A Healthy Sense of Urgency

I listened to an NPR program recently about a young woman who was taking over her family's bakery business. Her mother advised that given the time pressures and number of variables in a busy bakery one must work with a healthy sense of urgency.

A healthy sense of urgency. I can't come up with a better way to approach a figure session. Who would have thought that baking bread and pastries would share something so fundamental with live figurative work?

Sarah W., oil pastel on toned paper
12" X 7 3/4", 2018

A Reckoning

On a recent afternoon in my studio I lined up several dozen of my figurative paintings done over the last thirteen years. I would rate just a handful of these oils as moderate successes. Flesh tone issues are the main culprit for this high failure rate. Viewed collectively my nudes formed a mass of dull orange/brown flesh. Repeated attempts at new color/value combinations always lead back to the same muddy bog. Stubbornness and a closed mind led me to this point.

I have spoken often about embracing one's failures. Doing so with individual works of art is one thing but how does one react when it requires a reckoning with thirteen years of effort?

Nude Study, oil on canvas, 9" X 11", 2013

Profiles

I remember drawing profiles of classmates in middle school. I stopped when one sitter expressed displeasure that I had included a mole on his cheek. Even then I couldn't resist drawing what I saw.

As the host of a local figure drawing group I position myself off to one side of the model stand leaving the center stage views to the other artists. My vantage point often isn't the best but frequently I am presented good profile views.

Figure Study, oil pastel on toned paper, 8 1/2" X 7", 2018