into the woods and the bluffs are more visible. There are 4 wheelers available to you to get around on the farm and you're welcome to saddle up a horse.
We'll gather shortly before dinner to draw Ron and his wife, Michelle. Please consider giving your portrait to them in gratitude for their kindness and hospitality. They're very excited about this.
We'll have a big chili dinner where we'll be joined by half the town coming out to see what we created. As an added bonus, it's Don's birthday! There will be cake.
Don't miss the hayride to see the stars and a big country dance with the locals.
You are welcome to spend the night. Feel free to camp or grab a space inside their large, comfortable house. Bring a sleeping bag if you can.
Come canoe the Big Piney on Sunday or head back to St. Louis!
It's going to be amazing. Hope you can make it.
Let me know if you have any questions,
Cathy

Update:

"A superb event for birthdays, painting and drawing! There was plenty of time to pursue painting or just taking in the fresh air! Cudos to Cathy for organizing this weekend!" - Don Necessary

" It was all such fun and so memorable." Christy O'Brien

There were plenty of goats to hug.

Some really solid painting got done as well.

Don Necessary celebrated his birthday with friends.

There was plenty of warmth and beauty.

This was all especially thanks to the Simson's opening their farm to us once again.

Richard's amazing drawing of the landscape is shown here.

And also there were some very masterful oils done showing the unique range of subjects available to paint out on the Simpson Farm.

Painting above by Tom Rochford

Ale and Jeep

2010-11-03T09:29:00.001-07:00

Nov 3, 2010 - Tonight Ale and Jeep will be posing together. This will be a very dynamic night.
Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.
Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)
Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45. Sessions end at 10pm.
As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.
See you there,
Alessandra

Assigned Photographer: Brian
Note: All other photography is prohibited!
See: The Rules of Photography

Update:

"Really a great Meetup. Ale and Jeep are experienced models who posed beautifully together." - Elaine

"Ale and Jeep were fantastic. Some really nice poses. Great crowd too - fully packed! " - Joe Brockmeier

Moulin Rouge at Eve's - (RSVP's Closed)

2010-10-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Eve wants to have a Moulin Rouge drawing at her house this Wed. before she takes down all the decorations. She asked me to pose and will see if Alex is available also.
Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.
Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)
Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45

As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.

See you there,
Alessandra

Assigned Photographer: Alessandra
Note: All other photography is prohibited!
See: The Rules of Photography

Ale poses at Crossroad Studios

2010-10-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is a great group of artists who meet on Tuesdays at Crossroad Studios in St. Charles. This is a 3hr pose. Come meet new people and get your art on :-)

Tue October 12th, 6:30 PM

April 24 - May 7 Updates

2010-06-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy as usual this last two months. If you have been participating you probably had a great spring with us, but if you are just following along on the blog the updates have been a bit slow. If you can, please come out and share the fun with us. I will be catching up on the current happenings in the next day or so...

:-)

Below are some recent happenings:

May 7 Fri 9:00 PM
Garden of Hedonism

The Way Out Club in St Louis, MO, 63104
A night at Queen Mab's. Belly dancing, burlesque revue. Sugar Cyanide, Ami Amore, Roxy Red Rockets, Elle Adorabelle and lots more.
Hosted by Henryk ptasiewicz

30 Photos Uploaded

May 5 Wed 7:00 PM
Drawing Laura @ Brian's Studio

40 photos uploaded

Note: Lisa's daughter will be posing for us as I have been unable to contact our regularly scheduled model. She should be a very good model as she is tall, dark and hermosa.
Hosted by Brian

May 2 Sun 2:00 PM
Skeleton/Model drawing - FREE at Belas Artes

43 photos uploaded

Belas Artes in Saint Louis, MO, 63104
Session runs 2:00-4:00 pm. Hef the skeleton will be appearing with both CapnMarrrrk and Alessandra for one long pose. NOTE: Our this now an single event will take place at Belas Artes....
Hosted by CapnMarrrrk, Judy

Apr 29 Thu 8:00 PM
Mollie Models at Mojo

0 photos uploaded
Location: Mojo Studio in Saint Louis, MO, 63104 38.616066,-90.219780 · Price: $10.00
Session runs 8-11 pm. Mojo Studio holds a weekly figure drawing session and we are invited to participate. They provide a stimulating atmosphere and challenging sessions with decent lighting, and an... Read more
Hosted by Judy , Sarah E.

Apr 28 Wed 7:00 PM
The Fabulous Bert

51 photos uploaded

Location: Cap'n Marrrrk's in Saint Louis, MO, 63139 38.609479,-90.302707 · Price: $7.00
It's been too long since we had St. Louis's best male model over. Bert will be bringing his awesome costumes so be prepared for a fun evening. Our sessions are open to all levels of artists... Read more
Hosted by Alessandra

Apr 25 Sun 1:00 PM
Reminder Notice: Week 6 of 6 Week Anatomy Intensive

0 photos uploaded

at Belas Artes in Saint Louis, MO, 63104 · Price: $5.00
Hi, Sunday is our normal Anatomy meetup where we pose with Helf the Skeleton. This week we are moving down to Belas Artes to hopefully move some more art while proving a valuable service to the art commun... Read more
Hosted by CapnMarrrrk

Apr 25 Sun 1:00 PM
Draw today or buy some art.

Location: Belas Artes in Saint Louis, MO, 63104 · Price: $5.00
This is an open invitation to come down to draw or paint today. We'll be down at Belas Artes where members of the meetup have an exhibition/sale going on. We'll have a skeleton and a... Read more
Hosted by CapnMarrrrk

Apr 25 Sun 12:30 PM
An Hour of Landscape Sketching at Tower Grove Park

at Tower Grove Park in Saint Louis, MO, 63110 38.609137,-90.261524
We will be at the Pavillion with the Composers Heads just south of MOBOT. We will go from there and take a walk for a couple of minutes to some undecided direction in the park. It could be one of the... Read more
Hosted by Brian

Apr 24 Sat 6:00 PM
Art Party!

4 photos uploaded
at Flammis' Place in Creve Coeur, MO, 63141 38.663686,-90.439565
This is a loose sketch and gab and unbirthday celebration of everything and nothing at all! I'll order Veggie and Pepperoni Pizza, you bring whatever else you'd like to consume (reply in comment... Read more
Hosted by Flammis

Show Closing at Belas-Artes

2010-05-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

Hef the skeleton appeared with both CapnMarrrrk and Alessandra for one long pose. Our final session of the skeleton drawing conicided with the closing of our Belas Artes group exhibit. There was food and music and other surprises. If we can work out the details, we'll start holding Anatomy Classes again.

"It was fabulous, thank you so much Ale and Mark, and a special thanks to Cileia" -Henryk Ptasiewicz

"It was a great closing. Thank you, Ale and Marrrrk, for setting us up with one more Hef pose. It's been a fine series, and a fine show." -Elaine

"This was my first meetup and i was very happy to be with a group of interesting art oriented people!" -Richard Fox

An Hour of Landscape Sketching at Tower Grove Park

2010-04-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Details: See all the details and RSVP over on the Meetup site.

Sunday April 25th at 12:30pm

Tower Grove Park
Magnolia Ave
Saint Louis, MO 63110

Map: View the location on Google Maps.

Meet us at the Pavillion with the Composers Heads just east of the Palm House. We will go from there and take a walk for a couple of minutes to some undecided direction in the park. It could be one of the gazebos, the fountains, or whatever we wish.

