One session

A few weeks ago we had a great model and I sort of liked all of my drawings from that session. Usually I only like a handful. Well, I thought that I would post them in order from 2-3 minute poses to 15 minute ones. Kinda hard to tell the 5s and 7s apart.



























*edit: I just realized something. Lovely poses... and it looks like the model only faced my direction once! No wonder I like the session so much. I tend to prefer the nice simple shapes and mystery of back views.

draw draw draw

It's been a fun two months. It went by so fast! Here is a considerable update of figure drawings. 2-15 minute poses. I've also been doing quite a bit of graphic design work, but not enough painting at all. Bit of a rut in that direction, but here's A few in progress at least.

Even more figure

I had a great time last week when 4 friends came to visit. Ted Kinsella, Robyn Hyzy and Andrew Wright from Chicago and Sarah Watts from ATL - all illustrators. Really inspiring crew.

Now, my kitty is ill again. Her blood disorder started acting up and she had to visit the vet twice last week. =( I think she's starting to feel better and I hope that we can get the disorder under control, as there is no real cure but a possibility for long term management.

Anyhow... I have been doing some drawing and have other projects in the pipeline. Also working some odd jobs to help pay for vet bills. ><

Return from Adventure

Pictures and some of the paintings from our road trip. We met up with my old friend Leon Okun, who caught an overnight bus from San Diego to Santa Fe. (Leon is back in Russia now for his 5th year at the Imperial Academy of Art in St. Petersburg.) We all stayed with the lovely Larissa Neto and enjoyed the hundreds of galleries on Canyon Rd. Of course, we couldn't miss the Nicolai Fechin house and museum an hour away in Taos. It was a disappointment, though. Apparently they've had to sell much of their collection off to other museums, so there were no drawings or landscapes, and only minor portraits on display. The house was filled with his incredible wood work, though!

After that we drove to Sedona, AZ which quickly became one of my favorite places in the US. It's an enchanted canyon carved by a river into the red and gold rock mountains, lushly forested and wrapped around hidden ruins of the wild, wild west and even older ruins of ancient Indians. Leon said the red rock has ores which give off magnetic energy. I felt the pull. We camped for 4 nights next to the river and took freezing baths in a deep lagoon. Every morning we crawled out of the tent before dawn to catch the morning light, then painted, picnic'd and hiked until the sun went down. We'd get back to camp in the dark, build a fire & chill out drinking wine while grilling dinner.

We set up camp a second time at the Grand Canyon for another 5 days of painting. It was hard. Like painting all of the New York City from above while the sun plays tricks on you. The colors were incredible, if fleeting. Wild life seemed undisturbed by the thousands of tourists around them. A herd of Elk passed through the parking lot and held up traffic, and we saw wild pigs, all kinds of birds, plenty of deer, and just missed a big horn sheep. Next time Trey and I want to back pack down into the canyon with quick-drying media and big sketchbooks.

The final, farthest stop was San Diego to drop Leon off and say hi to my old teachers at Watts Atelier, and Ron and Vanessa Lemen. We got to see a collection of Russian student work that Leon brought to America for a show, which was really incredible. Blows the pants off anything done at Ringling. Really gorgeous drawing, but also wonderful compositions and color pallets.

After we said goodbye, a 12 hour drive took us along the Mexican border, through Yuma, up through Phoenix and finally back to Santa Fe. This time we also got to visit with Kyler Dannels and McClean Kendree, who just moved out there.

About 5,000 miles and 60 paintings later, we arrived back in Kansas City. Check out Trey's blog in the next couple of days for some of his favorite paintings from the trip.