Warning, post may contain NSFW images on account of naked boobies. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
After a long period of mucking about with ink and watercolor, I decided I ought to get back into oil painting, a decision possibly fueled by jealousy of my classmates' awesome paintings. So where better to jump back in than Life Drawing class? I've painted from life before, in my last life drawing class, and before that in alla prima.
So I go into class with my paintin' stuff, and wouldn't you know it, in walks the oldest, wrinkliest, and AWESOMEST model ever!
Mind you, we didn't dress him up. HE CAME IN LIKE THIS. He asked, should I get naked, or something like that. Nancy, the professor, said: "we like you just the way you are". He laughed and replied, "Well, I think that's the first time anyone's ever said that to me!" And we all laughed...
Anyway, I think it turned out a lot better than I expected, for not having painted in many months. I had some trouble mixing the right colors for his skin tone and the shadows, It still kind of looks like he's wearing a "Lone Ranger" mask. Which he wasn't. Thanks for the help, Nancy, and thanks for putting up with my endless smart-assery and leg-pulling.
I think I actually made him look younger and less haggard. Which is too bad, really. This is funny because I have a habit of, when drawing in ink, putting too many lines on the models' faces and making them look old.
Next, we had a 2-session pose, 6 hours all together, give or take about half an hour or so for setup and re-setup of the pose, lighting, etc. Perfect for a little oil painting.
The first day's work, except for the drapery, which I painted in at the beginning of the second session, then took the picture with a classmate's phone (thanks, Justine!). This monochromatic underpainting is done with the
grisaille technique, in other words, I put down a very thin, mid-tone wash over the whole thing, then paint into that with less-thin white paint for the highlights, then blend the whole mess together to create the illusion of depth. And add some shadows, too.
The finished piece, finished alla prima style. I'm pretty happy with it, but I may touch it up a bit on my own time. Some bits are muddy, and in other places the underpainting shows through. That arm looks a bit short, but my excuse is foreshortening, which I didn't do a great job of. Also, the model was pale and veiny, and I didn't get a chance to add some veins, but in some places my initial pencil drawing shows through and looks like veins. Great success! She also had a tattoo on her arm, which I penciled i but never had time to paint. You can kind of see the pencil lines there on her arm. You can also tell that the lighting changed a bit between the sessions. 'Tis the nature of the beast.
Oh, and that face. It looks ok now, but good God, you should have seen it when i first put in the eyes...
Here is some of my previous work from Life 4:
Pen+ink. I edited this one in photoshop to make her look closer to the model's actual age. Still looks a bit mature, but oh well. The window, the stuff on the sill, and the tattoo are all invented, plus I made the book she was posing with into a comic book. I guess my ideal woman likes to sit around naked, reading comic books and drinking beer. Sounds good to me.
Pen+ink and watercolor on watercolor paper. I chose to leave everything but the figure uncolored, I didn't just run out of time. Come to think of it, this looks like a page from a sexy coloring book (these actually exist, BTW.)
Watercolor. The class requested the strangely popular, among the class, anyway, "dead" pose. So this was the model's idea of a dead pose: looking like a goddamn
Playgirl centerfold. It amused me greatly. I gave him a skull for a face, using a plaster skull as reference. Also added the cigarette. A friend of mine said he looked a bit "Gonzo", I agreed.
Pen and ink with watercolor on bristol. In this class, being
illustration life drawing 4, we are encouraged to turn the model into some sort of character, or embellish them according to our style and favorite genres of illustration. This is the same model as in the oil painting, posed with a rake that became a spear in multiple students' interpretations.
Micron pens on bristol. Ah, this one. The Consummate Creep, I call it. Nancy chose me to set up this pose and choose the costume and accessories. She won't be making that mistake again. Yes, there really was an armless mannequin in the costume closet, but the hanging dolls are made up, and the pictures on the wall are based on artwork hanging in the room. It was really interesting seeing the different interpretations my classmates came up with, some were even classy and not in the least bit creepy. Good on 'em for being creative.
Pen+ink+ink wash on bristol. Probably my first attempt at ink drawing from life. I call him the Half-blind Bastard Bird-Man. Model was wearing everything you see here, minus the feathers, and the mask was originally just a fake bird beak. This is what happens when you let a bunch of art students dress up the model.
No, he wasn't really blind in one eye, I just made it that way for the creep factor.
I'll be sure to post more life drawing and other work later, but that's all for now!
Keep on creepin'!