We will leave after 10 minutes, so don't be too late or you might have to find us. If you want my cell phone number, log into the Meetup Group and it will be listed there. We may stay a little longer as we can, but I just didn't want to interfere with the Anatomy Intensive Group at 2:00pm. I'm gonna be there too!

PS - I might suggest packing a little sack lunch. That always makes it nice!

Lunchtime Draw: City Hall

2010-04-20T15:24:00.001-07:00

Details: See all the details and RSVP over on the Meetup site.

Friday April 23rd at 11:30 am

St, Louis City Hall
Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

This week, we're meeting up at City Hall and sketching at City Hall, for JUSTICE or you know for fun if you're so inclined. Roses (as detailed by the picture) may, or may not be included in this sketching experience, but the statue is promising that for sure, this time, he'll show up. :-)
As always, come when you can and go when you must. FOR JUSTICE!

This Meetup thanks to Flammis! Yay!

Michael Anderson shows us a bit of his process(below):

"I joined members of the St. Louis Drawing & Painting Meetup Group last Friday at City Hall for a lunch time drawing session. Rainy weather forced us to go inside to work in our sketchbooks in the Rotunda. It is a grand 4-story open space with Italian marble floors and central stairway. The carved leaves and scrollwork on the stairs reminded me of the engravings on dollar bills. The state flags that hang from the second floor balustrade provide a boost of color."

-Michael Anderson: Sketching St. Louis

Bumbershoot Meetup

2010-04-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Details: See all the details and RSVP over on the Meetup site.

Thursday April 22nd at 8:00pm

Bumbershoot Aerial Arts Studio
2200 Gravois Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63104
Hey everyone,

I spoke to Brent who posed for us a few weeks back about coming down to Bumbershoot and he gave me the owner's name Joelle who I just spoke on the phone with. She prefers we don't go there on Sat since that's when they hold classes for beginners. She suggested we come down this Thursday from 8-9:30pm to watch Brent's group practice for a performance that's coming up.
So let's go check out some circus acrobatics shall we?

Beijos, Alessandra

Important Note: There is a limit on attendance so RSVP on the Meetup. If you aren't on the list you most likely won't be let in. Get those spaces while they last!

Update:

Drawing above by Ariel

Mark Hensler at the Art Attic

2010-04-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Wed April 21st at 7:00pm

Details: See all the details and RSVP over on the Meetup site.

Mark is an experienced local model but this is the first time he has posed for our group.

Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment.

We'll have some refreshments on hand but please bring additional.

The Art Attic has a 360-degree setup: we work in a circle around the model(s). There is no sink. There are stairs to climb and a dog in the house.

Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45

As usual for events with a paid model, if you RSVP "Yes" and then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event (or you are a no-show), you will still be held responsible for the model fee.

Pictures from a past event at Judy's Art Attic

Homework - Drawing and Sketching (An Online Project)

2010-04-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

The idea: If we could put something specific to draw online, where we could work from the screen of our computers. With designated time frames. I know it can't be as much fun as a gathering would be, and having a live model . Yet for some of us it is more possible than getting out to meet up. Then we can get together and have a show and tell. Thanks.
-Linda Gower

The Project Details: Homework - Drawing and Sketching

Timeline: Deadline for our next project start date is May 24th, 2010. This means we will officially review and comment on them and have an online show so-to-speak of our projects.

Update: Tonight I will record a video and put it up on the web for reference. The theme will be the Delmar Loop in Saint Louis, Missouri. I will take some video and stills of the architecture and people in that area. The project will be to take several elements from the reference and to combine them in a unique way. We want to avoid copying directly, and instead use the reference as a point of departure or inspiration for your inventive piece(s) of art homework. Use a little liberal artistic license in your design of at least one piece. You may even take an old story and tell it through the modern images.

An inspiration and approach to the idea: This last week I was at One Metropolitain Square and saw the giant murals in the lobby by the artist Lincoln Perry. His website is http://www.lincolnperryart.com/. I wrote via email to Ellen Cusumano of Kemoll's Restaurant, and she told me the following about the theme of the murals:

"There are seven 22-foot hight murals by Lincoln Perry titled 'Urban Odyssey' depicting a modern version of the tale of Ulysses using St. Louis Landmarks for settings".

From Lincoln Perry's website: "In late 1988, a series of seven panels were mounted between the pilasters of the lobby of the Met Square building finished that year in downtown St. Louis by Metropolitan Life. Each panel is roughly 22 feet high, five are 16 feet across and two are 37 feet across, for a total painted area of 3388 square feet. There is an outer lobby (with a mural by another artist) and an inner courtyard-like lobby, where the images by me start 25 feet off the ground, so the roofline is roughly 50 feet off the floor.

The images convey the day in the life of a businessman whose quotidian adventures mirror or echo those of Ulysses in the Odyssey. He appears nine times, bearded and in a business suit, first in the morning at Soulard’s Market (all the locations are recognizable St. Louis locations), which evokes the lotus eaters, then passes beneath the legs of the Met Square building itself in the left part of panel 2, as if under the legs of the blinded Polyphemus, on to pass the siren-like secretaries who also enter the building.

In panel 3 he navigates a walkway in the old warehouse district, then under renovation, meeting an old man who might resemble Tiresias in Hades. Panel 4 is set in the St. Louis Art Museum, where the statue of Poseidon really does exist, though the spiral staircase which refers to the whirlpool of Scylla and Charybdis is invented; I see him as torn between the rock all of rigid order and the vortex of dissolution. In Panel 5 he visits the zoo, where the monkeys might refer to Circe’s conversion of Ulysses’ men to swine.

Enchanted by Calypso in the left section of panel 6, under a band shell that sits on an island in St. Louis’ beautiful park, he becomes aware of the attentions paid to his wife, a Penelope like figure to the right of the panel. Harmony returns to his suburban home and family in the last panel, which takes us back to the first after we gap the entrance to the lobby, so the whole cycle becomes a repeating journey of days. "

Read the story and see pictures on Lincoln Perry's website.

Gallery Opening at Belas-Artes April 11, 2010 - May 2, 2010

2010-04-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Due to an incredible amount of hard work our group of artists came to the task of organizing this show on short order and together with the special help of Celiea Miranda-Yuen and Henryk Ptasiewicz we experienced a sensational show opening. There was art in all variety of media, music by Boaz Rubin and Tommy Halloran, a wonderful spread of eats. The highlight of the evening; Alessandra posing to be painted live after a Frida Khalo portrait.

Belas-Artes Gallery is on the corner of Mississippi and 1854 Russell, very close neighbors to McGuirk's Pub and all the happenings of the Soulard area.

Let the Painting Begin:

Music:

Artists:

Featured Artists:

Allen Kriegshauser
Elaine Swanger
Tomas Aquino
Henryk Ptasiewicz
Richard Vigil
Judy Rubin
Marlene Lewis
Christine Briguglio
Christy O'Brien
Cathy Einspanier Moore
Brian Anderson
Alvin Horst

Drop into the Saint Louis Artist's Guild

2010-04-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays:
There are both Tuesday and Thursday figure drawing sessions at the Saint Louis Artist's Guild. Tuesdays are a variety of poses that range from the short gestures to begin with, to some longer poses at about 40min.

Description:
Tuesday Night Sketch Group 6:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m.
$5 for students and members, $6 for non-members.
Meeting is in the third floor studio. (Subject to change without notice)
Draw from a live model in various poses. The model may be nude or partially nude at times.

