Judith

The Monday and Wednesday night Life Drawing sessions at Fort Mason are coming to a close. There is one more next Monday, then a final critique the following Wednesday. I will have to wait until the Fall for these sessions to return on a regular basis.

Last night, Judith returned. Judith is a model who has been an inspiration since these sessions began in February. I don't know why, but her poses, her body, and her professionalism really inspire me to do my best work.

I did my first drawing of her in February:

I liked this pose so much that I did an etching of it. I used a soft ground to get the variance of the line. The backgrounds were made by putting various pieces of fabric over the soft ground and running it through the etching press, which resulted in the textures:

I knew Judith had modeled for many an artist over the years, most notably Philip Pearlstein. As well as painting her, he also did an etching himself, which is right here in San Francisco at the DeYoung Museum. I heard her mention once that one of the prints someone did of her recently sold for thousands of dollars, and she joked that she wishes she got a piece of that cash. So last night, as a gesture of gratitude and respect, I humbly offered her one of my prints above. I was very pleased when she accepted, and even more pleased when she told me she loved it. I am really glad I had an opportunity to do that.

After this pleasant exchange, we went back to the work at hand. I have been drawing with pen and ink these last few sessions. An old-fashioned quill pen and a jar of india ink. I love the line, the control I have over the stroke, and the absolute blackness of the ink. Diane, one of my fellow artists in the class, has been having great success with watercolors, so I asked her to paint in one of my drawings of Judith after the ink dried. She did, and here is the result:

When I compare this with what I was doing in February, it gives me a great sense of satisfaction. Drawing the human form twice a week for the last 4 months has made me a better artist, no doubt, but I also think it has made me a better person, because I have a sense of what I can accomplish with my eye and my hand. This helps me balance the natural tensions of work and play, and allows me to enjoy life a little more.

Thanks, Judith, for being my muse.

Comments

[Marissa]

hey angain i was wondering why do you draw the nude ? only asking it is just that there aresooo mny young viewers that im getting quite worried buty i might help others draw better other than sein the nude it might help you visiualize what you draw

[Marissa]

that is really good but you need to work on your shading positions it will help you allot better!!!!
if you want you can vivit my website called WetCanvas i havent uploaded any drawings yet but i plan to upload a slide shoe of my drawings you can contact me at my comments box at thre ed of my page ...............

BTW: im only 11 yrs old i know i sound like im trying to act sophisticated but im just trying to help but anyways anything more but the shading you work is absouloutley fabulous!!!!!!!