Coordinators:
Jim Kennedy, & Scott Patrick.
For questions you can reach Jim Kennedy at 314-878-8619 & Scott Patrick at 314-576-6998.

Location:
St. Louis Artists' Guild
Two Oak Knoll Park
St. Louis MO 63105

View this location on Google Maps.

Thursday Figure Drawing/Painting:

Thursdays at the Artist's Guild are typically devoted to longer poses. There is one long pose that may or may not extend to several weeks in a row. The model will take breaks and return to the same pose for the evening. This allows for a little more lengthy studies.

Description:

$5 for students and members, $6 for non-members.

Meeting is in the third floor studio. (Subject to change without notice)
Draw from a live model in one pose for the entire evening. The model may be nude or partially nude at times.

Coordinator:
For questions contact coordinator Greg MacNair 314-862-1410 or 314-621-7883.

Location:
St. Louis Artist's Guild
Two Oak Knoll Park
St. Louis MO 63105

View this location on Google Maps.

Glandean Clark poses at the Plattner Home

2010-04-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Glandean has been posing for Washu for years. I don't know much more about her, but let's all be surprised together shall we? :-)

Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)

Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45

Get the full details over on the Saint Louis Drawing & Painting Meetup Group

As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.

See you there,
Alessandra

Wednesday Drawing in the Botanical Garden

2010-04-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Spring has arrived and it is time to get back to the Botanical Garden. This Wednesday and once a month, we will be leaving work or any other occupation early to draw in the Shaw Botanical Garden. There is no other better way to experience the mid-day.

Last month Mark Thiel and I made it. It was a tiny bit cold, but this month the sun has really come out and warmed things up. We are hoping for the best.

Date:
Wednesday 4/14 at 3:00pm

Location:
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard
Saint Louis, MO 63110

Directions:
View The Shaw Botanical Garden on Google Maps

Attention All Comic Artists: STLWEBCOMICS.ORG

2010-04-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

One of our Meetup members who we miss a bit; Dave Patton has set up a web community centered around connecting web comics fans with local web comics artists. His blog has a title of none other than "STLWEBCOMICS.ORG". Many of our artists who are comically oriented will be pleased to find this out. Take note of the growing list of Web Comic blogs linked from the sidebar on his blog. These are other local St. Louis Artists. To quote Dave "If you create webcomics and live in STL, we want to hear from you!"

Our First Group Show at Belas-Artes

2010-04-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Saint Louis Drawing and Painting Meetup Group will have there very first show at Belas-Artes Gallery as a 1-year retrospective of work created in conjunction with our events. There will be 16+ artists displaying their work and live musical and modeling performances. Alessandra will be posing as a Frida Khalo painting while the artists bodypaint her into the picture.

It should be a great opportunity for everyone to show their art and njoy the fruits of a year's work.

Here is a list of some of the participating artists:

Mark Plattner
Sarah E.
Allen Kriegshauser
Elaine Swanger
Tomas Aquino
Henryk Ptasiewicz
Richard Vigil
Judy Rubin
Marlene Lewis
Christine Briguglio
Chad Jones
Christy O'Brien
Christopher Manzo
Cathy Einspanier Moore
Bryan Pease
Brian Anderson
Alvin Horst

Details:

Exhibit opens April 11 at 1:00 pm and runs thru May 2, 2010.
Reception: Sunday April 11 at 1:00 pm. We will be drawing, turning Alessandra into a living painting and have live music (Boaz).
Location: Belas-Artes 1854 Russell Boulevard, Saint Louis, MO 63104 314.772.2787.
Send announcements: Download and use the postcard announcement art to invite people to the show!

Flamenco Series I by Adebanji Alade

2010-03-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

A short while ago Adebanji Alade caught our post about a Flamenco themed event we had, and he commented how inspired he was by the idea. So much so was he bemused that he dug into his oil paints and created a deliciously textured piece in rich colors that see right past the images he worked from. It is as if he stepped into the room with our dancer from afar.

It is wonderful to see other artists take such inspiration from the movement and energy of Flamenco in a combination of visual art and dance.

"This is a new series I'll be embarking on. My goal is to experiment with movement, texture, mood, energy, vitality and emotion-all of which would be the highlights in this series of drawings and paintings."
-Adebanji

Detail:

Mark Drawing our Model Olivia

2010-03-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I recorded Mark Plattner drawing our model Olivia. This is part of a eries in which I record some of the many talented artists at the Saint Louis Drawing and Painting Meetups. It is not so much as a tutorial, but instead an opportunity to enjoy watching someone else work.

Go Captain Marrrk, Go!

Skipping Work Early & Draw at the Botanical Garden

2010-03-04T16:32:00.000-08:00

It's finally time to get back to the garden, and couldn't have been a better day for it this time of year. Had fun in the Temperate Dome. We will be doing this at least once per month if possible.

Mark and I showed up and hug out in the Temperate Dome with the more tropical plants. It was a great day with the light and the ivy where we were sitting was casting beautiful shadows in the tile garden. It was the best spot in the world to escape the rush going on with the 9-5 crowd; a must-do and a true treat once in a while.

Drink and Draw at Van Goghz

2010-03-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Henryk and Eve were amongst those who headed over to Drink and Draw at Van Goghz this last Wednesday.

Also, there were several faces I didn't recognize. This was an event hosted by Teya King, so it was double posted over at our group too. You can see more about these events over at these two groups:

1.) The STL Artist/Model/Photographer Co-Op
2.) The Saint Louis Drawing and Painting Meetup calendar.

Hey there Brad! Yay! Truly sorry, I missed.

Last Fridays' Soup

2010-03-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

Elaine hosted Soup in Shrewsbury. Richard, Brian, Elaine, Boaz and Judy were there for a good night of drawing and hanging out. There was conversation, soup and plenty of drawing as seen in the video of Judy Rubin below. Boaz is playing guitar in the background. Feels just like home.

Mad Hatter - Followup

2010-03-02T06:50:00.000-08:00

"Twas brillig from beginning to end. Did someone get my sweater? Brown cardigan I seem to have left behind."
-Judy

6 Week Anatomy Intensive - Round two, Week one

2010-03-01T10:12:00.000-08:00

This is a 6 week/12 hr Skeleton & Figure Study. The idea is to focus on both the model (Alessandra) and the Skeleton (working name 'Fat Albert'). Ale and FA will be in the same pose for 2 separate 1hr blocks per session, and we'll simply work from the top down with different angles and rotations.

"I'm learning a lot and producing work I'm happy with."
-Judy

"Fabulous, once again. A great exercise, well executed. Thanks, Ale and Mark."
-Elaine

"Had a great time. Created some of my best efforts to date. Thanks to every one."
-Robert

" It's always wonderful, and the work just gets better."
-Henryk

Last Minute: Mad Hatter - Relocated!

2010-03-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight Only! (3/1/2010)

Do you feel mad as a March hare, or just need a little extra hat reference before submitting to Koken's Alice art exhibit? Well here's an event for your sweet tooth - come and join us. We've moved the Mad Hatter to Cafe Cioccolato upstairs and switched this to a free event (though tipping the store if not buying hot chocolate or bon bon is recommended) Happy Unbirthdays all around! :D

Notes: We will likely be upstairs and will have precisely four chairs. If you want a chair, come early, bring your own or sit on the floor. If anyone has a light source available and want to bring it, good karma is yours for the taking. ;-)

See the details: On Meetup.com

Pinup Bowling

2010-02-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon a few of us got together at Pinup Bowl on Delmar to do some sketching. It is great to find unusual places like this to sketch. Since we bought pizza instead of donning the funky shoes, they didn't mind too much our hanging out ways.

Alvin Drawing

2010-02-26T13:47:00.000-08:00

At one of our recent Meetups I recorded Alvin Horst drawing the figure. He goes through a process of building up the figure structurally and used ink pen and brush.

Kendra Solo

2010-02-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

Wednesday we had a return of our model Kendra. There was an excellent turnout. Alvin began by giving us an excellent discussion of Shape and form related to composition and design.

"Kendra was fab, Alvin's lecture was fab. This is what I like about meetup, there is always something more to experience. So many creative people thinking about how to improve the event, It's, FABULOUS"
-Henryk

"Super! It was good to have Kendra pose for us again. She took some stunning poses, especially the ones highlighting her great wavy locks! Thanks Judy and Boaz too for hosting."
-Brian

"Kendra with her pearly pink toes, wavy golden hair and flawless features knows how to use all those assets by striking beautiful poses. The wit was also flowing. A good night. Many thanks to all who came for making it such a wonderful gathering."
-Judy

Figure Drawing at Mojo - Morgan of the Tattoos

2010-02-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

February, 25, 2010
8:00 PM

Mojo Studio holds a weekly figure drawing session and we are invited to participate. They have a great atmosphere and challenging sessions with decent lighting, and an accommodating space to work in. Mojo is connected to Concrete Ocean gallery.

This week's session will feature Morgan, an experienced model, elaborately tattooed.
BYOB, $10 donation for model/studio. :)

Thanks to the Mojo movers and shakers: Sue G, Sarah E and Bryan P for organizing and hosting this event.

Alton Nichols

2010-02-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

I just found Alton Nichols browsing around Teya's Meetup Group. Please check his site out at http://www.altonnichols.com. There are some amazing artists to be discovered around this city! I am finding more everyday. And there is a definite strain that is running through Saint Louis Music and Art. I love his use of black and white ink and Asian representational modes in these images. I can definitely relate.

Open Mic Night at Van Gohz

2010-02-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

Teya King of "The STL Artist/Model/Photographer Co-Op" to mention one of her known sighting spots... has been doing open mic night at Van Gohz Martini Bar and Bistro. I caught a session on Feb 2nd. Teya also recently joined our group, so we may be hearing more from her over there. If you are looking for some poetry whilst drawing some leggy models, the do head on over and check out the next one on March 2nd.

Yes, we do like music with our drawing!

Drawing the band at Foundation Grounds

2010-02-23T18:35:00.000-08:00

Tommy Halloran and Boaz Rubin played a hot jazz session at Foundation Grounds, a coffee shop in Maplewood. Other musicians did step up and join them. Everyone brought their sketchbooks and their ears.

"Wasn't it great how people were experimenting with new media and challenging themselves?"
-Elaine

Still Life with Soup

2010-02-23T18:10:00.000-08:00

At the end of January we were gratiously hosted at Elaine's place for Soup and still-life drawing.

Here was the description: "It's winter, and it's time for Soup in Shrewsbury. Tonight's theme is the color red - or scarlet to be precise. Bring something carlet for the still life, or wear a little scarlet. Or draw in red and black."

Don't be discouraged that you missed this one! This sort of thing has cropped up before and is definitely likely to happen again soon. Keep checking out the calendar.

Hey, waitaminnit... Here's another one! It's in the future even!

Soup in Shrewsbury: Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.

"Pairs/multiples of items will star in the still life tonight.

I'll fix the soup, and you bring the sides. If you bring something, please bring it ready to serve we can dive right in to eating and drawing.

If you are in the mood, wear a pair of something. Pants could count, but you are an artist, and you can do better."

I don't know how many times I can edit this post, but Blogger's HTML Editor tools are making me want to puke. Feel like I just got a boot in the gut. It's free, so what can you do? Ah, so it goes...

Google Books: The Art Student's Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form By Tom Richardson

2010-02-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Google Books has many titles that one might pay for elsewhere but that you can browse online for free.

Followup to Vitality: The Flamenco Dancer

2010-01-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

Wednesday evening we were lucky enough that Alessandra arranged to host Beth a Flamenco Dancer at the Plattner Home. Beth Steinbrenner is the Dance director of, and dances with Los Flamencos. She was very graceful and not only posed, but danced a bit for us as well. She had two different outfits to pose for the artists in.

There was a full house of people and the energy was definitely good. The many interpretations of the flamenco theme were astounting to say the least. When I returned to look at the gallery of pictures of the event, I was struck at how well Marlene's ink drawings provided the vivacity of flamenco and the energy that I was thinking of, but hadn't accomplished myself. Spectacular! Next time I will be sure to take a few sidelong glances at her technique to see if I can't learn a bit. Her drawing is shown below.

Drawing above by Marlene

Above: A happy group takes on the challenge.

Thanks go to Alessandra and Mark for taking pictures and hosting, and to Boaz for providing musical accompaniment as well. Some, but not all of the other great drawings and paintings from this event are shown below.

Does it get any cooler than that?

Week 2 of 6 Week Anatomy Intensive

2010-01-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

January 24, 2010

See this event on our calendar at Meetup site.

This is a 6 week/12 hr Skeleton & Figure Study. The idea is to focus on both the model (Alessandra) and the Skeleton (working name 'Fat Albert'). Ale and FA will be in the same pose for 2 separate 1hr blocks per session, and we'll simply work from the top down with different angles and rotations.

Right now I'm thinking 6 people (5 plus myself), so we can get in close. But I may open it up to more after the first meeting because we may end up having enough room to go 360 around Ale and not just 180.

Supplimentary Info from "Wir zeichnen den Menschen" by Gottfried Bammes

Proportion Investigation

The large correspondences between measured distances of body forms.

In construction of a figure after life, we play with what knowledge we have and focus with a priority on understanding the general interrelation of all the parts. We dedicate ourselves to this task with a very distinct energy and also to the practice of using artistic working methods in our experiments.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452—1519): The So-called Vitruvian man, around 1485—1490

Albrecht Dürer (1471—1528): Woman of eight headlengths, constructed 1509

The most famous examples; both artistically and didactically are those of Leonardo da Vinci (above) and Albrecht Dürer's (below). We owe our current useful working procedures to both. They are based on representation of the organic arrangement of the figure. With aid of the comparison of same or similar measurements we gain an overall-view and order. We orient ourselves thereby by measuring after that living model and discover (see illustration below):

The symmetry line of the figure's center (strong red line from vertex to sole) stops in the female figure at the height of the pubic bone and/or large process of the hip bone (trochanter major) (= geometrical body center, red arrows) and bisects the figure vertically into an equivalent long upper and lower division.

The lower part (leg length) is interrupted by the pushed in intermediate form of the knee. The lower edge of the kneecap(= situated at the knee gap, strong black arrow) marks the center of the lower length (= a body quarter)

In the Large upper part the nipple axis in most cases is under the upper body quarter (broken line).

Frequently the point of the chin halves the upper quarter (strong black arrow). From it a proportional rule (canon) results, according to which in our example the head amounts to an eighth of the overall length. It is a suitable basic dimension (module) for further distance investigations after height and depth (for this, see also the profile figures).

From the accepted arrangement in body quarters it follows: Sitting on a chair reduces the bodily height by a quarter (thigh length), and sitting on the ground by half of the overall height.

The greatest width expansion from hip-socket to hip-socket measures hardly up to a full body quarter.

The different arrow forms point to differently important classification points:

red arrows: classification points of 1st rank

full black arrows: classification points of 2nd rank

linear arrows: classification points of 3rd rank,

thin arrows: Classification points of 4th rank.

Vitality

2010-01-21T19:56:00.001-08:00

sumi-mantis
Originally uploaded by cjbvii

If you were preparing for an event and wanted to go in painting with energy and vitality and not mess around with wasted time warming up, how would you go about it? You can always take pictures and work later, but that is not the same thing. Say you want to get into the juice of the moment and squeeze the energy right out on your paper or canvas without hesitation?

How do you capture the beat of a heart or the spin of bodies in space? How do you capture the momentary flip of a dress as the flamenco dancer twists and turns? The quick clamor of cymbals and the tilt of the head...

How do you do it? Do you begin with an energetic splash of ink and paint the details in secondary? Do you start with a few essential details, and then splash the rest in as an energetic after-thought? What of pencil or charcoal?

Someone(Henryk) recently told me about using a bottle of powdered charcoal to smear with fingers on the canvas. That might be a technique to get immediately into the thrust of the motion without fussing too much on the details too soon.

An energetic charcoal:

Charcoal above
by Jean Joel Spatfora
from his blog.

As with life, there are so many things buzzing past and all around us. Some of them are important, while others are just distractions. They may stand out, but they may absolutely not lend themselves to the greater idea. Identifying the greater idea in all the chaotic details is the issue. How often is it that one grabs upon one detail and follows it to a point to which we realize it is a dead-end road leading to nowhere or the edge of a cliff? Or, we discover that it contradicts another line because it is so self-involved that it is not looking at the effect that it has on other lines around it or the frame that the lines all swim in.

I think that even drawing lines must require a bit of stopping to listen and feel what is going on. If you don't do so things can get carried far from their original design, or vision quickly and require repairs or reversing steps. This is the paradox of vitality. It must be quick to pay attention, but wrought with thought and focus.

Drawing: Flamenco Night @ the Plattners

2010-01-21T19:02:00.001-08:00

Jan 27 @ 7:00pm

Beth Steinbrenner is the Dance Director for Los Flamencos. She teaches Spanish Dance and Flamenco Dance Classes. http://www.bethsteinbrenner.com/

Our sessions are open to all levels of artists and a variety of media. We provide an informal, lively but structured and serious environment in which to draw and experiment. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

At the Meetup (See Calendar here):

Snacks & drinks will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. BYO easel if you like using an easel. (We have chairs and floor space.)

Drawing begins at 7, so try to arrive at 6:45

As usual, if you RSVP Yes then withdraw less than 48 hrs before the event, you will be held responsible for the model fee.

See you there,
Alessandra

Additional Info:

Flamenco is a style of music which is considered part of the culture of Spain, but is actually native to only one region: Andalusia. It is believed to have grown out of the fusion of Arabic, Andalusian, Sephardic, and Gypsy cultures prior to and after the Reconquest. It is also applied to the dance style performed to flamenco music. The origins of the term are unclear - the word Flamenco is not recorded until the 19th century.

Flamenco is the music of the Andalusian gypsies and played in their social community. Andalusian people who grew up around gypsies were also accepted as "flamencos" (Paco de Lucía). Other regions, mainly Extremadura and Murcia, have also contributed to the development of flamenco, and many flamenco artists have been born outside Andalusia. Latin American and especially Cuban influences have also contributed, as evidenced in the dances of "Ida y Vuelta".

Wikipedia:Flamenco

Some music and dancing to set the mood:

Flamenco danceraArt on the web:

flamenco dancer pencil drawing
Originally uploaded by Dan Newby

jjgCabLifeDr_2009_
Originally uploaded by steroidman626

http://www.danielgerhartz.com
Original art by Daniel F. Gerhartz

Print Script vs. Cursive Calligraphy

2010-01-20T12:48:00.000-08:00

I was reading something about how few people write in (or can even read) cursive anymore and wondered if I was alone in being in love with cursive? Then I got wondering... as artists, how many of us prefer cursive, and how many print? Print has obvious applications in comic book style and in note taking, and filling out forms, but there are also times when the calligraphy of handwriting is compelling.

Is cursive stuffy?

Calligraphy_Mountains
Originally uploaded by Rashomon

Postproduced fast sketch
Originally uploaded by Isaías Loaiza

Quote from Qi Baishi

2009-12-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

Qi Baishi

"When I cut seals I do not abide by the old rules, and so I am accused of unorthodoxy. But I pity this generation’s stupidity, for they do not seem to realize that the Chin and Han artists were human and so are we, and we may have our unique qualities too… Such classical artists as Ching-teng, Hsueh-ko and Ta-ti-tzu dared to make bold strokes in their paintings, for which I admire them tremendously."

"My one regret is that I was not born three hundred years ago, for then I could have asked to grind ink or hold the paper for those gentleman, and if they would not have me I should have starved outside their doors rather than move away. How wonderful that would have been! I suppose future generations will admire our present artists just as much as we admire these men of old. What a pity that I will not be there to see it"

-Qi Baishi

Upcoming Meetup Events

2009-11-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

Wednesday:

This coming Wednesday Chris Manzo will be hosting his "Figure Drawing 101" session. This week's theme is "Veiled and Revealed" with models Danielle and Walter.

We will have two models again this evening - Walter (nude) and Danielle (draped). It should be an interesting contrast of form, material, and scale. If anyone has another light we could use (easily), please bring it and let me know.

Lively, supportive, and helpful group of drawers open to all levels of artists and media. Informal but intense atmosphere to draw in. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

6:45-10pm - please show up on time so we can begin promptly at 7pm.

Snacks and vino will be on hand - please feel free to bring something also to share... if we do not use it this evening, we will the next!

Saturday:

Morning Krampus Day Painting @ Brian's Place

Cap'n Marrrrk (The Birthday Boy) will pose at my place for costumed drawing. It is Krampus day so Mark is going to do his best Krampus impression for us. Scary! Hold your stockings tight and watch out! Not heard of Krampus? Take a look on Wikipedia and prepare.

;-)

Saturday:

Cap'n Marrrrk Birthday Karaoke and Sketching Soiree

Cap'n Marrrrk loves Karaoke!
Need I say more?

So come join us for his b-day party.
Sing, dance, drink, chat, have fun, we know you will :-D

See you then,
Ale

Adebanji Alade: Focus on Portraiture

2009-11-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

While some focus on the generalities of Urban Sketching, Adebanji Alade has shown on the blog "ADEBANJI ALADE: MY ART, MY PASSION FOR SKETCHING" an attention to the individuality and humanity of many characters and portrait subjects amongst the surroundings.

Mattias Inks: Creativity Unceasing

2009-11-29T14:08:00.000-08:00

The creative juices are still flowing full-force over on the blog "Mattias Inks". Check out the textures, lines, and creatures inhabiting the work of Mattias.

In the case you missed it: the tail-end of fall

2009-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

It looks as if Steve Penberthy showed us on his blog "Steve Penberthy: Adventures in Watercolor" how well he did in capturing the colors of fall that have only recently gone missing. Great Capture Steve!

Pastel Process by Derek Jones

2009-11-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

Derek Jones posted a piece on his blog "Art by Derek Jones" showing the process and progress of a pastel drawing. See his blog for more interesting drawings in a variety of media.

Doodle Drawings

2009-11-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Silsifa gives us an example of drawing ideas out of doodles on the blog "Whispering Colors".

"The idea is simple. Just make some doodles on the page and draw whatever your mind 'sees'. Voilá! Is this an image from my unconscious...?"

-Silsifa

Please go check out Silsifa's Blog.

Catching up on the last month

2009-11-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Due to a plethora of activities organized by many of the assistant organizers the last month has continued the great energy we all have for the arts.

In review, firstly there were figure drawing sessions up at the Saint Louis Artist's Guild.

Generous hosts like Judy & Boaz and Mark & Alessandra, offered their homes for pot-luck style get-togethers.

There was drawing at the City Museum organized by Ariel.

There was the always famous celebration of Halloween at the Plattner's home.

Mojo Studios hosts their always sensational themed drawing and painting sessions.

Alessandra modeled as Louise Brooks at Brian's studio.

Finally, we had a great breakfast Meetup at the Black Bear Bakery.

New Members:

There were a bunch of new members who joined up since the last post. They are listed below:

Ana
Rayna
Sarah Jean

Steve
Robert
Joshua

Eve
Eli
Rachel

gjinari
Amanda
Rick W

Welcome everyone!

New & Upcoming:
Figure Drawing 101 - Jeep and his wife Cathy!

This month is sure to be full of just as many oportunities to get out and make some art and rub elbows with friends.

Tonight is figure drawing with Jeep and his wife Cathy. The event is hosted by Chris Manzo. It seems that there are still a few spaces open. Don't miss out on the fun!

Here's the description of tonight's event:

Tonight, we have a special evening: Jeep and Cathy (his wife) will be modeling for us!!! This will be Cathy's first time, so lets make it a supportive one for her.

Lively, supportive, and helpful group of drawers open to all levels of artists and media. Informal but intense atmosphere to draw in. Good work, good times, good music, and good folks.

6:45-10pm - please show up on time so we can begin promptly at 7pm.

Snacks and vino will be on hand - please feel free to bring something also to share... if we do not use it this evening, we will the next!

Thanks, C

Theme Night: Alessandra Dressed as a Giant Turkey*

Next week is Theme Night at the Plattners. Alessandra will model. I know... These things just get more interesting every time!

The Description:

What are you doing Thanksgiving Eve? Are you going to be huddled up steeling yourself with drink in anticipation of being with your family tomorrow? Will you be slaving over a hot stove prepping your dish for the countless "Orphan Thanksgivings" being held tomorrow by Transplants to STL? Or, are you going to come over eat snacks, drink wine and draw Alessandra dressed as a giant turkey* with your friends? Drinks and snacks will provided, but feel free to bring your own.

As usual, if you RSVP YES then cancel within 48 hrs of the session you are still responsible for paying, but in this instance we'll accept leftovers only if they're any good.

*Please Note: Alessandra will NOT be dressed as a giant turkey (Bait and switch)

Drawing at Cap'n Marrrrk's - "Red Hot" Teya models

2009-10-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

"I had a blast. It was fun meeting new people, who were also friendly and inviting. The model was easy to work with and friendly too. I should have tried some of the food, but I was too wrapped up in drawing. I was surprised at how many people we got to fit in the space, and how many good views of the model there were. Looking forward to the next time!"
-Christopher

"Teya's fabulous, Mark's fabulous and Ale's fabulous, not to forget all the fabulous people who were there, I've run out of superlative's".
-Henryk

Finding Great Artists and Inspiration

2009-10-15T16:27:00.001-07:00

I was asked last week how I find artists. There are so many great artists out there, how do you weed through the stack to find inspiration? In this blog I obviously have my preferences, but I try to find a variety of things that might be inspiring to a variety of people, and in order to not limit my own sources of inspiration so tightly. I definitely welcome subjects that others (particularly in the Meetup Group) want to contribute that inspire them and not just me.

There are many angles one could take but here are some places in no particular order that I look:

I find that online I can get a bit distracted by it all, but if I have a few starting points to operate from and don't stray generally too far so as to retain focus. For one I use the Meetup site as a way to connect to other artists. It is a great way to meet people and connect in real life. This is so much better than doing all your searching online, because you actually get to mingle and make art together.

From there, I write names that people give me in my sketchbook as well as the names of people I meet. I look them up. If I find something striking then I have one set of artists to be inspired by. If I really like them then I pay attention to who is commenting on their website, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Blogger etc. Those of like minds tend to come together. Blogs also commonly have followers on a side panel. These are good sources.

See if you can get an RSS feed of the blogs you follow like the one at the bottom of this blog, so that you can pay attention to those blogs that update frequently. Don't forget to randomly check the other ones now and again though.

It might be worth typing a link in the format below into the Google browser to find who links to them as well as just typing their name.

I also pay attention to communities such as these:

The Society of Figurative Arts

ConceptArt

The Society of Egg Tempera Painters

Here artists gather in theme oriented groups. Usually names and references of good things flow around these places. I also bookmark them on the side of my blog.

Also there are places like delicious.com and other link repositories.

Sometimes typing a subject you like into Google image search will bring up art images by people you are not familiar with. You can instantly browse for striking subjects.

Artists Magazines as well as competitions are good as well as local artist organizations.

If you want to get some subjects that are out of your normal avenues of thinking, find a blog that you follow on a subject unrelated to art specifically but that is compellingly written. Search for art themed on similar themes discussed there. For instance if they are writing about paleontology, then look up prehistoric art, follow a series of links and find something to be inspired by.

Use Google Alerts to update you on topics related to a particular subject of interest in a timely fashion. You will learn about some new sources of info.

Divine it. Toss some coins, and see what the I Ching says, type it into a search engine. Find something out of the box that way. Seriously!

Too often internet pages circulate around a narrow range of topics. Discussion can be geared toward promoting certain things related to the day and its consuming events. For this reason definitely read some classical literature for inspiration. Take up an art magazine from 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 5 years ago, whatever! Get out of the limitations of your time and current thinking. Visit a used book store and read something that hasn't got attention in a while. Often what is striking is what brings attention to the things we are immune to seeing. We may forget what we have forgotten and so our thinking and current experience has no power to illuminate our minds until we look again from the perspective of a different time and place. We see what we didn't think was similar, and expose also what we mistakenly thought was.

Once you have a set of inspirations go deep as well as wide!

Listening to this Blog in Text Mode

2009-10-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can subscribe to this blog and listen to it on your iPod, iPhone or mobile device? Yes, it's true. Just click the subscribe to podcast button on the upper right of this page. Feedback on this new feature is definitely appreciated.

Update: Keys and Pillows

2009-10-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Over on Sam Washburn's Blog "Illustration In Route", he gives us an update on his signing over in Maplewood:

"Had the signing at Jive and Wail this week, and was humbled by the response from everybody! It was a really exciting event and the mayor of Maplewood gave me a key to the city! Definitely the biggest honor I have ever gotten for my work. Many thanks to everyone for their help on this project."

Fantastic Congratulations Sam!

Passion For Sketching

2009-10-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

There are some beautiful new drawings "Sketches on the train, bus station and coach" over on Adebanji Alade's Blog. I just love the energy of his lines on the older man's face. It was obvious that he enjoyed the drawing process well on this one and capturing the man's expression.

"More people!!! I couldn't resist sketching the old man above on the left. He had the dream features for an addictive sketcher!"

Adebanji's painting below made me remember Dürer's portrait of a black man for some reason as in both cases the people could have been any of the people I talk to daily on my way to work. It is amazing to me that in the case of the Dürer portrait at the bottom of this post, that I can visualize this face just as naturally in this year of 2009. I strangely can't say that of many other medieval portraits. I suppose there is just a certain naturalism to the observation.

Painting of "Daniel" by Adebanji Alade

Portrait of a black man by Albrecht Dürer

How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect

2009-10-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Magritte's famous pipe which is not really a pipe

"In addition to assorted bad breaks and pleasant surprises, opportunities and insults, life serves up the occasional pink unicorn. The three-dollar bill; the nun with a beard; the sentence, to borrow from the Lewis Carroll poem, that gyres and gimbles in the wabe.

An experience, in short, that violates all logic and expectation. The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote that such anomalies produced a profound “sensation of the absurd,” and he wasn’t the only one who took them seriously.
[...]

In a series of new papers, Dr. Proulx and Steven J. Heine, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, argue that these findings are variations on the same process: maintaining meaning, or coherence. The brain evolved to predict, and it does so by identifying patterns.

When those patterns break down — as when a hiker stumbles across an easy chair sitting deep in the woods, as if dropped from the sky — the brain gropes for something, anything that makes sense. It may retreat to a familiar ritual, like checking equipment. But it may also turn its attention outward, the researchers argue, and notice, say, a pattern in animal tracks that was previously hidden. The urge to find a coherent pattern makes it more likely that the brain will find one.
[...]"

For more see the NYTimes article.

Watercolor Washes Demos

2009-10-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Bob Davies on YouTube gives several watercolor wash demos shown here.

Standard Wash:

Variegated Wash:

Site of Joseph Zbukvic

2009-10-04T19:43:00.001-07:00

Henryk, I think this might be the guy you were mentioning as well as Mike Thomas who is in the previous post was referring to.

The palette and way of laying down the paint is just the best!

Again... these are from the site of Joseph Zbukvic. Can anyone tell I have a thing for watercolor? Did I ask this already?

Adding Figures and Interest to Watercolors

2009-10-04T19:31:00.001-07:00

Mike Thomas: figure studies, watercolor

Mike Thomas makes reference to Joseph Zbukvic DVD's and drawing cars and people. I've not yet looked into Zbukvic. Sounds like something to take a peek at.

Remarkably simple watercolor studies!

Creative Every Day

2009-10-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Leah Piken Kolidas runs a blog called Creative Every Day. This month she has a challenge. It is to connect with nature and self through art:

"It is the month of connect for the Creative Every Day Challenge, which has me thinking of all the ways I connect in my world. One of the things I've been loving about the home I've moved to, is that it's close to nature trails. Since I'm reading The Joy Diet with Jamie Ridler's book group, I've been using my walks in the woods as a time to do nothing. It's a great practice in staying in the present moment, letting my thoughts march by as if they were in a parade, returning and returning and returning again to my breath, forward movement, step, step, step."

Still Life With Potluck

2009-10-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

Celebrate the start of your drawing weekend. Bring a dish to share and your sketchbook. The host will set up a still life to draw. This event is FREE. Note: there is a dog in the house.

Cathy is bringing dessert, Elaine is bringing roasted vegetables. Flammis bringing dessert #2. Judy will provide a main dish. Anyone want to bring bread, or wine?

Details and signup here.

Upcoming: Landscape Painting in Watercolor at Tower Grove Park

2009-10-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

October 11, 2009

Grab your watercolor paints and let's head out to the park while the weather still affords such things.

Umbrella in the Park

See the full details and sign up here.

Art Stars: My Art Journey Contest - JerrysArtarama.com

2009-10-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

"Jerry's Artarama is searching to find the next art stars in North America, as part of the largest and most exciting contest in the 40 year history of our company! If you believe you have the talent and ambition, we invite you to enter Art Stars……"My Art Journey" Contest to showcase both your personal story and art skills. There is no purchase required or contest entry fee."

1st Prize

- $1,000 Jerry’s Artarama Gift Card
- $1,000 World of Art DVD Contract
- $1,000 Trip to Burning Oak Studios
- Publc Relations Campaign

2nd Prize - $500 Jerry’s Artarama Gift Card

3rd Prize - $250 Jerry’s Artarama Gift Card

5 Honorable Mentions - $50 Jerry’s Gift Card

Everyone Who Enters - Instantly receive an exclusive coupon for a FREE World of Art DVD of your choice with any purchase of $50 or more, valued up to $29.99.

See the contest info

Loop In Motion

2009-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

As of this writing, The Loop in Motion is happening today Saturday October 3, 2009. Come down and see what it's all about before the end of the day. Yesterday was a good chance to draw on the street and hang out with friends.

Aaron and Christine

Elaine Drawing at HSB Tobacconist

Chris Sketching

Ariel and her friend Erica

Christine Painting

Sept 30 - Drawing at Cap'n Marrrrk's

2009-10-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

"I just provided the space. Everyone else provided the atmosphere and comestibles. A great night of drawing and jocularity was had by all. Kevin was fantastic model with very active poses. I would certainly use him again and recommend him to anyone that needs a male model."
-Mark

"Kevin the model just happened to be a yoga master, which made the poses even more interesting, ever see a naked man in the lotus position with a cat on his lap? A superb evening."
-Henryk

Figure Drawing at the Guild

2009-10-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know if they changed the cookie recipe up at The Artist's Guild or what, but the Sept 29th drawing session drew a seriously full crowd. All seats and standing room was taken. The Model Jeremy was good and it was something else to see all the artists and mingle. I wish I had pictures scanned, but I don't. Maybe next time...

Recapping September: Landscape Painting in Watercolor at Tower Grove Park

2009-10-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

On September 20 Elaine and I made it to Tower Grove Park for watercolor painting. Although it rained in the morning, it cleared up just right for the day. I've been greedy about the fall and cant seem to imagine there has been enough of it this year. It seems like the really nice part of fall has been short this year. Hopefully it won't get miserably cold too soon. Digressing....

The light according to Elaine was perfect, and so was the number of subjects, sitters, duck-feeders and dogs walking by.

Discoveries: Blog of Joan Coch

2009-10-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

The world is so full of amazing things to observe and some are especially good at capturing the movement, energy and light of it all. If you like urban scenery peopled with interesting figures look over on the blog of Joan Coch. I very recently found this work and blog. [Spanish]

This reminds me very much of the recent art fair in Clayton Missouri.

The color and perspective in the next one above is wonderful and unusual. They must have such amazing light where the artist lives.

Isn't this one very expressive in it's colors and compositional one-point perspective framing?

Historic Engravings

2009-09-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

For some time I have followed Kintzertorium's photostream of historic prints. Coming Soon is a blog to go along with the Flickr stream at http://kintzertorium.blogspot.com.

Below are some example recent images. They are usually accompanied by plenty of good information and always make a learning experience.

Sanjeev Joshi - Watercolor

2009-09-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

Painting above by Sanjeev Joshi

Painting above by Sanjeev Joshi

I found the two artists of this most recent set of posts from cruising Urban Sketchers. Sanjeev Joshi is a contributor on the Urban Sketchers Blog. The level of detail and suggestion is spot on what I am looking for as a goal with watercolor. I love what is painted as much as what is left out. Stunning!

Painting above by Sanjeev Joshi

"generally complete 8 to 10 sketches in about 3 hours of outdoor painting on sunday.Since i dont get much time from my busy schedule during the week,i try and draw as much as possible!! the necessity has become a habbit over the years and now it is called as style of my own by some of my friends!!..i take it with a pinch of salt!"
- Sanjeev Joshi

Painting above by Sanjeev Joshi

Milind Mulick - Watercolor

2009-09-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

If you are into energetic watercolor check out Milind Mulick's website. Also, have a box of tissue beside the monitor and be prepared to be overwhelmed (to tears) by the color and energy.

;-)

Ok... dramatic, aren't we? Give it a look though:

Painting above by Milind Mulick

Milind also offers an E-mentor course. I think it might be worth a look too.

Painting above by Milind Mulick

I'm so happy today!

Favorite Russian Painters

2009-09-27T20:24:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of my favorite Russian painters. I love it when light is portrayed well and not just dramatically. The atmosphere is particularly interesting and surrealy idealized in this piece by Serebriakova.

Harvest by Zinaida Serebriakova

Less well known than Isaac Levitan was Ivan Shishkin. I appreciate his rendering of the variety of forest light and trees in all the seasons. His paintings remind me of the Pacific Northwest here in the US.

Coniferous Forest by Ivan Shishkin

Watercolor 101.3: Ninjitsu, Zen, Supernatural Skill?

2009-09-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation from this previous post: Watercolor 101.2

John Sell Cotman

Is watercolor as difficult a medium that sometimes portrayed. Watercolor can be seen as an unforgiving medium. This is partly because of it's transparent quality and the inability to go lighter once the darks are placed. Does it deserve the reputation it has and what are ways to come to terms with it's difficulties?

Before Completion. Success.
But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing,
Gets his tail in the water,
There is nothing that would further.

The Down Pour: Bev Jozwiak

Some think that though commencing on a watercolor piece and things may be going well, there is always the risk of one false move ruining a piece and that it must be a cautious and deliberate affair painting on paper. This is the paradox that goes along with the sometimes clean lively and unfussy results of some artists. Mastery seems like a hidden art with success due to some sort of magic, or innate ability to strategize the game ahead a bit. It can seem more like a chess game than many other mediums. The more successfully the artist captures the "essence" of the subject and the more minimal the brushwork at the same time, the more it is imagined that such facility is due to some unnatural ability or mad dedication to the medium so as not to make mistakes.

John Singer Sargent: The Tramp

Are these ideas out of date with today's materials? Also, what level if mistake is inherent in any process? For one thing, we know from experience that 100% perfection in any thing is not generally achievable, and often 100% success has the consequence of sacrificing some aspect of the vibrancy of a thing because of it's protected nature?

Watercolor with a Safety Helmet?

I wonder what the experience of others is with the medium? What I have discovered is that failures should be accepted enthusiastically as a part of success and one of the few things that lends facility is brute-force dedication and repetition of practice. By this one can have successes more often and enjoy the greater distinction of their successes as a result. Being thinking people as we are however it is a good thing to understand the methods behind what is happening. As we improve we make sometimes subconscious decisions how to use our tools efficienty. Just like grammar or anything else, I would imagine there are some common rules to govern success, or at least act as guidelines in our effort. Besides, it makes us feel better to have a conscious grasp of the mechanics in addition to our intuition. What are some rules of success in watercolor?

Mary Ann Osko

Followup to Yesterday's Monochrome: A Color Sketch

2009-09-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Red Jacket

I figured it would be good to do a color sketch based roughly on yesterday's drawing from Teya's meetup.

I wanted to put it in an environment and give it some story. Here is a variation I called "The Red Jacket" done on an iPod. It may be worth developing it up a bit more.

Yesterday's Drawing at Teya's

2009-09-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Last Night's session at Teya's (The STL Artist/Model/Photographer Co-Op) was so good. I got a couple of rough drawings off, but this one in particular, I feel like I need to do something else with more finished. I like the toned paper and mixed mediums. I started off with marker swashes, built up some pen and ink scribble and then came in with more marker. This morning, I spent some time working around with it with some charcoal pencil and white conté. Can't overdo it can I?

Model: Ashley

There were really a couple of angles (like the side) I would have liked to draw, but alas, so little time... not to mention the antics of Captain Marrrk who I failed to capture on paper. I am always positively impressed by his acting abilities.

Playing with the landscape and textures we know

2009-09-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this post on UrbanSketchers. Beautiful, expressive lines and use of limited palette.

by lok2693 on Flickr

If you were going to interpret up the local landscape, how would you lend it the character of your brush or pen?

Local Saint Louis scenery:

Here is some local scenery from over on Steve Penberthy's blog.

Gonna have to run into Steve some time...
Seems he also likes drawing/painting phone poles and wires like I do.

Watercolor Painting :: The Pole

Niji Waterbrushes

2009-09-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Have you used the Niji Waterbrushes for painting on-the-go? They're pretty handy.

The Dreams of Jung Illuminated

2009-09-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

"This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.” Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues [...]"
NY Times: The Holy Grail of the Unconscious

Click on over to the New Your Times to see the amazing illustrations in Jung's tome that has been locked away for so long.

New York Times

Artwork by Derek Jones

2009-09-20T10:34:00.001-07:00

For some time I have followed the artwork of Derek Jones. When I began to watch his work, he was mostly doing watercolors, but now he does many different media including pastel. I have enjoyed his take on the figure, and his delicate handling of the watercolor media.

Watercolor and Pastel above by Derek Jones

Adebanji Alade: Watercolor of "Leftover Raiders"

2009-09-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

"Most people cringe when artists paint from pictures and I used to, but that was a very very long time ago. I became more convinced that artists can paint from pictures, even more when Karin, who paints from pictures herself started this whole DSFDF thing. She has given us numerous tips from what to look out for, how to compose and even how to take pictures of our paintings/drawings [...]"

I also believe this and that it is a matter of how the pictures are used. Many people get caught up in good or evil view of photographs, but much good information can be gleaned from photographs as starting points.

See Adebanji Alade's Blog.

Also, see the post he refers to here on Karin Jurick's blog...

Saint Louis Art Fair 2009

2009-09-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Above: Michael Anderson gives a watercolor demonstration outside the Gateway Gallery. I was fortunate enough to get a moment to talk and get some great feedback and info from Michael. I would be happy to take one of his future workshops.

Watercolor above by Michael

It was a good year for art at the Saint Louis Art Fair. I didn't notice as many of the preformance/dancing acts as previous years, but the general turnout was high, and there was definitely much quality art and demonstrations to see.

More Sights:

Tweetart: New Abstracts

2009-09-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

Visit Tweetart to see the new set of abstractions. Maria has set the tone for Autumn and Winter in her observations of the seasons.

She also participates in a blog about Small Format Art and ATC & ACEO Enthusiasts.

Onedrawingaday: Bubble Chasers

2009-09-19T12:42:00.001-07:00

"One Drawing A Day is a joint Studio 1482 effort to put more drawings out in the world. Another way to break the ice, start a conversation, show some of our thinking and mostly just to have a place to post a few drawings. No seriously, we have a lot of drawings. We thought they should see the light of day more often."

Check out onedrawingaday.com

For those into daily art also see Daily Watercolors.

Don't forget to check out this weeks Gallery Openings

2009-09-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

Gallery openings in St. Louis (The Blog)